Climate-associated trends and variability in ichthyoplankton phenology from the longest continuous larval fish time series on the east coast of the United States

2020 ◽  
Vol 650 ◽  
pp. 269-287
Author(s):  
WC Thaxton ◽  
JC Taylor ◽  
RG Asch
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Environmental Variability ◽  
Larval Fish ◽  
Interspecific Interactions ◽  
River Estuary ◽  
Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Larval Survival ◽  
Ecological Communities ◽  
Northerly Wind

As the effects of climate change become more pronounced, variation in the direction and magnitude of shifts in species occurrence in space and time may disrupt interspecific interactions in ecological communities. In this study, we examined how the fall and winter ichthyoplankton community in the Newport River Estuary located inshore of Pamlico Sound in the southeastern United States has responded to environmental variability over the last 27 yr. We relate the timing of estuarine ingress of 10 larval fish species to changes in sea surface temperature (SST), the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, the North Atlantic Oscillation, wind strength and phenology, and tidal height. We also examined whether any species exhibited trends in ingress phenology over the last 3 decades. Species varied in the magnitude of their responses to all of the environmental variables studied, but most shared a common direction of change. SST and northerly wind strength had the largest impact on estuarine ingress phenology, with most species ingressing earlier during warm years and delaying ingress during years with strong northerly winds. As SST warms in the coming decades, the average date of ingress of some species (Atlantic croaker Micropogonias undulatus, summer flounder Paralichthys dentatus, pinfish Lagodon rhomboides) is projected to advance on the order of weeks to months, assuming temperatures do not exceed a threshold at which species can no longer respond through changes in phenology. These shifts in ingress could affect larval survival and growth since environmental conditions in the estuarine and pelagic nursery habitats of fishes also vary seasonally.

scholarly journals Mesoscale, cyclonic eddies as larval fish habitat along the southeast United States shelf: a Lagrangian description of the zooplankton community

2009 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 403-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. J. Govoni ◽  
J. A. Hare ◽  
E. D. Davenport ◽  
M. H. Chen ◽  
K. E. Marancik
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Chlorophyll A ◽  
Larval Fish ◽  
Fish Habitat ◽  
Zooplankton Community ◽  
The United States ◽  
Continuous Series ◽  
Lagrangian Description ◽  
Southeast United States ◽  
Chlorophyll A Concentration

Abstract Govoni, J. J., Hare, J. A., Davenport, E. D., Chen, M. H., and Marancik, K. E. 2010. Mesoscale, cyclonic eddies as larval fish habitat along the southeast United States shelf: a Lagrangian description of the zooplankton community. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 67: 403–411. The Charleston Gyre region is characterized by continuous series of cyclonic eddies that propagate northeastwards before decaying or coalescing with the Gulf Stream south of Cape Hatteras, NC, USA. Over 5 d, chlorophyll-a concentration, zooplankton displacement volume, and zooplankton composition and abundance changed as the eddy moved to the northeast. Surface chlorophyll-a concentration decreased, and zooplankton displacement remained unchanged as the eddy propagated. Zooplankton taxa known to be important dietary constituents of larval fish increased in concentration as the eddy propagated. The concurrent decrease in chlorophyll-a concentration and static zooplankton displacement volume can be explained by initial stimulation of chlorophyll-a concentration by upwelling and nutrient enrichment near the eddy core and to possible grazing as zooplankton with short generation times and large clutch sizes increased in concentration. The zooplankton community did not change significantly within the 5 d that the eddy was tracked, and there was no indication of succession. Mesoscale eddies of the region are dynamic habitats as eddies propagate northeastwards at varying speeds within monthly periods. The abundance of zooplankton important to the diets of larval fish indicates that the region can provide important pelagic nursery habitat for larval fish off the southeast coast of the United States. A month of feeding and growth is more than half the larval duration of most fish spawned over the continental shelf of the southeastern United States in winter.

scholarly journals Have improvements in ozone air quality reduced ozone uptake into plants?

