Acoustic telemetry studies of bonefish (Albula vulpes ) movement around Andros Island, Bahamas: Implications for species management

Bonefish (Albula spp.) support an economically important catch-and-release recreational fishery, as well as artisanal harvesting, in The Bahamas. Little is known about the large-scale movement patterns of bonefish, yet such information is essential for proper species conservation and management. ^ I used acoustic telemetry to determine large-scale movement patterns of bonefish around Andros, Bahamas, in conjunction with presumed spawning migrations. I conclude that bonefish travel long distances from shallow flats to pre-spawning aggregation sites in proximity to off-shore reef locations. Off-shore movement to deeper reef locations occurs around both new and full moons. This study has also confirmed anecdotal reports that the North Bight is an important spawning migration corridor for bonefish. ^ This information is critical for the protection of bonefish and identifies important habitats (e.g. migration corridors and pre-spawning aggregations) on Andros that warrant protection from coastal degradation or fishing pressures. ^

Phylogenetics, conservation, and historical biogeography of the West Indian members of the Adelieae (Euphorbiaceae)

The Caribbean Island Biodiversity Hotspot is the largest insular system of the New World and a priority for biodiversity conservation worldwide. The tribe Adeliae (Euphorbiaceae) has over 35 species endemic to this hotspot, representing one of the most extraordinary cases of speciation in the West Indies, involving taxa from Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and the Bahamas. These species form a monophyletic group and traditionally have been accommodated in two endemic genera: Lasiocroton and Leucocroton. A study based on: (1) scanning electron microscopy of pollen and trichomes, (2) macromorphology, and (3) molecular data, was conducted to reveal generic relationships within this group. Phylogenies were based on parsimony and Bayesian analyses of nucleotide sequences of the ITS regions of the nuclear ribosomal DNA and the non-coding chloroplast DNA spacers psbM-trnD and ycf6-pcbM. One species, Lasiocroton trelawniensis, was transferred from the tribe into the genus Bernardia. Of the remaining species, three major monophyletic assemblages were revealed, one was restricted to limestone ares of Hispaniola and was sister to a clade with two monophyletic genera, Lasiocroton and Leucocroton. Morphological, biogeographical, and ecological data provided additional support for each of these three monophyletic assemblages. The Hispaniolan taxa were accommodated in a new genus with four species: Garciadelia. Leucocroton includes the nickel hyperaccumulating species from serpentine soils of Cuba, while the rest of the species were placed in Lasiocroton, a genus restricted to limestone areas. The geographic history of the islands as well as the phylogenetic placement of the Leucocroton-alliance, allows the research to include the historical biogeography of the alliance across the islands of the Caribbean based on a dispersal-vicariance analysis. The alliance arose on Eastern Cuba and Hispaniola, with Lasiocroton and Leucocroton diverging on Eastern Cuba according to soil type. Within Leucocroton, the analysis shows two migrations across the serpentine soils of Cuba. Additional morphological, ecological, and phylogenetic analyses support four new species in Cuba (Lasiocroton gutierrezii) and Hispaniola ( Garciadelia abbottii, G. castilloae, and G. mejiae). ^

Water resources assessment and geographic information system (GIS)-based stormwater runoff estimates for artificial recharge of freshwater aquifers in New Providence, Bahamas

The Bahamas is a small island nation that is dealing with the problem of freshwater shortage. All of the country’s freshwater is contained in shallow lens aquifers that are recharged solely by rainfall. The country has been struggling to meet the water demands by employing a combination of over-pumping of aquifers, transport of water by barge between islands, and desalination of sea water. In recent decades, new development on New Providence, where the capital city of Nassau is located, has created a large area of impervious surfaces and thereby a substantial amount of runoff with the result that several of the aquifers are not being recharged. A geodatabase was assembled to assess and estimate the quantity of runoff from these impervious surfaces and potential recharge locations were identified using a combination of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing. This study showed that runoff from impervious surfaces in New Providence represents a large freshwater resource that could potentially be used to recharge the lens aquifers on New Providence.

