UMD Theses and Dissertations
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Item SURVIVING THE DEAD ZONE: INTERACTIONS AMONG JELLYFISH, COPEPODS, AND FISH IN THE CHESAPEAKE BAY(2020) slater, wencheng katherine; Pierson, James J; Marine-Estuarine-Environmental Sciences; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The oxygen-deficient areas (dissolved oxygen < 2 mg L-1) in oceans and estuaries have been increasing worldwide in recent decades and are especially common in populated and developed areas due to eutrophication and warming. The objectives of this dissertation were to understand the effects of hypoxia on zooplankton and the plankton foodweb in the Chesapeake Bay. The study focused on copepod (Acartia tonsa) and its major predators bay anchovy (Anchoa mitchilli), comb jellyfish (Mnemiopsis leidyi), and bay nettle (Chrysaora chesapeakii) with data collected during six cruises in 2010 and 2011 and an individual-based model. Oxygen deficiency was evaluated with both dissolved oxygen concentration (DO < 2 mg L-1) and the oxygen supply and demand of the copepod (pO2 < Pcrit). The effects of hypoxia on zooplankton concentrations were estimated with net tows, and the impact of hypoxia on the plankton foodweb were quantified by comparing copepods’ nonpredatory mortality (estimated with neutral red experiments) and predatory mortality (estimated with gut contents of comb jellyfish and bay anchovy). A copepod behavior model was also built to examine how stress-induced behavior affected copepod vertical distributions and the tradeoffs between avoiding both hypoxia and predation. The results indicated the impact of oxygen deficiency could be underestimated using solely the metric of dissolved oxygen, especially under warm and saline conditions. Both copepod and planktivorous fish concentrations were lower under hypoxic conditions, but gelatinous zooplankton concentrations were higher. Both nonpredatory and predatory mortality of copepods were higher under hypoxic conditions, suggesting a direct linkage between hypoxia and decreasing copepod abundance. Most importantly, the source of copepod mortality changed with both hypoxic severity and season: the relative importance shifted from nonpredatory in spring to a combination of predatory and nonpredatory in summer and autumn, and the dominant predators shifted from juvenile bay anchovies under moderate hypoxia to comb jellyfish under warm and severely hypoxic conditions. The model demonstrated how enhancing stress avoidance would result in aggregating at a shallower depth and thus increasing predation risk, supporting the hypothesis that behavior change under hypoxia may increase predatory mortality. Overall my research has shown that hypoxia directly decreases zooplankton abundance and increases predation impact, and avoiding hypoxia could contribute to higher predation impact.Item The long-term change of Chesapeake Bay hypoxia: impacts of eutrophication, nutrient management and climate change(2019) Ni, Wenfei; Li, Ming; Marine-Estuarine-Environmental Sciences; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Eutrophication-induced coastal hypoxia can result in stressful habitat for marine living resources and cause great economic losses. Nutrient management strategies have been implemented in many coastal systems to improve water quality. However, the outcomes to mitigate hypoxia have been mixed and usually small when only modest nutrient load reduction was achieved. Meanwhile, there has been increasing recognition of climate change impacts on estuarine hypoxia, given estuaries are especially vulnerable to climate change with multiple influences from river, ocean and the atmosphere. Due to the limitation of observational studies and the lack of continuous historical data, long-term oxygen dynamics in response to the changes of external forces are still not well understood. This study utilized a numerical model to quantitatively investigate a century of change of Chesapeake Bay hypoxia in response to varying external forces in nutrient inputs and climate. With intensifying eutrophication since 1950, model results suggest an abrupt increase in volume and duration of hypoxia from 1950s-1960s to 1970s-1980s. This turning point of hypoxia might be related with Tropical Storm Agnes and consecutive wet years with relatively small summer wind speed. During 1985-2016 when the riverine nutrient inputs were modestly decreased, the simulated bottom dissolved oxygen exhibited a statistically significant declining trend of ~0.01 mgL-1yr-1 which mostly occurred in winter and spring. Warming was found to be the dominant driver of the long-term oxygen decline whereas sea level rise had a minor effect. Warming has overcome the benefit of nutrient reduction in Chesapeake Bay to diminish hypoxia over the past three decades. By the mid-21st century, the hypoxic and anoxic volumes are projected to increase by 10-30% in Chesapeake Bay if the riverine nutrient inputs are