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SUMMARY OF SEAFLOOR MAPPING AND BENTHIC SAMPLING IN 200-2000M, FROM NORTH CAROLINA THROUGH FLORIDA.
Get PDFBiological habitats and mineral resources in deep-waters should be identified, summarized into a database and their locations mapped. Comprehensive maps of deep-water resources are a prerequisite for managing these areas and their associated resources. In addition, this type of information is useful in mitigating conflicting user-group interests and protecting biodiversity. In the South Atlantic Bight (SAB), biological habitats of importance to deep-water fisheries resources include coral mounds, “live bottom” areas, rock outcroppings, man-made structures, tilefish mud bottom, and possibly mineral deposit areas such as manganese nodules and pavement sites. Congressional mandates, such as the Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, and recognition of Habitat Areas of Particular Concern (HAPC) under the Magnuson Act re-authorization, have emphasized protecting critical habitats and their associated resources (Murawski et al. 2000, Reed 2000). In the southeastern U.S., information on the distribution and abundance of resources, which was needed to manage and protect such areas, resulted from extensive mapping of specific substrates (e.g., reefs) and species associations (e.g., sponge and/or coral; obligate reef fishes) on the continental shelf during past 20-25 years. Although much is known about bottom type on the continental shelf, considerably less is known about the distribution and importance of bottom type in the waters beyond the shelf edge
Fostering Librarian Leadership Through Mentoring
No full textThe aim of effective mentorship is to promote the development of the learner (Daloz, 2004). This article highlights my own leadership journey, sharing how mentoring has given my professional life direction, taught me passion, and how mentoring has fostered the development of my leadership skills. I emphasize several of my mentoring experiences and conclude by sharing deductions I have drawn as a direct result of these experiences
DEEP-WATER OCULINA CORAL REEFS OF FLORIDA: BIOLOGY, IMPACTS AND MANAGEMENT
Get PDFDeep-water Oculina coral reefs, which are similar in structure and development to deep-water Lophelia reefs, stretch over 167 km (90 nmi) at depths of 70–100 m along the eastern Florida shelf of the United States. These consist of numerous pinnacles and ridges, 3–35 m in height. Coral growth rates average 16.1 mm yr−1 and biodiversity is very rich. Extensive areas of Oculina rubble may be due to human impacts (e.g. fish trawling and dredging, anchoring, bottom longlines) and natural processes such as bioerosion and episodic die-off. Early in the 1970s, the reefs were teeming with fish. By the early 1990s, both commercial and recreational fisheries, including scallop, shrimp, grouper, snapper and amberjack, had taken a toll on the reefs and especially on populations of grouper and snapper. A 315 km2 (92 nmi2) area was designated the Oculina Habitat of Particular Concern (HAPC) in 1984, prohibiting trawling, dredging, bottom longlines and anchoring, and legislation was enacted in 2000 for expansion of the Oculina HAPC to 1029 km2 (300 nmi2). The United States Coast Guard has been charged with surveillance and enforcement of the ban on bottom fishing and trawling. The primary difficulties in protecting these reefs and other deep-water Marine Protected Areas are their remoteness and time required to engage an enforcement vessel. Education regarding the nature and importance of these rich resources is important for better self regulation and surveillance by the fishing community. Only by bringing deep-water reefs to the public, the fishing community, and enforcement agencies, through video, photos, and education will there be better understanding and acceptance for the need of protection for these unseen resources. This paper reviews the current knowledge on the deep-water Oculina reefs, including the biology, geology, human impacts, and history of conservation and management
COMPARISON OF DEEP-WATER CORAL BANKS AND LITHOHERMS OFF SOUTHEASTERN U.S.A.
Get PDFTwo types of deep-water coral bioherms occur off the coast of southeastern United States: Oculina and Lophelia/ Enallopsammia. The deep-water Oculina bioherms form an extensive reef system at depths of 70–100 m along the shelf edge off central eastern Florida. These reefs are comprised of numerous pinnacles and ridges, 3–35 m in height. Each pinnacle is a bank of unconsolidated sediment and coral debris that is capped on the slopes and crest with living and dead colonies of Oculina varicosa, the ivory tree coral. In comparison, deep-water reefs of Lophelia pertusa and Enallopsammia profunda corals occur at depths of 500–850 m (maximum 150-m relief) along the base of the Florida-Hatteras slope in the Straits of Florida. On the western edge of the Blake Plateau off South Carolina and Georgia, 54-m high banks of Enallopsammia and Lophelia occur at depths of 490–550 m, whereas on the eastern edge of the plateau the reefs form structures 146 m in height and at depths of 640–869 m. The geomorphology and functional structure of both the Oculina and Lophelia reefs are similar. North of Little Bahama Bank, at depths of 1000–1300 m, a region of bioherms is dominated by the coral Solenosmilia sp.; Lophelia is reportedly absent. This paper summarizes 25 years of submersible studies on the deep-water Oculina reefs, describes submersible reconnaissance of deep-water Lophelia reefs off the southeastern United States, and contrasts these types of bioherms with the deep-water lithoherms in the Straits of Florida west of the Bahamas
A CHEMICAL VIEW OF THE MOST ANCIENT METAZOA – BIOMARKER CHEMOTAXONOMY OF HEXACTINELLID SPONGES.