Does landscape context affect habitat value? The importance of seascape ecology in back-reef systems

Seascape ecology provides a useful framework from which to understand the processes governing spatial variability in ecological patterns. Seascape context, or the composition and pattern of habitat surrounding a focal patch, has the potential to impact resource availability, predator-prey interactions, and connectivity with other habitats. For my dissertation research, I combined a variety of approaches to examine how habitat quality for fishes is influenced by a diverse range of seascape factors in sub-tropical, back-reef ecosystems. In the first part of my dissertation, I examined how seascape context can affect reef fish communities on an experimental array of artificial reefs created in various seascape contexts in Abaco, Bahamas. I found that the amount of seagrass at large spatial scales was an important predictor of community assembly on these reefs. Additionally, seascape context had differing effects on various aspects of habitat quality for the most common reef species, White grunt Haemulon plumierii. The amount of seagrass at large spatial scales had positive effects on fish abundance and secondary production, but not on metrics of condition and growth. The second part of my dissertation focused on how foraging conditions for fish varied across a linear seascape gradient in the Loxahatchee River estuary in Florida, USA. Gray snapper, Lutjanus griseus, traded food quality for quantity along this estuarine gradient, maintaining similar growth rates and condition among sites. Additional work focused on identifying major energy flow pathways to two consumers in oyster-reef food webs in the Loxahatchee. Algal and microphytobenthos resource pools supported most of the production to these consumers, and body size for one of the consumers mediated food web linkages with surrounding mangrove habitats. All of these studies examined a different facet of the importance of seascape context in governing ecological processes occurring in focal habitats and underscore the role of connectivity among habitats in back-reef systems. The results suggest that management approaches consider the surrounding seascape when prioritizing areas for conservation or attempting to understand the impacts of seascape change on focal habitat patches. For this reason, spatially-based management approaches are recommended to most effectively manage back-reef systems.

Molecular Evidence for Taxonomic Relationships of the Endangered Species Jacquemontia Reclinata (Convolvulaceae)

Jacquemontia reclinata House (Convolvulaceae) is a federally-listed endangered species endemic to coastal strand habitat of southeastern Florida, from Palm Beach to Miami-Dade counties. Although J. reclinata is currently defined as a species, its taxonomic distinctness has never been analyzed using phylogenetic evidence. In order to assess the evolutionary distinctness of J. reclinata and identify its closest relatives, internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions within nuclear ribosomal DNA were sequenced, and the sequence data was used to reconstruct a phylogeny of Jacquemontia. The study included the three putative relatives of J. reclinata and all other species within Jacquemontia known to occur in the Greater Antilles and Bahamas, except for three species. Results concur with previous morphological studies, which suggest that J. reclinata is closely related to J. cayensis Britton, J. curtisii Peter, and J. havanensis Urban. These three species and J. reclinata form an unresolved clade. Therefore, it is not certain which of these Caribbean species is sister to J. reclinata. The lack of resolution within the clade that includes J. reclinata implies that the taxa within the clade are evolutionarily similar. Future taxonomic studies of J. reclinata should focus in resolving relationships within the Jacquemontia reclinata clade.

Relevance of the community college curriculum to the international student

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the perception of the level of satisfaction that international students have regarding the services and the relevance of the curriculum offered at Miami-Dade Community College. Trends and issues at universities and community colleges in providing services and an international curriculum for foreign students are outlined. Focus is on characteristics, personal and career needs as well as needs of national development for the students' countries. A sample of students from four developing nations was selected to qualitatively and quantitatively determine their level of satisfaction. The nations are the Bahamas, Colombia, Haiti and Pakistan. Students responses were recorded through group interviews, four personal interviews, an open ended questionnaire and a Likert scaled survey questionnaire. Matrix charts, mean calculations and one way analysis of variance were used to analyze data collected. Country of origin and major program of study were the variables used for statistical analysis. Information gathered through qualitative research presented a variety of perspectives and responses, both positive and negative. Students supplied specific examples of experiences and insights to help explain their various perceptions. Statistically, there were no significant differences between the variables of country of origin and major program of study regarding program services and relevance of the curriculum. Implications and recommendations for community college programs were outlined.

