Academic literature on the topic 'Coastal ecology – gulf coast (u.s.)'

The "East Gulf Coast" discussed herein embraces the coast of the Gulf of Mexico from Cape Sable, Florida, generally northerly and westerly to the Rigolets, Louisiana (See Figure 1). So far as concerns Federal waterway improvements, the section is under the jurisdiction of the South Atlantic Division, Corps of Engineers, U. S. Array, Atlanta, Ga. That section in Florida as far northward as the mouth of the Aucilla River is administered by the District Engineer, Jacksonville, Fla,; thence westerly to the Rigolets, by the District Engineer, Mobile, Ala.

Mackerels and other piscivorous marine fishes can contain significant levels of mercury. To monitor and better understand mercury levels in mackerel populations, total mercury concentrations were analysed in dorsal muscle tissue from 279 king mackerel, Scomberomorus cavalla, and from 580 Spanish mackerel, S. maculatus, collected from offshore and coastal waters of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico in the south-eastern USA. Mercury levels in king mackerel ranged from 0.19 to 3.6 ppm (mean = 0.94 ppm; median = 0.65 ppm) on the Atlantic coast and from 0.18 to 4.0 ppm (mean = 1.51 ppm; median = 1.3 ppm) on the gulf coast. Total mercury levels for Spanish mackerel ranged from 0.04 to 1.3 ppm (mean = 0.32 ppm; median = 0.27 ppm) on the Atlantic coast and from 0.09 to 3.2 ppm (mean = 0.53 ppm; median = 0.44 ppm) on the gulf coast. Data from the present study suggest that Gulf of Mexico king and Spanish mackerel contain significantly higher levels of mercury than those from the Atlantic coast. Total mercury levels and fish length were positively related in both species and in both regions. A positive relationship between total mercury levels and king mackerel age was also detected. No differences in mercury levels were observed between males and females within either species. Comparisons of pre- and post-1996 mercury levels indicated a short-term historical decline in total mercury levels of Spanish mackerel from gulf-coast waters between 1990 and 2002. Further, mercury levels of these species were higher than those recorded in the 1970s.

Climate change induced sea-level rise (SLR) is on its increase globally. Regionally the lowlands of China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and islands of the Malaysian, Indonesian and Philippine archipelagos are among the world’s most threatened regions. Sea-level rise has major impacts on the ecosystems and society. It threatens coastal populations, economic activities, and fragile ecosystems as mangroves, coastal salt-marches and wetlands. This paper provides a summary of the current state of knowledge of sea level-rise and its effects on both human and natural ecosystems. The focus is on coastal urban areas and low lying deltas in South-East Asia and Vietnam, as one of the most threatened areas in the world. About 3 mm per year reflects the growing consensus on the average SLR worldwide. The trend speeds up during recent decades. The figures are subject to local, temporal and methodological variation. In Vietnam the average values of 3.3 mm per year during the 1993-2014 period are above the worldwide average. Although a basic conceptual understanding exists that the increasing global frequency of the strongest tropical cyclones is related with the increasing temperature and SLR, this relationship is insufficiently understood. Moreover the precise, complex environmental, economic, social, and health impacts are currently unclear. SLR, storms and changing precipitation patterns increase flood risks, in particular in urban areas. Part of the current scientific debate is on how urban agglomeration can be made more resilient to flood risks. Where originally mainly technical interventions dominated this discussion, it becomes increasingly clear that proactive special planning, flood defense, flood risk mitigation, flood preparation, and flood recovery are important, but costly instruments. Next to the main focus on SLR and its effects on resilience, the paper reviews main SLR associated impacts: Floods and inundation, salinization, shoreline change, and effects on mangroves and wetlands. The hazards of SLR related floods increase fastest in urban areas. This is related with both the increasing surface major cities are expected to occupy during the decades to come and the increasing coastal population. In particular Asia and its megacities in the southern part of the continent are increasingly at risk. The discussion points to complexity, inter-disciplinarity, and the related uncertainty, as core characteristics. An integrated combination of mitigation, adaptation and resilience measures is currently considered as the most indicated way to resist SLR today and in the near future.References Aerts J.C.J.H., Hassan A., Savenije H.H.G., Khan M.F., 2000. Using GIS tools and rapid assessment techniques for determining salt intrusion: Stream a river basin management instrument. 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Benthic diatoms have been studied in different areas of the Mediterranean Sea, but no data have been available for Israeli coastal waters until the present time. In this work, the composition, ecology, and phytogeography of diatoms of the macrophytes epiphyton are presented for the first time. Altogether, 85 diatom taxa were found among the epiphyton of 25 species of green, brown, and red macroalgae from the Israeli coast between March and May of 2021. These diatoms represent three classes, 17 orders, 26 families, and 41 genera. The taxonomic composition, ecology, and phytogeography of species are discussed. The distribution of diatoms are compared to that of other macrophytes and anthropogenic loads across the shoreline. The dominant species are given. Ecological characteristics and abundance in communities of revealed species are represented and statistically analyzed. The index of saprobity S varies between 1.69–2.71. Sites that stressed aquatic communities are indicated. The influence of the anthropogenic loads on the coastal territories is defined as a major factor that stimulated diatom species richness. Sites with anthropogenic stress for aquatic communities are indicated. Based on the composition of bioindicators, it is concluded that the section of the Israeli coast studied is oligo-mesotrophic compared to the eutrophic Gulf of Tartus.