maintained at high level as in 1990s. Sea level rise and larger winter-spring runoff will generate stronger stratification and large reductions in the vertical oxygen supply to the bottom water. The future warming will lead to earlier initiation of hypoxia, accompanied by weaker summer respiration and more rapid termination of hypoxia. The findings of this study can help guide climate adaptation strategies and nutrient load abatement in Chesapeake Bay and other hypoxic estuaries.Item The effects of co-varying diel-cycling hypoxia and pH on disease susceptibility, growth, and feeding in Crassostrea virginica(2014) Keppel, Andrew George; Breitburg, Denise L; North, Elizabeth W; Marine-Estuarine-Environmental Sciences; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Diel-cycling hypoxia and pH co-occur in shallow waters world-wide. Eutrophication tends to increase the occurrence and severity of diel cycles. We used laboratory experiments to investigate effects of diel-cycling DO and pH on acquisition and progression of infections by Perkinsus marinus, the protistan parasite which causes Dermo disease, as well as hemocyte activity, growth, and feeding in the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, an important estuarine species. Diel-cycling DO increased P. marinus infection and cycling DO and pH stimulated hemocyte activity and reduced oyster growth. However, ambient environmental conditions and oyster age modulated some of these effects. Co-varying DO and pH cycles sometimes had less severe effects than either cycle independently. Oysters may acclimate to, or compensate for, effects of cycling conditions on growth. Variation in magnitude and spatial extent of cycling conditions is an important consideration when choosing restoration sites, as severe cycling conditions may hinder re-establishment of estuarine populations.Item MODELING POTENTIAL HABITAT OF CHESAPEAKE BAY LIVING RESOURCES(2012) Schlenger, Adam James; North, Elizabeth; Marine-Estuarine-Environmental Sciences; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)A quantitative understanding is needed to identify the impacts of climate change and eutrophication on the habitat of living resources so that effective management can be applied. A systematic literature review was conducted to obtain the physiological tolerances to temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen for a suite of Chesapeake Bay species. Information obtained was used to define required and optimal habitat conditions for use in a habitat volume model. Quality matrices were developed in order to quantify the level of confidence for each parameter. Simulations from a coupled oxygen and hydrodynamic model of the Chesapeake Bay were used to estimate habitat volumes of juvenile sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus) and to assess sensitivity of habitat to environmental factors. Temperature and salinity define spring and fall habitat and a combination of salinity, temperature and dissolved oxygen influence habitat in summer. Both fixed criteria and bioenergetics habitat volume models yielded similar results.Item Bioenergetic responses of Chesapeake Bay white perch to nursery conditions of temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen(2009) Hanks, Deanna McQuarrie; Secor, David H.; Marine-Estuarine-Environmental Sciences; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Changes in the physical and chemical structure of estuaries affect the habitat availability for anadromous species. White perch, an estuarine species, are among the most abundant and important fishes in the Chesapeake Bay. Here, I evaluate nursery quality for juvenile white perch by measuring metabolic and growth responses over a range of environmental conditions such as salinity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen. Rearing white perch in 10-d trials varying in temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen conditions, I estimated growth rates, feeding rates, gross growth efficiency, and routine metabolism. Juveniles experienced higher feeding and growth rates in warmer, more oxygenated waters. In hypoxic environments (<40% saturation), metabolic rates increased as much as 4-fold while growth decreased 3-fold and feeding decreased 2-fold. My results indicate that while white perch are well suited to the saline and thermal conditions present in the Bay, nursery habitat value can be substantially curtailed by hypoxia.Item The effects of low dissolved oxygen on predation interactions between Mnemiopsis leidyi ctenophores and larval fish in the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem(2006-11-27) Kolesar, Sarah Elizabeth; Breitburg, Denise L; Boynton, Walter R; Marine-Estuarine-Environmental Sciences; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Differences in predator and prey tolerances to low dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations are important to planktonic food webs in seasonally hypoxic