Acoustic Telemetry Studies of Bonefish (Albula vulpes) Movement Around Andros Island, Bahamas: Implications for Species Management

Bonefish (Albula spp.) support an economically important catch-and-release recreational fishery, as well as artisanal harvesting, in The Bahamas. Little is known about the large-scale movement patterns of bonefish, yet such information is essential for proper species conservation and management. I used acoustic telemetry to determine large-scale movement patterns of bonefish around Andros, Bahamas, in conjunction with presumed spawning migrations. I conclude that bonefish travel long distances from shallow flats to pre-spawning aggregation sites in proximity to off-shore reef locations. Off-shore movement to deeper reef locations occurs around both new and full moons. This study has also confirmed anecdotal reports that the North Bight is an important spawning migration corridor for bonefish. This information is critical for the protection of bonefish and identifies important habitats (e.g. migration corridors and pre-spawning aggregations) on Andros that warrant protection from coastal degradation or fishing pressures.

Sedimentology and faunal compositions of surface sediments from the southern Florida Strait

The water masses in the Florida Straits and Bahamas region are important sources for the Northern Atlantic surface ocean circulation. In this study, we analyse carbonate preservation in surface sediments located above the chemical lysocline in the Florida Straits and Bahamas region and discuss possible reasons for supralysoclinal dissolution. Calcite dissolution proxies such as the variation of the foraminiferal assemblage, Fragmentation Index, Benthic Foraminifera Index, and Resistance Index displayed a good preservation in both areas. The pteropod species Limacina inflata showed very good preservation in sediments of inter-platform channels from the Great Bahama Bank (Providence Channel, Exuma Sound) above the aragonite lysocline. Supralysoclinal aragonite dissolution, however, was observed at two water depth levels (800-1000 m and below 1500 m) in the Florida Straits. Our observations suggest that the supralysoclinal dissolution in the Florida Straits is due to the degradation of organic material. The presence of Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) may be a contributing factor for the significant aragonite dissolution in 800-1000 m. The comparison of modern preservation patterns of the surface sediments with hydrographical measurements shows that the L. inflata Dissolution Index (LDX) might be an adequate proxy to reconstruct paleo-water mass conditions in an area which is highly saturated with respect to calcium carbonate.

