Climate change has caused gradual changes within marine environments within the last couple decades and is expected to continue to impact these ecosystems. Changes to these ecosystems are anticipated to emerge as adverse effects reach the lowest and highest levels within trophic food webs. For example, these environmental changes may change the abundance and distribution of species within their current geographic range. In extreme cases, climate change has already resulted in range shifts of terrestrial and marine species. A need for bioindicator species has emerged, so that they may be used to indicate when climate change may impact marine communities and whether these communities are at risk. Bioindicators are useful in that they can be early indicators for adverse effects and be used to indicate to decision-makers that intervention is needed before adverse effects can spread to the rest of a particular ecosystem. Bioindicators that are responsive to environmental changes are ideal for use. Mytilus edulis (blue mussels) and Donax variabilis (coquina clams) are two species that could potentially have use as bioindicators for climate change. However, it is not known how responsive the physiological condition of these species is to environmental changes. Our thesis objectives were to determine whether differences in the physiological condition and recruitment rate of blue mussels and coquina clams on the Eastern Shore are connected to seasonal water quality changes in the northern hemisphere Spring-Summer months and (2) to determine whether there have been long-term (9 years) changes in mussel and clam physiology and interpret these changes in the context of climate change. We found some evidence for a connection between blue mussel and coquina clam physiology and recruitment and seasonal changes in water quality on the Eastern Shore. We also found that blue mussel and coquina clam physiology did exhibit long-term spatiotemporal changes through time on Virginia’s Barrier Islands. Blue mussels showed an early indication of a possible range shift to come. On southern barrier islands, blue mussels either had lower physiological condition and recruit counts or had higher rates of decline in these metrics. Coquina clams on the other hand, only showed evidence of declines in their physiological condition at Hog Island. This could be an early sign of the sublethal impacts stemming from gradual environmental changes and may signal that blue mussels and coquina clams will continue to decline in quality and quantity in these areas of Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Declines in blue mussel quality and quantity could be worrisome as they not only provide several economic and ecological services that benefit humans, but also are an important food source for the migrating shorebird species that use Virginia Barrier Islands as a refueling station. While worrisome, this response in blue mussels does indicate that this species may be responsive to environmental changes. With additional targeted, experimental research, a framework could be established that uses blue mussel physiology to further indicate impacts of specific environmental conditions on Virginia’s Eastern Shore ecosystems.

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The demand for energy increases every year, and it is important that we ensure that the energy consumed is used efficiently. This study examines a system which provides energy in multiple forms from multiple energy sources using multiple energy conversion equipment. Such a system is termed a Central Energy Plan (CEP). A linear programming model was formulated to provide a close approximation of a CEP operation. It was used to determine the optimal operating configuration, that is, which equipment should be on or off at a particular time of the day to minimize the operating cost of the plant while at the same time meeting output requirements. The CEP model was validated by using actual data provided by the physical plant personnel at the University of Central Florida (UCF). The feasibility of installation of a steam turbine driven electrical generator to improve the performance of the CEP was investigated as a test vehicle to prove the practicality of the model.

Lichens are an underrepresented group of organisms when it comes to both research and conservation efforts. At the same time, lichens face increasing threats from anthropogenic sources including wildfires, climate change and urbanization. With this thesis, I seek to ascertain and publish ecological data on a critically endangered lichen to inform future conservation designations and efforts to preserve and protect the species in perpetuity. In Chapter 1, I provide an ecological overview of the known range of Sulcaria isidiifera and assess the status of Sulcaria isidiifera via a population count. Sulcaria isidiifera occurs in maritime chaparral habitat in the Los Osos-Baywood Park-Morro Bay area of San Luis Obispo County, California. Although apparently similar maritime chaparral is known from a much larger range along the coast of California, S. isidiifera has never been found outside of this extremely local population area. Population data collected during the study determined there are an estimated 3,588-7,772 mature individuals of S. isidiifera range-wide. Chapter 1 also characterizes the vascular plant vegetation community, microclimate parameters, and lichen community assemblage in which S. isidiifera occurs. The elegant fringe lichen (Leucodermia leucomelos) was found to be a strong indicator for the presence of S. isidiifera. Chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum), buck brush (Ceanothus cuneatus), and Morro manzanita (Arctostaphylos morroensis) were the most common shrub species on which S. isidiifera was found. In Chapter 2, conservation translocation was tested as a mitigation strategy for the previously observed population decline of S. isidiifera. Whole thalli were translocated while attached to their original substrate to adjacent shrubs in suitable habitat that was not occupied by S. isidiifera. The vitality of translocated thalli was tested using chlorophyll fluorescence techniques. After 13.5 months, I report 100 percent survival of translocated thalli with no significant negative impacts to thallus health. The S. isidiifera transplants will continue to be monitored indefinitely. Guidance on future conservation translocations for S. isidiifera is provided and these methods will continue to be updated as further observations and results are gathered.