Mitochondrial DNA(mtDNA)was analysed to determine the genetic relatedness of striped bass (Morone saxatilis) populations in tributaries to the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Bay of Funday. Mitochondrial DNA genotype frequencies were compared with those of striped bass from the Shubenacadie River (Bay of Fundy) and the Miramichi and Tabusintac rivers (Gulf of St. Lawrence). These mtDNA genotype frequencies were compared with those of striped bass representative of the Atlantic coastal migratory stock originating in the Hudson River and Chesapeake Bay. Differences in the frequencies of mtDNA length variants permitted discrimination of the Shubenacadie River from the Miramichi River and Tabusintac River populations and all three Canadian populations from the U S. spawned costal migratory stock. No difference in the frequency of mtDNA length variants was observed between Tabusintac River and Miramichi River striped bass. Heteroplasmy for mtDNA length variants was observed in 35% of Gulf of St. Lawrence fish, the highest frequency observed in any striped bass population. These results highlight the genetic heterogeneity of these Canadian striped bass populations and their distinctiveness from U S. stocks. Future efforts to restore these depleted Canadian striped bass populations should consider the impact of stock transfer on endemic striped bass gene pools.

New information on the marine parasitic crustaceans from the Campeche coast, Gulf of Mexico (GoM), can improve our baseline knowledge of the ecology of both the host and parasite by providing, for example, parameters of infection. Such knowledge is especially important for fish farming, so that appropriate quarantine measures can be established. Our aim was to morphologically identify the parasitic crustaceans infecting puffer fish of commercial importance in the coastal zone of Campeche, Mexico. We provide new information on four known species of parasitic crustaceans from 92 specimens representing five species of tetraodontid fish. The parasitic crustaceans Argulus sp. (Branchiura, Argulidae), Caligus haemulonis (Caligidae), Pseudochondracanthus diceraus (Chondracanthidae), and Taeniacanthus lagocephali (Taeniacanthidae) (all Copepoda) were found on Lagocephalus laevigatus, Sphoeroides nephelus, S. parvus, S. spengleri, and S. testudineus. This study revealed the occurrence of P. diceraus, which is of importance in aquaculture, on Sphoeroides annulatus in the Mexican Pacific. Additionally, our results and other documentary records provide the first evidence of the interoceanic occurrence of the same parasitic crustacean species in the south-southwest of Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean. Moreover, our study provides valuable information on the biodiversity of parasitic crustaceans present in the GoM on puffer fish which are of great commercial importance for human consumption, fisheries, and aquaculture.

