SEMINAR: MBF602 STUDENT SEMINAR: TODAY AT 1PM----Dominique Wagner & Ian Zink

[Pam Harris <pharris@rsmas.miami.edu>]

 

 

On 4/24/2013 5:17 PM, Pam Harris wrote:

 

MBF Student Seminar Series

 

Dominique N. Wagner

Advisor: Dr. Douglas Crawford

“Impact of hydroelectric operations on the physiology of songbirds during fall migration.”

Habitat quality in riparian zones used by Neotropical passerine migrants, important during migration, will vary with changes in water level. This is a critical management consideration for operation of hydroelectric facilities. We conducted a three-year study monitoring physiological condition of migrants in relation to variation in water levels in four passerine species in Revelstoke, British Columbia. Birds were blood-sampled during migration and we measured plasma metabolites (triglyceride, glycerol, and β-hydroxybutyrate) and corticosterone (CORT) as indicators of fattening rate and environmental stress, respectively. Individuals had low baseline CORT and showed robust stress responses following capture. Baseline CORT did not vary with body mass, time of capture, Julian date, or year. However, there was significant annual variation in timing of the stress-induced increase in CORT, and individual variation in the rate of increase in CORT was higher later in the migration period. Our data suggest that plasma CORT could be a useful metric in migration studies. Estimated fattening rate (triglyceride) increased with time of day and date, reflecting diurnal and seasonal variation in fattening, and among species. However, fattening rate did not vary among-years despite marked annual variation in water levels. Plasma glycerol and β-hydroxybutyrate also varied among years, but this was not consistently associated with high or low water levels.

 

Ian C. Zink

Advisors: Dr. Joe Serafy and Dr. Joan Browder

“Temperature and salinity influences on juvenile pink shrimp performance: growth, survival and biomass production.”

The pink shrimp Farfantepenaeus duorarum is an important component of south Florida’s epibenthic faunal communities that contributes prominently to nearshore food webs and supports valuable bait and food fisheries.   Anthropogenic alteration of terrestrial hydrology has substantially changed salinity regimes in their coastal nursery habitats.  Pink shrimp is an indicator species of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), which seeks to re-establish more natural nearshore salinity regimes as one of its goals.  The present study compared the performance of juvenile pink shrimp using a blocked factorial design that included three temperature (T: 22, 27, and 32 ºC) and three salinity (S: 15, 35, 55) levels.  Analysis of variance suggested no significant T x S interaction and that temperature effects were more pronounced than salinity.  Increasing temperature significantly increased growth and biomass production, while survival was either reduced or similar. The highest salinity level (55) negatively influenced virtually all performance metrics, but differences at 15 and 35 were minor. The utility of results will be discussed in relation present-day conditions and CERP goals.  This effort is one of several steps towards developing and applying pink shrimp biomass production models to help evaluate the consequences of different freshwater management scenarios.

 

FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 2013

1PM

RSMAS campus, S/A 103

Pamela Harris

Marine Biology and Fisheries

Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science

University of Miami

4600 Rickenbacker Causeway/SLAB-118

Miami, FL 33149

(305) 421-4176

fax - (305) 421-4600

pharris@rsmas.miami.edu  

 

http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/academics/divisions/marine-biology-fisheries/