N/A / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

No description available.

Freshwater mussel species in the genera Fusconaia and Pleurobema are particularly challenging to identify in the field. In this study, mussels from these genera were collected from the Green River, Kentucky for genetic and morphological analyses. I used molecular markers to detect any cryptic species within these genera and to test for genetic differentiation between two closely related nominal taxa P. rubrum and P. sintoxia using both mitochondrial (ND1, COI, 16S rRNA) and nuclear (ITS1) DNA sequences. After species identification, I used microsatellite DNA markers to estimate genetic diversity and effective population sizes (Ne) of species of Pleurobema. I used microsatellite primers that were developed for P. clava and P. pyriforme in previous studies, as well as microsatellites that I developed for P. plenum. Finally, I assessed morphological variation in my study species and developed dichotomous keys for the identification of both live mussels and shells. My results suggest that P. rubrum and P. sintoxia are the same species based on the mitochondrial DNA analyses, as there were few genetic differences between them. My results showed phylogenetically distinct lineages for F. flava, F. subrotunda, P. cordatum and P. plenum but no cryptic species were detected in the Green River. Current and contemporary Ne showed that these species have large population sizes that should allow for avoiding inbreeding and maintaining their evolutionary potential. Large genetic diversity as well as long-term effective population size could be the result of these species historically occurring as much larger assemblages that extended into the Ohio River and its numerous tributaries. The last objective was to assess morphometrical differences among these species. Using Canonical Variate Analysis, I found discernable morphological differences between the investigated species of Fusconaia and Pleurobema. The two Fusconaia species were morphologically different from the Pleurobema species. However, the Canonical Variate Analysis did not show differences among the Pleurobema species. I used decision tree analysis to develop a dichotomous tree, and random forest analysis was used to aid in the development of a dichotomous key by finding the most important diagnostic characters to distinguish these mussels. I then used the less subjective and easier to identify characters for the development of my dichotomous keys for live mussels and shells. However, both keys need to be tested in the field to determine their effectiveness. I could not separate P. rubrum and P. sintoxia mussels for morphometric analysis due to the lack of genetic differentiation and the inconsistent identification by the experts. However, I did describe a few individuals that look like P. rubrum and P. sintoxia to the eye of the experts. The description of these individuals matched previous descriptions of these mussels. Future studies need to assess taxonomic relationships among these species using genomics approaches, which might result in better node resolution. High genetic diversity and large effective population numbers for Pleurobema species suggest that these species' populations are genetically healthy. However, these results need to be interpreted carefully, and I therefore recommend additional studies to assess life history, habitat, host-fish availability, and current reproduction of these mussels in the Green River. / Doctor of Philosophy / Freshwater mussels offer important ecosystem services for humans to include water purification, nutrient storage and recycling, and mussels are part of the aquatic food web. In addition, freshwater mussels are indicators of ecosystem health. Because they rely on fish hosts to complete their complex life cycle, conservation of freshwater mussel species is particularly challenging. In this study, I focused my attention on freshwater mussel species commonly known as "pigtoes" which belong to the genera Fusconaia and Pleurobema. These species are difficult to distinguish morphologically even by experts. Hence, my study used molecular genetic markers to first identify these species. To assess the size and genetic health of these populations, I estimated genetic diversity and effective population number (Ne). Finally, I developed dichotomous keys to identify live mussel specimens and shells of molecularly identified mussels. My genetic results showed that there are five species of pigtoes in the Green River, which include Rough Pigtoe (Pleurobema plenum), Ohio Pigtoe (P. cordatum), Pink Pigtoe/Round Pigtoe (P. sintoxia/rubrum), Long-Solid (Fusconaia subrotunda), and Wabash Pigtoe (F. flava). A sixth pigtoe species, the endangered clubshell (Pleurobema clava), also is extant in the upper Green River but was not included in the analyses due to its rarity in the river. My results suggest that these mussel populations are large and healthy enough to survive and to adapt over time. The morphometric analysis using Canonical Variate Analysis (CVA) resulted in differentiation between F. flava and F. subrotunda. These two Fusconaia species also were morphologically different from the investigated species of Pleurobema. Results of this analysis suggest that species in the Genus Pleurobema remain difficult to differentiate from each other. The lack of genetic differentiation and the inconsistency in the experts' identification of P. rubrum and P. sintoxia, did not provide enough information to separate these two putative species for morphometric analysis. However, I was able to describe a few individuals that looked like typical examples of these two species to the eyes of the experts. Future taxonomic studies should use next-generation sequencing, which would likely result in a better resolution of evolutionary relationships. Large Ne values for each species suggest that these populations are genetically healthy. However, these results need to be considered together with results of future studies on life history, habitats, abundance, and reproduction of these species in the wild. Finally, the dichotomous mussel identification keys are intended to support more accurate identification of these species in the Green River, KY but need to be field-tested by mussel biologists