A new early Irvingtonian avifauna is reported from Leisey Shell Pit, Hillsborough County, Florida. Bones of at least 30 extant and 15 extinct taxa are identified, including new species of spoonbill (Ajaia chione) and ibis (Eudocimus leiseyi). The avifauna is composed primarily of aquatic and wading species, with the earliest fossil occurrence of trumpeter swan (Cygnus buccinator), spoonbill, extinct flamingo (Phoenicopterus copei), eagle (Amplibuteo sp.) and the teratorn (Teratornis merriami), and the latest occurrence of an extinct loon (Gavia concinna). The flamingo, eagle, a large teratorn (Teratornis cf. T. incredibilis), and an extinct goose (Branta dickeyi) are also the first records of these taxa in the eastern U. S. The avifauna is indicative of a paleoenvironment of a coastal tidal marsh or wetland with nearby mud flats and sandy shores. This habitat is common along the Gulf Coast of Florida today, but lacks the diversity of avian species that was present in the early Pleistocene.

Twelve species of shorebirds belonging to the families Charadriidae (N = 3) and Scolopacidae (N = 9) were infected with 11 species of Skrjabinoclava and there was little overlap of parasites between these two families of birds. Most Skrjabinoclava spp. are transmitted apparently in marine staging and (or) wintering areas of their hosts, as indicated by the presence of larval stages of six species. There was no evidence that transmission occurs on the breeding grounds in freshwater habitats. Skrjabinoclava tupacincai, found predominantly in sanderlings (Calidris alba (Pallas)), is transmitted on the Pacific (Washington, California, Chile) and Atlantic coasts (New Jersey) in winter and the Gulf of Mexico (Florida and Texas) in winter and spring. Skrjabinoclava myersi was found, with a single exception, only in sanderlings, and transmission is apparently restricted to coastal Washington and California in winter. Skrjabinoclava bakeri, found predominantly in western sandpipers (Calidris mauri Cabanis), is transmitted on the Pacific coast (California) and in the Gulf of Mexico in winter. Skrjabinoclava morrisoni and Skrjabinoclava pusillae were found mainly in semipalmated sandpipers (Calidrispusilla (L.)). Both parasites are transmitted in the Gulf of Mexico in spring, but S. morrisoni is also transmitted in the Bay of Fundy in fall. Skrjabinoclava inornatae, found mainly in willets (Catoptrophorus semipalmatus (Gmelin)), is transmitted in Louisiana, Texas, and Peru in winter. Skrjabinoclava kritscheri was found only in marbled godwits (Limosafedoa (L.)), and it is suggested that infected birds collected in southern Alberta in spring acquired their infections while wintering along the Pacific coast of the United States. Skrjabinoclava hartwichi, found in black turnstones (Arenaria melanocephala (Vigors)) wintering in California and ruddy turnstones (Arenaria interpres (L.)) wintering in Peru, is transmitted along the Pacific coast of North America. Skrjabinoclava semipalmatae was found in semipalmated plovers (Charadrius semipalmatus Bonaparte) wintering in California. Skrjabinoclava wilsoniae was found in Wilson's plover (Charadrius wilsonia Ord) wintering in Texas and in a black-bellied plover (Pluvialis squatarola (L.)) migrating through southern Alberta in spring. Skrjabinoclava bartlettae was found in black-bellied plovers collected in southern Alberta in spring and Louisiana in winter.

Recognizing species diversity is challenging in genera that display interspecific similarity and intraspecific variation; hybridization and the evolution of cryptic hybrid species amplifies these challenges. Recent molecular and morphological research focused on the systematics of Spiranthes (Orchidaceae) support hybrid speciation as an important driver of species diversity, particularly within the S. cernua species complex. Working under an integrated history-bound phylogenetic species concept, new molecular and morphometric data provide evidence for a new and rare cryptic hybrid species resulting from the ancient hybridization of S. cernua × S. odorata, here described as S. bightensis. Although S. bightensis is regionally sympatric with S. cernua it does not co-occur with that species, and it is allopatric with respect to S. odorata. Endemic to a narrow region extending from the Delmarva Peninsula to Long Island, New York, this new species occurs in the shadow of the Northeast megalopolis and appears to have undergone a major population decline over the last 200 years. By recognizing this distinct evolutionary lineage as a new species, this research is the first step towards developing conservation protocols for this rare species and highlights the importance of the North American Geologic Coastal Plain for biodiversity conservation and evolution.

