Publications
Explore WARC's science publications.
Filter Total Items: 3374
Seasonal response of ghrelin, growth hormone, and insulin-like growth factor I in the free-ranging Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris)
Seasonal changes in light, temperature, and food availability stimulate a physiological response in an animal. Seasonal adaptations are well studied in Arctic, Sub-Arctic, and hibernating mammals; however, limited studies have been conducted in sub-tropical species. The Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris), a sub-tropical marine mammal, forages less during colder temperatures and may
Authors
Rachel L Tighe, Robert K. Bonde, Julie P. Avery
Stress in mangrove forests: early detection and preemptive rehabilitation are essential for future successful worldwide mangrove forest management
Mangrove forest rehabilitation should begin much sooner than at the point of catastrophic loss. We describe the need for “mangrove forest heart attack prevention”, and how that might be accomplished in a general sense by embedding plot and remote sensing monitoring within coastal management plans. The major cause of mangrove stress at many sites globally is often linked to reduced tidal flows and
Authors
Roy R Lewis, Eric C Milbrandt, Benjamin Brown, Ken W. Krauss, Andre S. Rovai, James W. Beever, Laura L Flynn
The physiology of mangrove trees with changing climate
Mangrove forests grow on saline, periodically flooded soils of the tropical and subtropical coasts. The tree species that comprise the mangrove are halophytes that have suites of traits that confer differing levels of tolerance of salinity, aridity, inundation and extremes of temperature. Here we review how climate change and elevated levels of atmospheric CO2 will influence mangrove forests. Tole
Authors
Catherine E. Lovelock, Ken W. Krauss, Michael J. Osland, Ruth Reef, Marilyn C. Ball
First documented case of snake fungal disease in a free-ranging wild snake in Louisiana
Snake fungal disease (SFD) is a recently documented mycotic disease characterized by scabs or crusty scales, subcutaneous nodules, abnormal molting, cloudiness of the eyes (not associated with molting), and localized thickening or crusting of the skin. SFD has been documented in many species in the Eastern and Midwestern United States within the last decade. SFD has proven lethal in many snakes, a
Authors
Brad M. Glorioso, J. Hardin Waddle, David E. Green, Jeffrey M. Lorch
Walter Rowe Courtenay, Jr. (1933–2014)
WALTER R. COURTENAY, JR., ichthyologist and retired professor, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, died in Gainesville, Florida, on 30 January 2014 at age 80. Walt was born in Neenah, Wisconsin, on 6 November 1933, son of Walter and Emily Courtenay. Walt's interest in fish began at a young age as evidenced by a childhood diary in which at 13 years of age he wrote about his first catc
Authors
Amy J. Benson
ECOGIG: Oil spill effects on deep-sea corals through the lenses of natural hydrocarbon seeps and long time series
The 2015 Ecosystem Impacts of Oil and Gas Inputs to the Gulf (ECOGIG) expedition was a continuation of a three-year partnership between our Gulf of Mexico Research Institute-funded research consortium and the Ocean Exploration Trust to study the effects of oil and dispersant on corals and closely related communities affected by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill (White et al., 2012, 2014; Hsing
Authors
Erik E. Cordes, Steven Auscavitch, Iliana B. Baums, Charles R. Fisher, Fanny Girard, Carlos Gomez, Jennifer P. McClain-Counts, Howard P. Mendlovitz, Miles Saunders, Styles Smith, Samuel Vohsen, Alaina Weinheimer
Disentangling vegetation diversity from climate–energy and habitat heterogeneity for explaining animal geographic patterns