Get PDFHexactinellid sponges are often considered to be the most ancient metazoans. Lipid biomarkers from 23 species were studied for information on their phylogenetic properties, particularly their disputed relation to the two other sponge classes (Demospongiae, Calcarea). The most prominent lipid compounds in the Hexactinellida comprise C28 to C32 polyenoic fatty acids. Their structures parallel the unique patterns found in demosponge membrane fatty acids (‘demospongic acids’) and strongly support a close phylogenetic association of the Demospongiae and the Hexactinellida. Both taxa also show unusual mid-chain methylated fatty acids (C15–C25) and irregular C25- and C40-isoprenoid hydrocarbons, tracers for specific eubacteria and Archaea, respectively. These biomarkers indicate a similar, highly conservative symbiont community, although some shift in the abundance of the associated microbiota was observed. The lack of these features in calcareous sponges further contradicts the still common view that Calcarea and Demospongiae are more closely related to each other than either is to the Hexactinellida
DIVERSITY AND BATHYMETRIC DISTRIBUTION OF LITHISTID SPONGES IN THE TROPICAL WESTERN ATLANTIC REGION.
Get PDFNineteen species of lithistid sponges (Porifera: Demospongiae), representing 13 genera, eight families, and four suborders are reported from the tropical western Atlantic region, including three new records of occurrence: Discodermia verrucosa Topsent, Corallisfes cf. undularus Levi & Levi, and C. cf. nolitangere Schmidt. This inventory of the biodiversity and bathymetric distribution of these sponges is based on the results obtained from 36 expeditions and more than 450 submersible transects. The objective of these expeditions was the collection of marine organisms for discovery of biologically active compounds with pharmaceutical potential. The taxonomic diversity and distribution thus noted. contrasts with the results of previous reports which describe more specific regionaJ faunas. Lithistids are dominant components of hard-bottom habitats at depths greater than 150 m in the tropical western Atlantic region
OCULINA CORAL BANKS OF FLORIDA: CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF A DEEP-WATER RESERVE.
Get PDFIn 1975, during photographic surveys of the continental shelf using the johnson-Sea-Link Research Submersible, scientists from Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution discovered high relief pinnacles at depths of 70-100 m that were living coral reefs composed entirely of the ivory tree coral Oculina varicosa. Various research ensued including studies on coral growth rates, community structure of associated invertebrates and fishes, effects of upwelling, bioerosion, sediments, geology, and taxonomic studies of fish, decapods, mollusks, echinoderms, sipunculids, pycnogonids, and amphipods. During the 1970s these deep-water reefs were teeming with large populations of grouper, snapper, and amberjack. Fishing pressure from both commercial and recreational fishermen was intense, and by the early 1990s the fish populations and the coral had been severely impacted. Legislation in 2000 designated a 300 nmF (1029 km2) Oculina Coral Bank Habitat Area of Particular Concern (HAPC) which prohibits use of anchors, bottom trawls, bottom longlines, dredges, fish traps and pots (Figure 1)
SUSTAINABLE USE OF DEEP-SEA ORGANISMS COLLECTED FOR BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH.
Get PDFThe oceans continue to provide new opportunities for the discovery of marine-derived medicines and the deep sea is relatively untapped. The Division of Biomedical Marine Research (DBMR) at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution (HBOI) has conducted expeditions worldwide to collect a unique set of marine microorganisms and invertebrates, such as sponges and gorgonians, using the Johnson-Sea-Link submersibles to depths of 914 m. Discodermolide, a bioactive compound derived from the deep water sponges Discodermia spp., was discovered by HBOI and licensed for development as an anticancer drug. Other HBOI compounds in preclinical trials includetopsentins with potent anti-inflammatory activity and lasonolides with antitumor properties. With the discovery of marine bioproducts comes the challenge of developing techniques for the sustainable use of the source organisms. HBOI\u27s research in aquaculture, in vitro production (or cell culture), microbial fermentation and recombinant production offer biological alternatives to harvesting the organisms. Current HBOI projects include recombinant production of novel anticancer compounds from marine actinomycetes (filamentous bacteria), and the discovery of novel anti-fungal agents with activity against drug-resistant fungi. We are using DNA microarray technology to screen the genome of target sponges and develop in vitro methods for the production of bioactive compounds. Another project focuses on the genetic diversity within the microbial community associated with deep water sponges. A critical component of this research is the ethical utilization of the host country\u27s natural resources and equitable sharing of properties and technologies
MARINE NATURAL PRODUCTS.
Get PDFThe marine environment has proven to be a rich source of both biological and chemical diversity and has, therefore, become the focus of a major research effort in natural products drug discovery