environments like Chesapeake Bay. Hypoxia alters field distributions, encounter rates, and predator-prey interactions between hypoxia-tolerant ctenophores, Mnemiopsis leidyi, and less tolerant ichthyoplankton and zooplankton prey. To examine the effect of hypoxia on estuarine food web species' interactions, I conducted medium and small-scale experiments, field sampling, and collaborated on individual-based model development, focusing on ctenophore-larval fish dynamics. Laboratory estimates of clearance rates for ctenophores on bay anchovy (Anchoa mitchilli) eggs and yolk sac larvae, and naked goby (Gobiosoma bosc) feeding larvae were the same at low and high DO. Field sampling for M. leidyi, ichthyoplankton, mesozooplankton, and scyphomedusae (Chrysaora quinquecirrha) during day and night at two sites in the Patuxent River indicated increased abundance of most species in the bottom layer with increasing bottom DO. Vertical overlap between predator and prey pairs also increased with higher bottom DO, increasing potential encounters and predation. Larval fish swimming speeds did not differ significantly with DO, but ctenophores swam significantly faster at intermediate DO (2.5 mg L-1) than at either low or high DO. DO did not significantly affect ingestion. Greater ingestion of fish larvae by ctenophores followed multiple encounters (56%) than initial encounters (10%) at all DO concentrations, highlighting the potential importance of repeated predator-prey interactions. DO did not significantly affect encounter model estimates of ingestion rates. Ingestions averaged 0.4 fish larvae d-1 m-3 for first encounters and 2 fish larvae d-1 m-3 for multiple encounters. Results from laboratory and field studies parameterized a spatially-explicit individual based model of a ctenophore-ichthyoplankton-copepod intraguild predation food web. Ctenophore predation had a bigger effect on survival of modeled ichthyoplankton than did competition between ctenophores and fish larvae for shared zooplankton prey, but competition more strongly affected larval fish growth rates. DO did not alter the relative importance of ctenophore predation and competition, but low DO did decrease larval fish survival and increase growth rates. Results suggest that effects of DO on vertical distribution and species overlap are more important to predation than direct DO effects.Item Epifaunal Disturbance By Periodic Low Dissolved Oxygen: Native Versus Invasive Species Response(2005-07-22) Jewett, Elizabeth Bromley; Sebens, Kenneth P; Hines, Anson H; Biology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Invasive species and low dissolved oxygen (DO) threaten the biodiversity and ecosystem health of estuaries worldwide. To test the hypothesis that exposure to low DO reduces resistance of epifaunal community to invasion in the Chesapeake Bay, we conducted experiments using standardized settling panels, including 1) controlled experiments exposing epifaunal communities to low DO; 2) measurement of the short term response of motile and sessile epifauna to low DO; 3) survey of multiple sites in which community structure was correlated with low DO and other environmental variables; and 4) evaluation of the biological and structural effects of an invasive hydroid and a cryptogenic tunicate, both with high tolerance for low DO, on recruitment and development of epifauna. Periodic hypoxia was correlated with an increased cover of the native serpulid polychaete, <i>Hydroides dianthus </i>. Cover of invasive and cryptogenic species increased with exposure to moderate low DO. Cover and incidence of bryozoans, sabellid polychaetes, and cnidarians differed among DO treatments. Nematodes, caprellids, and harpacticoid copepods vacated epifaunal communities in response to low DO. In the multi-site survey, > 50% cover of invasive and cryptogenic species was associated with exposure to chronic low DO. Six of eight sites in the survey experienced periodic low DO (< 4 mg/l), but only one experienced chronic low DO ( > 40% of days below 4 mg/l DO). Shifting cover of <i>Hydroides dianthus </i>, barnacles, and invasive species was correlated (> 50%) with percent of days experiencing low DO. Epifaunal heterogeneity reflected environmental differences among sites. Species richness and diversity at local sites declined with increasing abundance of certain taxa in higher salinity, higher diversity areas. Heightened cover of <i>Molgula manhattensis</i>, <i>Hydroides dianthus</i> or barnacles led to reduced local diversity but regional species diversity was maintained through environmental heterogeneity across sites. Conversely, in lower salinity, lower diversity zone, <i>Cordylophora caspia</i>, an invasive hydroid, had a positive effect on some species. Temporal and spatial shifts in cover of dominant species and in species diversity in response to low DO disturbance and other environmental factors may facilitate persistence of less competitive native or invasive species.