Broad-scale animal diversity patterns have been traditionally explained by hypotheses focused on climate–energy and habitat heterogeneity, without considering the direct influence of vegetation structure and composition. However, integrating these factors when considering plant–animal correlates still poses a major challenge because plant communities are controlled by abiotic factors that may, at
Authors
Borja Jimenez-Alfaro, Milan Chytry, Ladislav Mucina, James B. Grace, Marcel Rejmanek
Wetland tree transpiration modified by river-floodplain connectivity
Hydrologic connectivity provisions water and nutrient subsidies to floodplain wetlands and may be particularly important in floodplains with seasonal water deficits through its effects on soil moisture. In this study, we measured sapflow in 26 trees of two dominant floodplain forest species (Celtis laevigata and Quercus lyrata) at two hydrologically distinct sites in the lower White River floodpla
Authors
Scott T. Allen, Ken W. Krauss, J. Wesley Cochran, Sammy L. King, Richard F. Keim
Spatial configuration trends in coastal Louisiana from 1985 to 2010
From 1932 to 2010, coastal Louisiana has experienced a net loss of 4877 km2 of wetlands. As the area of these wetlands has changed, so too has the spatial configuration of the landscape. The resulting landscape is a mosaic of patches of wetlands and open water. This study examined the spatial and temporal variability of trajectories of landscape configuration and the relation of those patterns to
Authors
Brady Couvillion, Michelle Fischer, Holly J. Beck, William J. Sleavin
Migratory corridors of adult female Kemp’s ridley turtles in the Gulf of Mexico
For many marine species, locations of migratory pathways are not well defined. We used satellite telemetry and switching state-space modeling (SSM) to define the migratory corridor used by Kemp's ridley turtles (Lepidochelys kempii) in the Gulf of Mexico. The turtles were tagged after nesting at Padre Island National Seashore, Texas, USA from 1997 to 2014 (PAIS; n = 80); Rancho Nuevo, Tamaulipas,
Authors
Donna J. Shaver, Kristen M. Hart, Ikuko Fujisaki, Cynthia Rubio, Autumn R. Sartain-Iverson, Jaime Pena, Daniel Gomez Gamez, Raul de Jesus Gonzales Diaz Miron, Patrick M. Burchfield, Hector J. Martinez, Jaime Ortiz
Differences in impacts of Hurricane Sandy on freshwater swamps on the Delmarva Peninsula, Mid−Atlantic Coast, USA
Hurricane wind and surge may have different influences on the subsequent composition of forests. During Hurricane Sandy, while damaging winds were highest near landfall in New Jersey, inundation occurred along the entire eastern seaboard from Georgia to Maine. In this study, a comparison of damage from salinity intrusion vs. wind/surge was recorded in swamps of the Delmarva Peninsula along the Poc
Authors
Beth A. Middleton
Comment on "Worldwide evidence of a unimodal relationship between productivity and plant species richness"
Fraser et al. (Reports, 17 July 2015, p. 302) report a unimodal relationship between productivity and species richness at regional and global scales, which they contrast with the results of Adler et al. (Reports, 23 September 2011, p. 1750). However, both data sets, when analyzed correctly, show clearly and consistently that productivity is a poor predictor of local species richness.
Authors
Andrew T. Tredennick, Peter B. Adler, James B. Grace, W Stanley Harpole, Elizabeth T. Borer, Eric W. Seabloom, T. Michael Anderson, Jonathan D. Bakker, Lori A. Biederman, Cynthia S. Brown, Yvonne M. Buckley, Cheng-Jin Chu, Scott L. Collins, Michael J. Crawley, Philip A. Fay, Jennifer Firn, Daniel S. Gruner, Nicole Hagenah, Yann Hautier, Andy Hector, Helmut Hillebrand, Kevin P. Kirkman, Johannes M. H. Knops, Ramesh Laungani, Eric M. Lind, Andrew S. MacDougall, Rebecca L. McCulley, Charles E. Mitchell, Joslin L. Moore, John W. Morgan, John L. Orrock, Pablo L. Peri, Suzanne M. Prober, Anita C. Risch, Martin Schuetz, Karina L. Speziale, Rachel J. Standish, Lauren L. Sullivan, Glenda M. Wardle, Ryan J. Williams, Louie H. Yang