Carbonate preservation of sediment cores from the Great Bahama Bank

The oceanic carbon cycle mainly comprises the production and dissolution/ preservation of carbonate particles in the water column or within the sediment. Carbon dioxide is one of the major controlling factors for the production and dissolution of carbonate. There is a steady exchange between the ocean and atmosphere in order to achieve an equilibrium of CO2; an anthropogenic rise of CO2 in the atmosphere would therefore also increase the amount of CO2 in the ocean. The increased amount of CO2 in the ocean, due to increasing CO2-emissions into the atmosphere since the industrial revolution, has been interpreted as "ocean acidification" (Caldeira and Wickett, 2003). Its alarming effects, such as dissolution and reduced CaCO3 formation, on reefs and other carbonate shell producing organisms form the topic of current discussions (Kolbert, 2006). Decreasing temperatures and increasing pressure and CO2 enhance the dissolution of carbonate particles at the sediment-water interface in the deep sea. Moreover, dissolution processes are dependent of the saturation state of the surrounding water with respect to calcite or aragonite. Significantly increased dissolution has been observed below the aragonite or calcite chemical lysocline; below the aragonite compensation depth (ACD), or calcite compensation depth (CCD), all aragonite or calcite particles, respectively, are dissolved. Aragonite, which is more prone to dissolution than calcite, features a shallower lysocline and compensation depth than calcite. In the 1980's it was suggested that significant dissolution also occurs in the water column or at the sediment-water interface above the lysocline. Unknown quantities of carbonate produced at the sea surface, would be dissolved due to this process. This would affect the calculation of the carbonate production and the entire carbonate budget of the world's ocean. Following this assumption, a number of studies have been carried out to monitor supralysoclinal dissolution at various locations: at Ceara Rise in the western equatorial Atlantic (Martin and Sayles, 1996), in the Arabian Sea (Milliman et al., 1999), in the equatorial Indian Ocean (Peterson and Prell, 1985; Schulte and Bard, 2003), and in the equatorial Pacific (Kimoto et al., 2003). Despite the evidence for supralysoclinal dissolution in some areas of the world's ocean, the question still exists whether dissolution occurs above the lysocline in the entire ocean. The first part of this thesis seeks answers to this question, based on the global budget model of Milliman et al. (1999). As study area the Bahamas and Florida Straits are most suitable because of the high production of carbonate, and because there the depth of the lysocline is the deepest worldwide. To monitor the occurrence of supralysoclinal dissolution, the preservation of aragonitic pteropod shells was determined, using the Limacina inflata Dissolution Index (LDX; Gerhardt and Henrich, 2001). Analyses of the grain-size distribution, the mineralogy, and the foraminifera assemblage revealed further aspects concerning the preservation state of the sediment. All samples located at the Bahamian platform are well preserved. In contrast, the samples from the Florida Straits show dissolution in 800 to 1000 m and below 1500 m water depth. Degradation of organic material and the subsequent release of CO2 probably causes supralysoclinal dissolution. A northward extension of the corrosive Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) flows through the Caribbean Sea into the Gulf of Mexico and might enhance dissolution processes at around 1000 m water depth. The second part of this study deals with the preservation of Pliocene to Holocene carbonate sediments from both the windward and leeward basins adjacent to Great Bahama Bank (Ocean Drilling Program Sites 632, 633, and 1006). Detailed census counts of the sand fraction (250-500 µm) show the general composition of the coarse grained sediment. Further methods used to examine the preservation state of carbonates include the amount of organic carbon and various dissolution indices, such as the LDX and the Fragmentation Index. Carbonate concretions (nodules) have been observed in the sand fraction. They are similar to the concretions or aggregates previously mentioned by Mullins et al. (1980a) and Droxler et al. (1988a), respectively. Nonetheless, a detailed study of such grains has not been made to date, although they form an important part of periplatform sediments. Stable isotopemeasurements of the nodules' matrix confirm previous suggestions that the nodules have formed in situ as a result of early diagenetic processes (Mullins et al., 1980a). The two cores, which are located in Exuma Sound (Sites 632 and 633), at the eastern margin of Great Bahama Bank (GBB), show an increasing amount of nodules with increasing core depth. In Pliocene sediments, the amount of nodules might rise up to 100%. In contrast, nodules only occur within glacial stages in the deeper part of the studied core interval (between 30 and 70 mbsf) at Site 1006 on the western margin of GBB. Above this level the sediment is constantly being flushed by bottom water, that might also contain corrosive AAIW, which would hinder cementation. Fine carbonate particles (<63 µm) form the matrix of the nodules and do therefore not contribute to the fine fraction. At the same time, the amount of the coarse fraction (>63 µm) increases due to the nodule formation. The formation of nodules might therefore significantly alter the grain-size distribution of the sediment. A direct comparison of the amount of nodules with the grain-size distribution shows that core intervals with high amounts of nodules are indeed coarser than the intervals with low amounts of nodules. On the other hand, an initially coarser sediment might facilitate the formation of nodules, as a high porosity and permeability enhances early diagenetic processes (Westphal et al., 1999). This suggestion was also confirmed: the glacial intervals at Site 1006 are interpreted to have already been rather coarse prior to the formation of nodules. This assumption is based on the grain-size distribution in the upper part of the core, which is not yet affected by diagenesis, but also shows coarser sediment during the glacial stages. As expected, the coarser, glacial deposits in the lower part of the core show the highest amounts of nodules. The same effect was observed at Site 632, where turbidites cause distinct coarse layers and reveal higher amounts of nodules than non-turbiditic sequences. Site 633 shows a different pattern: both the amount of nodules and the coarseness of the sediment steadily increase with increasing core depth. Based on these sedimentological findings, the following model has been developed: a grain-size pattern characterised by prominent coarse peaks (as observed at Sites 632 and 1006) is barely altered. The greatest coarsening effect due to the nodule formation will occur in those layers, which have initially been coarser than the adjacent sediment intervals. In this case, the overall trend of the grain-size pattern before and after formation of the nodules is similar to each other. Although the sediment is altered due to diagenetic processes, grain size could be used as a proxy for e.g. changes in the bottom-water current. The other case described in the model is based on a consistent initial grain-size distribution, as observed at Site 633. In this case, the nodule reflects the increasing diagenetic alteration with increasing core depth rather than the initial grain-size pattern. In the latter scenario, the overall grain-size trend is significantly changed which makes grain size unreliable as a proxy for any palaeoenvironmental changes. The results of this study contribute to the understanding of general sedimentation processes in the periplatform realm: the preservation state of surface samples shows the influence of supralysoclinal dissolution due to the degradation of organic matter and due to the presence of corrosive water masses; the composition of the sand fraction shows the alteration of the carbonate sediment due to early diagenetic processes. However, open questions are how and when the alteration processes occur and how geochemical parameters, such as the rise in alkalinity or the amount of strontium, are linked to them. These geochemical parameters might reveal more information about the depth in the sediment column, where dissolution and cementation processes occur.

