Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2006. / Title from title screen (site viewed on Feb. 7, 2007). PDF text: xvi, 181 p. : ill. (some col.). UMI publication number: AAT 3220389. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche format.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Rhode Island, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 270-288).

Thesis--University of Wisconsin--Madison. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Titre de l'écran-titre (visionné le 25 juillet 2023) / Les organismes benthiques jouent des rôles importants dans les écosystèmes aquatiques tels que l'oxygénation, la décomposition ou le recyclage de la matière organique. Toutefois, les pressions environnementales et anthropiques croissantes menacent le bon fonctionnement de ces systèmes et engendrent une baisse de la diversité benthique, qui mériteraient d'être mieux documentées. Le Saint-Laurent, considéré comme l'un des plus grands systèmes hydrographiques au monde, présente une mosaïque d'habitats variés, de forts gradients environnementaux et de nombreuses pressions humaines, tous susceptibles d'influencer les communautés benthiques à divers degrés. Cette étude s'est intéressée à trois régions hydrologiques du Saint-Laurent : la portion fluviale, l'estuaire fluvial et l'estuaire moyen. L'objectif était de caractériser la composition et la répartition des différentes communautés benthiques dans une portion contrastée du système Saint-Laurent et d'identifier les variables environnementales qui expliquaient le mieux leur présence. Les communautés benthiques ont été échantillonnées à 113 stations de Montréal à Cacouna de 2018 à 2020. Les embranchements Annelida et Arthropoda étaient les deux taxons les plus représentés dans notre échantillonnage. Les analyses de groupement ont révélé neuf communautés benthiques influencées par les gradients environnementaux propres des régions hydrologiques. Les masses d'eau, la salinité, la nature des sédiments ainsi que la température étaient les quatre variables clés qui expliquaient 16 % de la relation entre les communautés et les variables environnementales. Cette étude a mis en évidence les effets de processus régionaux sur la structure des communautés benthiques et suggère l'implication de plusieurs effets locaux. Enfin, c'est la première fois qu'une étude portant sur les communautés benthiques couvre à la fois le fleuve et l'estuaire du Saint-Laurent. Ce travail à grande échelle permet d'affiner la compréhension de l'écosystème et contribue à améliorer la pertinence des indicateurs benthiques. / Benthic organisms play important roles in aquatic ecosystems such as oxygenation, decomposition, or recycling of organic matter. However, growing environmental and anthropogenic pressures threaten the proper functioning of aquatic environments and lead to a decline in benthic diversity, which deserves to be better documented. St. Lawrence, considered one of the largest hydrographic systems in the world, presents a mosaic of varying habitats, strong environmental gradients, and numerous human pressures, all likely to influence benthic communities to varying degrees. This study focused on three hydrological regions of St. Lawrence: the fluvial portion, the fluvial estuary, and the upper estuary. The objective was to characterize the composition and distribution of different benthic communities in a contrasting portion of the St. Lawrence system and to identify the environmental variables that best explained their presence. Benthic communities were sampled at 113 stations from Montreal to Cacouna between 2018 and 2020. The phyla Annelida and Arthropoda were the two most represented taxa in our sampling. Cluster analyses revealed nine benthic communities influenced by hydrological region-specific environmental gradients. Water masses, salinity, nature of sediment, and temperature were the four key variables that explained 11% of the relationship between communities and environmental variables. This study has highlighted the effects of regional processes on the structure of benthic communities and suggests the involvement of several local effects. Finally, this is the first time that a study on benthic communities has covered both the St. Lawrence River and the estuary. This large-scale work makes it possible to refine the understanding of the system and contributes to improving the relevance of benthic indicators.

Thesis (M.S.E.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2003. / "May 2003." Published reprint of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-78). Available also electronically on the Internet.

No description available.

In situ light and dark planktonic and benthal respirometers were used to measure the oxygen requirements of Yaquina estuary water and benthal deposits. Respirometer devices were constructed so that actual conditions of mixing could be simulated and benthal deposit disturbance would be minimized. A mathematical model of a benthal respirometer was developed and was used to make corrections for respirometer leakage and to conduct oxygen transfer parameter sensitivity studies. The effect of mixing on benthal oxygen uptake was studied by varying the simulated mixing velocities. Studies were made to determine the effects of scour of bottom material on the salinity of the respirometer water and on the benthal oxygen uptake rates. Plots of various parameters such as benthal oxygen uptake versus dissolved oxygen concentration and respirometer leakage versus time were made to attempt to evaluate relationships that may exist. / Graduation date: 1970

Many of the processes on earth which are essential for sustaining life are driven by biological systems and it is functional diversity aswell as species richness which determines the health and sustainability of ecosystems. Ecosystem functions, from primary production to decomposition, are determined by the interactions both between organisms and between organisms and their environment. As such, there has long been an appeal in classifying species by their roles in ecological communities rather than by taxonomic groupings. However, there is often a disconnect between the criteria used to classify species into functional groups, often common morphological attributes, and the effect that the organisms within those groups have on specific ecosystem functions as the appropriateness of the classification criteria is rarely empirically tested. This thesis investigates inter- and intra-species variation in benthic invertebrates with respect to their effects on ecosystem processes (particle reworking and bioirrigation) and functions (nutrient cycling) and considers whether species can be grouped for single and multiple ecosystem functions in different environmental contexts. Overall the results show that species can be grouped by their effects on specific single ecosystem functions, but that these groups cannot be applied across multiple functions and processes. Further they show that species’ contributions to ecosystem functions change with environmental context (salinity, organic enrichment, seawater acidification and temperature), and that changes in the ecosystem processes known to mediate functions do not necessarily reflect a change in functioning. In addition intra-species variation in functional activity indicates that it may not be appropriate for all members of a population to be ascribed to the same functional group. This thesis highlights a need to test that different functional groups reflect different effects on ecosystem functioning. Further it shows that functional groups are not constant, individuals within populations are not necessarily functional equivalents, and that individuals have the capacity to change their contributions to ecosystem functions and processes. Future research needs to acknowledge and incorporate both biotic and abiotic sources of variability in species effects on ecosystem functions and processes.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Santa Cruz, 1982. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 181-193).

Tésis (Biólogo)--Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara, 1979. / Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-71).