Orientador: Alessandro Francisco Talamine do Amarante / Banca: Solange Maria Gennari / Banca: Cledson Augusto Garcia / Banca: Reinaldo José da Silva / Banca: Patrizia Ana Bricarello / Resumo: O experimento teve como objetivo avaliar a sobrevivência de larvas infectantes (L3) de Trichostrongylus colubriformis em três espécies forrageiras. Para tal, foram utilizados módulos experimentais constituídos por seis canteiros de 32,4 m2 cada, estabelecidos com as seguintes gramíneas forrageiras: Brachiaria decumbens cv. Australiana, Cynodon dactilon cv. Coast-cross e Panicum maximum cv. Aruana, perfazendo dois canteiros por espécie. Cada canteiro foi dividido em 36 parcelas, de 30 x 30 cm, de forma a permitir seis repetições por espécie e por altura em cada semana de colheita de material. A sobrevivência larval foi avaliada nas quatro estações do ano, sob o efeito de duas alturas de poda das forragens (baixa, 5 cm e alta, 30 cm). A poda foi realizada imediatamente antes da deposição das fezes. Ocorreram quatro deposições de fezes, uma a cada estação do ano. A colheita das fezes e da forragem foi realizada uma, duas, quatro, oito, 12 e 16 semanas após cada deposição de fezes nos canteiros experimentais. A altura da forragem foi medida em cada uma das subdivisões imediatamente antes das colheitas. A forragem foi cortada com uma tesoura de poda, rente ao solo, de uma área delimitada com o auxílio de um círculo de 10 cm de raio. As fezes foram recolhidas manualmente dos canteiros. A recuperação de L3 das amostras fecais foi maior quando as fezes foram depositadas em meio ao capim alto (com 30 cm - P<0,05). Porém, a recuperação de L3 nas forragens foi similar em ambos os cortes. Em relação à concentração de L3, o corte baixo propiciou maior quantidade de L3 por quilo de matéria seca (P<0,05). As maiores recuperações de L3, nas fezes e nas forragens, ocorreram quando as fezes foram depositadas no outono e na primavera. Dentre as espécies forrageiras, o capim aruana foi o que no geral apresentou maiores concentrações de larvas infectantes de T. colubriformis. / Abstract: The purpose of the experiment was to evaluate infective Trichostrongylus colubriformis larvae (L3) survival in three forage species. Experimental modules formed by six 32.4-m2 plot, established with the following forage grass species, were used in the study: Australian Brachiaria decumbens cv., Cynodon dactilon cv. Coast-cross, and Panicum maximum cv. Aruana, totaling two plots for each species. Each plot was divided into 36 30 x 30 cm parts in order to allow six replicates per species and per height in each week of material collection. Larval survival was evaluated in the four seasons of the year under the effect of two forage paring heights (low, 5 cm, and high, 30 cm). The paring was carried out immediately before the feces were deposited. Four feces deposits were made, one in each season of the year. Feces and forage collection was performed one, two, four, eight, 12 and 16 weeks after each feces deposition in the experimental plots. Forage grass height was measured in each subdivision immediately before the collections. The forage was cut using pairing scissors, close to the soil, from an area delimited with a circle with a 10-cm radius. The feces were collected manually from the plots. L3 recovery rates from fecal samples were bigger when the feces were deposited in high grass (measuring 30 cm - P<0,05). However, L3 recovery in the forages was similar for both cuts. So far as the L3 concentration is concerned, the low cut resulted in a bigger number of L3 per kilogram of dry matter (P<0,05). The higher L3 recovery in the feces and in the forage grass occurred when the feces were deposited in the autumn and in the spring. Among the forage species, the aruana grass was the one that, in general, harbored the biggest concentrations of infecting T. colubriformis larvae. / Doutor

