Publications

The Cuban treefrog, Osteopilus septentrionalis, is native to Cuba, the Bahamas, and the Cayman Islands, and is invasive in areas where it has been introduced and established in the Caribbean as well as Florida. Despite repeated occurrences in several states over many years, it was not believed that Cuban treefrogs had successfully established outside of Florida in the mainland United...

The Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) has limited diversity in the immunoglobulin heavy chain. We therefore investigated the antigen receptor loci of the other arm of the adaptive immune system: the T cell receptor. Manatees are the first species from Afrotheria, a basal eutherian superorder, to have an in-depth characterization of all T cell receptor loci. By annotating...

Coastal communities are increasingly concerned about the dynamic balance between freshwater and saltwater because of its implications for societal, economic, and ecological resources. While the mixing of freshwater and saltwater sources defines coastal estuaries and lagoons, sudden changes in this balance can have a large effect on critical ecosystems and infrastructure. Any change to...

Environmental DNA (eDNA) detection is a technique used to non-invasively detect cryptic, low density, or logistically difficult-to-study species, such as imperiled manatees. For eDNA measurement, genetic material shed into the environment is concentrated from water samples and analyzed for the presence of target species. Cytochrome bquantitative PCR and droplet digital PCR eDNA assays...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, conducted bathymetric surveys of the nearshore waters surrounding Ship and Horn Islands, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Mississippi. The objective of this study was to establish base-level elevation conditions around West Ship, East...

We provide a comprehensive review of the status of non-native fishes in the central Indian River Lagoon (from Cape Canaveral to Grant-Valkaria, east of I-95) through literature review and field surveys. Historical records exist for 17 taxa (15 species, one hybrid, one species complex). We found historical records for one additional species, and collected one species in our field survey...

Seagrasses are highly productive ecosystems. A before-after-control-impact (BACI) design was used to examine effects of dredging on seagrasses and the animals that inhabit them. The control site North Biscayne Bay and the affected site Port of Miami had seagrass densities decrease during both the before, Fish and Invertebrate Assessment Network 2006-2011, and after, Faunal Monitoring in...

Part 1 of this review synthesizes recent research on status and climate vulnerability of freshwater and saltwater wetlands, and their contribution to addressing climate change (carbon cycle, adaptation, resilience). Peatlands and vegetated coastal wetlands are among the most carbon rich sinks on the planet sequestering approximately as much carbon as do global forest ecosystems...

Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations are likely to influence future distributions of plants and plant community structure in many regions of the world through effects on photosynthetic rates. In recent decades the encroachment of woody mangrove species into herbaceous marshes has been documented along the U.S. northern Gulf of Mexico coast. These species shifts have...

The Southeastern United States experiences recurring hydrological droughts, which can reduce water availability and can result in water-limiting conditions. Long-term monitoring at Panola Mountain Research Watershed, a small, forested, seasonally water-limited watershed near Atlanta, Georgia, was used to quantify the interactions of climatic variability with shallow and deep storage and

Kings Bay, Florida, is one of the most important natural winter habitat locations for the federally threatened Trichechus manatus latirostris (Florida manatee). Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1983 specifically to provide protection for manatees and their critical habitat. To aid managers at the refuge and other agencies with this task, spatial analyses of local...

Plant stoichiometry, the relative concentration of elements, is a key regulator of ecosystem functioning and is also being altered by human activities. In this paper we sought to understand the global drivers of plant stoichiometry and compare the relative contribution of climatic vs. anthropogenic effects. We addressed this goal by measuring plant elemental (C, N, P and K) responses to