Elem Sci Anth ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison C. Ronan ◽  
Jason A. Ducker ◽  
Jordan L. Schnell ◽  
Christopher D. Holmes
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Plant Uptake ◽  
Environmental Variability ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Temporal Trends ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cumulative Exposure ◽  
Plant Injury ◽  
Incomplete Picture

Peak levels of ozone (O3)—quantified by concentration metrics such as accumulated O3 exposure over a threshold of 40 ppb (AOT40) and the sigmoidal-weighted cumulative exposure (W126)—have decreased over large parts of the United States and Europe in the last several decades. Past studies have suggested that these improvements in AOT40 and W126 indicate reductions in plant injury, even though it is widely recognized that O3 flux into leaves, not ambient O3 concentration, is the cause of plant damage. Using a new dataset of O3 uptake into plants derived from eddy covariance flux towers, we test whether AOT40, W126, or summer mean O3 are useful indicators of trends in the cumulative uptake of O3 into leaves, which is the phytotoxic O3 dose (POD or PODy, where y is a detoxification threshold). At 32 sites in the United States and Europe, we find that the AOT40 and W126 concentration metrics decreased over 2005–2014 at most sites: 25 and 28 sites, respectively. POD0, however, increased at a majority (18) of the sites. Multiple statistical tests demonstrate that none of the concentration metrics—AOT40, W126, and mean O3—are good predictors of POD0 temporal trends or variability (R2 ≤ 0.15). These results are insensitive to using a detoxification threshold (POD3). The divergent trends for O3 concentration and plant uptake are due to stomatal control of flux, which is shaped by environmental variability and plant factors. As a result, there has been no widespread, clear improvement in POD over 2005–2014 at the sites we can assess. Decreases in concentration metrics, therefore, give an overly optimistic and incomplete picture of the direction and magnitude of O3 impacts on vegetation. Because of this lack of relation between O3 flux and concentration, flux metrics should be preferred over concentration metrics in assessments of plant injury from O3.

Continental U.S. Hurricane Landfall Frequency and Associated Damage: Observations and Future Risks

2018 ◽  
Vol 99 (7) ◽  
pp. 1359-1376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip J. Klotzbach ◽  
Steven G. Bowen ◽  
Roger Pielke ◽  
Michael Bell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Time Scales ◽  
El Niño ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Damage ◽  
Coastal Population

AbstractContinental United States (CONUS) hurricane-related inflation-adjusted damage has increased significantly since 1900. However, since 1900 neither observed CONUS landfalling hurricane frequency nor intensity shows significant trends, including the devastating 2017 season.Two large-scale climate modes that have been noted in prior research to significantly impact CONUS landfalling hurricane activity are El Niño–Southern Oscillation on interannual time scales and the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation on multidecadal time scales. La Niña seasons tend to be characterized by more CONUS hurricane landfalls than El Niño seasons, and positive Atlantic multidecadal oscillation phases tend to have more CONUS hurricane landfalls than negative phases.Growth in coastal population and regional wealth are the overwhelming drivers of observed increases in hurricane-related damage. As the population and wealth of the United States has increased in coastal locations, it has invariably led to the growth in exposure and vulnerability of coastal property along the U.S. Gulf and East Coasts. Unfortunately, the risks associated with more people and vulnerable exposure came to fruition in Texas and Florida during the 2017 season following the landfalls of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Total economic damage from those two storms exceeded $125 billion. Growth in coastal population and exposure is likely to continue in the future, and when hurricane landfalls do occur, this will likely lead to greater damage costs than previously seen. Such a statement is made recognizing that the vast scope of damage from hurricanes often highlights the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of building codes, flood maps, infrastructure, and insurance in at-risk communities.

scholarly journals Ecosystem stability and Native American oyster harvesting along the Atlantic Coast of the United States

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (28) ◽  
pp. eaba9652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor D. Thompson ◽  
Torben Rick ◽  
Carey J. Garland ◽  
David Hurst Thomas ◽  
Karen Y. Smith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Native American ◽  
Environmental Variability ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Eastern Oyster ◽  
The United States ◽  
Oyster Reefs ◽  
Reef Restoration ◽  
The Stability

The eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) is an important proxy for examining historical trajectories of coastal ecosystems. Measurement of ~40,000 oyster shells from archaeological sites along the Atlantic Coast of the United States provides a long-term record of oyster abundance and size. The data demonstrate increases in oyster size across time and a nonrandom pattern in their distributions across sites. We attribute this variation to processes related to Native American fishing rights and environmental variability. Mean oyster length is correlated with total oyster bed length within foraging radii (5 and 10 km) as mapped in 1889 and 1890. These data demonstrate the stability of oyster reefs despite different population densities and environmental shifts and have implications for oyster reef restoration in an age of global climate change.

scholarly journals Resistance of Boxwood Varieties to the Boxwood Leafminer, Monarthropalpus flavus (Schrank)

2001 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 153-157
Author(s):  
Gabriel d'Eustachio ◽  
Michael Raupp
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Larval Survival ◽  
Field Surveys ◽  
Mechanism Of Resistance ◽  
Buxus Sempervirens ◽  
Buxus Microphylla

Abstract A survey of nine cultivars of Buxus at the United States National Arboretum revealed significant differences in levels of infestation by the boxwood leafminer, Monarthropalpus flavus (Schrank). An analysis of larval survival confirmed high levels of susceptibility in Buxus sempervirens ‘Myrtifolia’ and Buxus microphylla ‘National’ while B. sempervirens ‘Handsworthiensis’ and B. sempervirens ‘Vardar Valley’ exhibited high levels of resistance. Other varieties exhibited intermediate levels of resistance. Field surveys and laboratorystudies indicated that female flies deposited eggs in all cultivars even highly resistant ones. This lack of preference suggests that the mechanism of resistance is antibiosis or phenological asynchrony rather than antixenosis.

Diversity of ecological communities of the United States

Vegetatio ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 119 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. D. Wickham ◽  
T. G. Wade ◽  
K. B. Jones ◽  
K. H. Riiters ◽  
R. V. O'Neill
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Ecological Communities

Influence of ENSO and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation on Drought over the United States

2009 ◽  
Vol 22 (22) ◽  
pp. 5962-5982 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kingtse C. Mo ◽  
Jae-Kyung E. Schemm ◽  
Soo-Hyun Yoo
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Wet Spells ◽  
The Tropical Pacific

Abstract Composites based on observations and model outputs from the Climate Variability and Predictability (CLIVAR) drought experiments were used to examine the impact of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) on drought over the United States. Because drought implies persistent dryness, the 6-month standardized precipitation index, standardized runoff index, and soil moisture anomalies are used to represent drought. The experiments were performed by forcing an AGCM with prescribed sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs) superimposed on the monthly mean SST climatology. Four model outputs from the NCEP Global Forecast System (GFS), NASA’s Seasonal-to-Interannual Prediction Project, version 1 (NSIPP1), GFDL’s global atmospheric model, version 2.1 (AM2.1), and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO)/NCAR Community Climate System Model, version 3 (CCM3) were analyzed in this study. Each run lasts from 36 to 51 yr. The impact of ENSO on drought over the United States is concentrated over the Southwest, the Great Plains, and the lower Colorado River basin, with cold (warm) ENSO events favoring drought (wet spells). Over the East Coast and the Southeast, the impact of ENSO is small because the precipitation responses to ENSO are opposite in sign for winter and summer. For these areas, a prolonged ENSO does not always favor either drought or wet spells. The direct influence of the AMO on drought is small. The major influence of the AMO is to modulate the impact of ENSO on drought. The influence is large when the SSTAs in the tropical Pacific and in the North Atlantic are opposite in phase. A cold (warm) event in a positive (negative) AMO phase amplifies the impact of the cold (warm) ENSO on drought. The ENSO influence on drought is much weaker when the SSTAs in the tropical Pacific and in the North Atlantic are in phase.

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