Diel vertical migrations (DVM) comprise the largest animal migration on the planet and are a phenomenon present in all bodies of water on Earth. A strong sound scattering layer undergoing DVM was observed in the Straits of Florida via a bottom-mounted Acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) Workhorse Longranger 75 kHz (Teledyne RD Instruments) located at the 244 m isobath. ADCP average backscatter showed a clear periodicity corresponding with sunrise and sunset times indicating the presence of a nocturnal DVM. Analysis of the ADCP backscatter data indicated zooplankton swimming velocities were faster during sunrise than sunset times. In several cases the zooplankton swimming velocity appeared to be faster at the beginning of the descent, after which the swimming velocity decreased. Analysis of ADCP velocity data indicated a measureable decrease in the northward component of the current velocity field during migrations (sunrise and sunset) compared to three hours prior. This was presumably associated with an increase in drag due to turbulent friction associated with DVM. A non-hydrostatic computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model with injection of Lagrangian particles was utilized to simulate the effects of DVM on the velocity field and turbulence signature of the Florida Current. A domain simulating a section of the Florida Current was created and zooplankton were represented by particle injection with a discrete phase model. The model was run with and without particles, holding all other parameters the same, for comparison. Idealized temperature stratification and velocity profiles were set for both summer and winter conditions to observe seasonal differences. For each case, velocity and turbulence with particles were compared to results without particles to confirm the changes in profiles were due to the zooplankton (Lagrangian particles). In several cases there was an observable change in average x-velocity profiles due to the injection of particles into the domain. In all cases there was an observable increase in subgrid turbulent viscosity in the wake of the injected particles. This effect was much stronger in the winter case, most likely due to stratification of the water column which gave a near critical Richardson number. These results indicated that DVM does in fact have an effect on the velocity profile and turbulence signature in a strong current under certain conditions and that there was a seasonal difference due to stratification profiles.

This thesis presents the first description of the geographic and depth distributions of pelagic decapod shrimps in the area located around the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, based on the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) NRDA (National Resource Damage Assessment) trawl samples collected from April – June, 2011. This information is important in ecosystem models investigating trophic effects of the spill because pelagic decapod shrimp are consumed by a variety of organisms occupying higher trophic levels. One of the most abundant and diverse groups of decapods is the Family Oplophoridae. Their roles in pelagic food webs in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and other deep-sea ecosystems makes them ideal candidates for study; however, only a limited amount of research has been conducted on their distribution and reproductive biology. In the northeastern GOM, all previous studies have been conducted at Standard Station in the eastern Gulf (27°N, 86°W) (Hopkins and Lancraft, 1984; Hopkins et al., 1989; Hopkins and Gartner, 1992; Hopkins et al., 1994). The current study is unique because 1) it provides data from regions of the Gulf where oplophorids have never been studied, 2) allows for comparisons of distributions and abundances of oplophorid species in both the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones by using a continuous data set, and 3) compares assemblages from two distinct bathymetric environments in the northeastern GOM: continental slope (200-1000 m bottom depth) and offshore (>1000 m). As the study site also encompasses the region most strongly impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, these data represent the first quantification of any component of the decapod crustacean assemblage in this location after the oil spill, and will be used for comparison with data obtained during future DEEPEND Consortium (Deep Pelagic Nekton Dynamics of the Gulf of Mexico) cruises to monitor changes, or lack thereof, in the assemblage after exposure to Deepwater Horizon oil and dispersants in the water column.

The nighttime distribution of vertically migrating mesopelagic fish in relation to nocturnal light was studied during a circumglobal survey, in the Red Sea, and in a fjord at high latitude. The study was based on data derived from ship borne echo sounders (circumglobal and the Red Sea) as well as using upward looking echo sounders mounted on the bottom (Masfjorden, Norway). We also applied a numerical model for analyzing diel vertical migration patterns. The effect of the lunar cycle was the focus in studies at low latitudes, while seasonal changes in nocturnal light climate was in focus at high latitude. Lunar phase significantly affected the distribution of mesopelagic fish at the global scale and in the Red Sea. During nights near full moon, scattering layers of mesopelagic fish distributed deeper than during darker phases of the moon. At high latitude, mesopelagic fish switched its behavior along with seasonal changes in nocturnal lights. In autumn, the population of the studied fish (Maurolicus mueleri) formed separated layers. Juveniles performed normal diel vertical migration followed by midnight sinking, with midnight sinking mainly related to temperature minima and also for avoiding predators. Meanwhile the adults did not migrate vertically, reducing foraging but increasing the adult survival. From late winter to mid-Spring, interrupted ascents behavior was noted in the afternoon. Predator avoidance, satiation, and finding temperature optimum might be the reason behind interrupted ascents. At lighter nights in mid-summer, M. muelleri took on schooling behavior, likely as an anti-predator behavior permitting access to the upper waters in the absence of darkness.