What are the effects of the 6 +1 Writing Traits on the Attitudes and Writing Skills of Fifth Grade ELLs?

In the Bahamas, ELLs consist mainly of Haitian descent students. Unfortunately, this demographic of students continuously score below their Bahamian counterparts in Creative Writing. This research examined the affects the 6 + 1 Writing Traits assessment had on the attitudes and writing abilities of fifteen, fifth grade, Haitian descent students.

Does Landscape Context Affect Habitat Value? The Importance of Seascape Ecology in Back-reef Systems

Seascape ecology provides a useful framework from which to understand the processes governing spatial variability in ecological patterns. Seascape context, or the composition and pattern of habitat surrounding a focal patch, has the potential to impact resource availability, predator-prey interactions, and connectivity with other habitats. For my dissertation research, I combined a variety of approaches to examine how habitat quality for fishes is influenced by a diverse range of seascape factors in sub-tropical, back-reef ecosystems. In the first part of my dissertation, I examined how seascape context can affect reef fish communities on an experimental array of artificial reefs created in various seascape contexts in Abaco, Bahamas. I found that the amount of seagrass at large spatial scales was an important predictor of community assembly on these reefs. Additionally, seascape context had differing effects on various aspects of habitat quality for the most common reef species, White grunt Haemulon plumierii. The amount of seagrass at large spatial scales had positive effects on fish abundance and secondary production, but not on metrics of condition and growth. The second part of my dissertation focused on how foraging conditions for fish varied across a linear seascape gradient in the Loxahatchee River estuary in Florida, USA. Gray snapper, Lutjanus griseus, traded food quality for quantity along this estuarine gradient, maintaining similar growth rates and condition among sites. Additional work focused on identifying major energy flow pathways to two consumers in oyster-reef food webs in the Loxahatchee. Algal and microphytobenthos resource pools supported most of the production to these consumers, and body size for one of the consumers mediated food web linkages with surrounding mangrove habitats. All of these studies examined a different facet of the importance of seascape context in governing ecological processes occurring in focal habitats and underscore the role of connectivity among habitats in back-reef systems. The results suggest that management approaches consider the surrounding seascape when prioritizing areas for conservation or attempting to understand the impacts of seascape change on focal habitat patches. For this reason, spatially-based management approaches are recommended to most effectively manage back-reef systems.