The southernmost tip of Texas is a part of the Tamaulipan Province of northeastern Mexico which some authors consider in the Madrean Subkingdom of the Holarctic Kingdom, while others the “Xerofitica Mexicana” of the Neotropical Kingdom. To shed more light on this question, a natural flora of fourteen counties in the S TX Plains ecoregion, South Texas Plains flora (S TX), was compiled, studied from a biogeographical perspective, and analyzed in this work. The analysis was based primarily on the species and genera distribution outlines. Phylogenetic literature was searched to find relationships, patterns of migrations, and geographical connections of the species of major clades. Taxonometric and geographic spectra of the S TX flora were obtained and compared with those of two other floras in southern Texas: SC Texas (EP, or Edwards Plateau) and Big Bend Region (BB). There are 1250 native species in 553 genera and 117 families in the S TX flora. These species were classified into 25 geographic (floristic) elements. Herein is presented a checklist of S TX accompanied by the geoelement descriptions, a comparison of geographical spectra of the species and genera in all three floras, and the biogeographical analysis of the S TX flora. South TX, having a flat topography and being on the crossroads of migration routes, has multiple connections with adjacent floristic centers. The Tamaulipan endemism is not particularly high (8% in S TX) in comparison with much higher Chihuahuan endemism in BB (23% in BB; 10% in S TX). Proportions of taxa of the largest families in the three southern Texas floras show much higher numbers of tropical-subtropical, Tamaulipan, Gulf Coast, and Mesoamerican (coastal) species in the S TX flora in comparison with those of EP and BB. North temperate, E North American, and Prairie species are best represented in EP (47%), followed by S TX (36%), with only 17% in BB. The majority of the BB differential species are in the Chihuahuan, SW N American, Sonoran/Apachian, and the Madrean geoelements. The genera of the largest family, Asteraceae, that are differential among the three floras show importance of the Mexican (Madrean) centers of diversity as well as migrations from the Tethyan Subkingdom in the assembly of the S TX flora. Tethyan connections are also evident among the Boraginaceae s. str. and some other groups found in the flora. The spectra of generic and specific geographical elements of S TX illustrate transitional position of its flora. It represents an ecotone between the Western (Madrean) and the Eastern (Atlantic and Gulf Coast) N American Regions, with a very high influence of the various Neotropical elements and a higher affinity to the EP flora than to that of BB.

For at least several centuries, sargasso has inhabited the Atlantic Ocean, and there are historical records of these algae reaching the Mexican Veracruz State in the Gulf of Mexico. Blooming of sargasso in the southern tropical Atlantic is a current a global problem from Africa to the Greater Caribbean. Since 2015, exceptionally large quantities of sargasso have been arriving intermittently on the Mexican Caribbean coast, affecting coastal ecosystems and tourist beaches. Sargasso includes two holopelagic species, Sargassum natans and S. fluitans, with several varieties. There are no records of sexual reproduction in these species, and the algae are thought to spread exclusively by clonal reproduction by fragmentation. Although sargasso seaweeds have grown in the Sargasso Sea for centuries; they have not been well studied. This chapter deals with historical aspects of these algae, their taxonomic and morphological characteristics, distribution, ecology, and practical uses. Sargasso blooms in the central Atlantic started in 2011. In later years, the bloom developed to extend from West Africa, Brazil, and the Great Caribbean, including West-Indies, Mexico, and the Gulf of Mexico. The pelagic sargasso is a global phenomenon that must be understood by integrating natural history, modern biology, social and economic aspects.