Constructed wetland systems are used to reduce pollutants and pathogens in wastewater effluent, but comparatively little is known about pathogen transport through natural wetland habitats. Fecal protozoans, including Cryptosporidium parvum, Giardia lamblia, and Toxoplasma gondii, are waterborne pathogens of humans and animals, which are carried by surface waters from land-based sources into coa...

Sequence analysis of domains 3 and 4 of 23S rRNA from Pseudomonas fluorescens Ag1 was carried out to allow the design of a strain-specific rRNA oligonucleotide probe targeting this strain. The specificity of the probe, Ps-Ag1, was assessed by dot blot analysis and whole-cell hybridization, and it was found to be specific for P. fluorescens Ag1. The correlation between the ribosomal content of P...

Experimental mesocosm studies of rocky shore and estuarine intertidal systems may benefit from the application of natural tide cycles to better replicate variation in immersion time, water depth, and attendant fluctuations in abiotic and edaphic conditions. Here we describe a stand-alone microcontroller tide prediction open-source software program, coupled with a mechanical tidal elevation cont...

Plant biodiversity affects primary productivity and resource utilization in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and may also influence other key ecological processes such as predator–prey interactions. We tested the hypotheses that predation intensity is negatively related to plant species richness, and that prey density is positively related to plant species richness. We performed one field an...

The influence of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning has been the focus of much recent research, but the role of environmental context and the mechanisms by which it may influence diversity effects on production and stability remain poorly understood. We assembled marine macroalgal communities in two mesocosm experiments that varied nutrient supply, and at four field sites that differed natur...

Low levels of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) were recently detected in two reclaimed water open-air ponds used to irrigate a golf course located in Northeastern Spain. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a biochemical fingerprinting method to track the origin of fecal contamination in water with low FIB levels, as in the aforementioned ponds. We also aimed to determine whet...

Poleward migrations of coastal marine species are occurring due to anthropogenic climate change. Temperature is a known driver distributions, however, the specific influence temperature responsible for ecological disruption diverse and often species-specific. If we predict future impacts change it imperative have comprehensive understanding influences at scale individual organisms, especially e...

Title of Dissertation: THE IMPORTANCE OF PHYSICAL MIXING AND SEDIMENT CHEMISTRY IN MERCURY AND METHYLMERCURY BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLING AND BIOACCUMULATION WITHIN SHALLOW ESTUARIES Eun-Hee Kim, Doctor of Philosophy, 2004 Dissertation Directed By: Professor Robert P. Mason, Marine Estuarine Environmental Science The objective of this study was to examine, using mesocosm experiments, the long-term ef...