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Current Projects |
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A pilot study of the
extralimital West Indian Manatee population in Mobile
Bay, AL |
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Pictures from project
Full Project Text
In The News |
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Increased awareness of
the importance of fringe habitats such as in Mobile Bay
has prompted demand for studies to guide development of
management programs outside areas covered under the
Florida Manatee Recovery Program (to date, the only
approved guidance document to protect manatees as a
federally listed Endangered Species in the continental
U.S.; USFWS 2001). In accordance with this need, the
objective of this project is to determine when and how
extralimital manatees use habitat in Mobile Bay by: |
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Adult and Juvenile Manatee
credit: Monica Ross, Wildlife Trust |
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Defining habitat use
in terms of distribution and abundance of manatees
within Mobile Bay,
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Measuring the
frequency of habitat use at discrete locations in
the Bay,
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Determining
relationships to other manatee populations,
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Defining and
distinguishing available and utilized food resources
in the Bay,
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Recording and sharing
data with other researchers, managers, and the
public.
This study will include
aerial and ground surveys of manatees in Mobile Bay and
research to determine what manatees eat while in the
Bay. The project, funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, is a collaboration between Dauphin Island Sea
lab and researchers at
Wildlife Trust in Florida.
For
more information and to report a sighting please visit
http://manatee.disl.org |
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Use of stable isotope ratios to
link wastewater sources to effects on shellfish and human health |
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Pictures
from project
Full Project Text
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Wastewater treatment plants (WTP) account for more than 30% of shellfish area
closures in the U.S. and >70,000 ac in Mobile Bay. Shellfishing areas near WTPs
are typically closed to fishing due to high bacteria concentrations. Bacteria
concentrations, however, are not necessarily accurate predictors of human health
risk. The U.S. FDA on Dauphin Island is testing an alternative (viral)
indicator, male-specific bacteriophage
(MSB), but lacks a method to
definitely link their findings to wastewater sources. |
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DISL 2007 REU,
Joshua Daskin (Brandeis University, MA) collecting
transplanted oysters from field sites in Mobile Bay
credit: R. H. Carmichael
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We offer a
biochemical method, using nitrogen stable isotopes, which will allow us to team
with the FDA to identify wastewater sources parallel with microbial indicators.
Our primary objective is to collect data that will help maintain and restore
local shellfish populations, increase the area of land available for
shellfishing, but reduce the risk of harvesting contaminated shellfish.
Specifically, we will combine measurements of pathogens by the FDA with our own
measurements in tissues of oysters (C. virginica) and particles in the
water at locations, varying in proximity from the Clifton C. Williams WTP in
Mobile Bay. Our measurements will include:
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N stable isotopes, which are a natural
tracer of wastewater sources,
- wastewater-driven changes on shellfish habitat
(DO) and food supply (nutrient and chlorophyll a
concentrations), and
- shellfish growth and survival through time.
This project is funded by the
MS-AL Sea Grant
Consortium and is a collaboration between the Dauphin Island Sea Lab
and researchers at the
U.S. FDA
on Dauphin Island.
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The
effects of nutrient enrichment on oyster ecology in Mobile Bay |
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Native shellfish and land
available for harvesting or aquaculture are declining due to
habitat degradation and shellfish area closures. Wastewater
is the anthropogenic (human-derived) N source that has had
the greatest documented effect on shellfish growth and
survival by affecting food supply and habitat. In
subembayments of the Gulf of Mexico, such as Mobile Bay,
warmer water temperatures and longer growing seasons may
exacerbate the effects of N enrichment in ways that are not
yet known. To inform management and restoration of oyster
resources in Mobile Bay relative to anthropogenic-driven N
enrichment, we will:
- Define effects of N loads on food supply and habitat
for oysters,
- Measure effects on oyster growth and survival,
- Link shellfish responses to N sources such as
wastewater,
- Identify nutritionally important components of
oyster diet, and
- Determine the space and time scales of these effects
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DISL 2007 REU, Josh Daskin,
marks oysters for transplant at field sites in Mobile Bay
credit: R. H. Carmichael |
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This project is funded by the Alabama Oyster Reef &
Fisheries Habitat Enhancement Program of the University of South
Alabama. |
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Selected
Past projects
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None at this time
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