Theses and Dissertations from UMD

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New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM

More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Littoraria angulifera

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    ASSESSMENT OF MANGROVE AND SALT MARSH MESOCOSM FUNCTIONAL VALUE USING PERIWINKLE SNAILS, LITTORARIA ANGULIFERA AND LITTORARIA IRRORATA, AS AN INDICATOR
    (2004-04-01) Swartwood, Stacy Lyn; Kangas, Patrick C; Marine-Estuarine-Environmental Sciences
    Although much research has been conducted on restoration techniques, questions about the functional value of restored and constructed ecosystems remain. Gastropods are a particularly useful indicator organism because they play a vital role at the detrital interface. This study addresses the question of whether the age structure, population density, and distribution of Littoraria angulifera in the Smithsonian Institution's Florida Everglades mesocosm in Washington, DC is analogous to that of wild populations. The second phase investigates these same factors, in populations of Littoraria irrorata at a reference site on Slaughter Creek and six mesocosm replicates at Horn Point Laboratory in Cambridge, Maryland. Neither the mangrove nor the salt marsh mesocosms were able to support healthy, reproducing populations of periwinkle snails. Salinity, humidity, territory requirements, habitat complexity, precipitation, photoperiod, and tidal variation were identified as potential causal factors for mortality and the absence of evidence of juvenile recruitment to mesocosm populations.