This thesis presents: 1) the first statistically rigorous support for the longstanding hypothesis that state of satiation modifies diel vertical migration patterns of deep-sea micronektonic crustaceans and fishes; and, 2) the first assessment of microplastic ingestion by deep-pelagic micronekton in the Gulf of Mexico and Straits of Florida. Deep-sea pelagic crustaceans and fishes significantly contribute to abundance and biomass of pelagic ecosystems, are frequently consumed by commercially valuable fishery species, and serve to transport both nutrients and pollutants between shallow and deep waters. The results presented herein will be valuable for assessing risk associated with potential biomagnification of plastic through consumption or indirect consumption of deep-sea biota. Moreover, these data demonstrate that the extent of feeding at depth by non-migratory taxa as well as non-migrating individuals of migratory taxa is substantial. Feeding at depth is usually excluded from biogeochemical models, and these data demonstrate that this is an important factor that must be included to obtain more precise estimates of active nutrient flux by micronekton.

No description available.

Predicting the impacts of non-native species remains one of the greatest challenges to invasion ecologists. Because of their insularity, freshwater systems are particularly vulnerable to invasions, especially from non-native predators. The research in this thesis explores the role of abiotic and biotic factors in mediating the distribution and impact of Bythotrephes longimanus, a predatory cladoceran that has been introduced to freshwater systems in North America. Although the general impacts of this invasion have been documented, little is known about the factors that modulate them. Using a combination of field surveys and experiments, I tested several hypotheses concerning the influence of interactions with native species, as well as the role of heterogeneity in the light environment, in mediating the impact of Bythotrephes. Results demonstrated that biotic resistance by native macroinvertebrate predators does not play a limiting role in the establishment success of Bythotrephes. However, the within-lake distribution of Bythotrephes was influenced by these macroinvertebrates, suggesting that the native predator context matters when trying to understand the impacts of non-native predators. This was demonstrated with a mesocosm experiment in which the impact of Bythotrephes was constrained by the native Chaoborus larvae. In terms of the abiotic environment, in situ feeding experiments demonstrated that refuges from impact could exist for some prey taxa, as the outcome of predation by Bythotrephes was dependent on light availability and some prey taxa were more successful at evading predation under low light conditions. Finally, results show that adaptive behaviour by prey is also an important determinant of impact, as migrating Daphnia can escape predation effects by Bythotrephes. The combination of light-limited predation and a shallow distribution by Bythotrephes selects for prey that occupy relatively deeper positions during the day. As a whole, this research highlights the importance of complex interactions in mediating the impact of Bythotrephes and may help to explain some of the variation that has been documented among invaded lakes. A better understanding of these complex interactions can improve our ability to anticipate impacts as Bythotrephes continues to spread, as well as provide insight on some of the long-term effects following invasion. / Thesis (Ph.D, Biology) -- Queen's University, 2013-06-17 09:26:35.221

The main theme of this thesis is the interactions of animals with the environment and each other. The thesis was written within the framework of a biomanipulation project “Pikeperch in Himmerfjärden”. With the aim to investigate possible trophic pit-falls, give the manipulation the best possible start, and find ways to monitor the progression of the manipulation. In Paper I the diet of the invader cladoceran Cercopagis pengoi is analysed with stable isotopes; conducted prior to stocking. C.pengoi has a preference for large copepods, indicating possible competition with fish. Paper II investigates the behavioural differences between pikeperch fingerlings reared in different environments (pond vs. tank). Results suggest that fish reared in semi-natural ponds are more likely to survive directly after stocking. In Paper III and IV, the diel vertical migrations (DVM) of copepods are in focus. In Paper III the migrations of two copepod species: Acartia spp. and Eurytemora affinis are studied over season and life stage. The amplitude of migration was found to increase with ontogeny for both species, indicating evasion of visual predators. Paper IV examines the varying migratory patterns of adult female E. affinis finding that these animals migrate more actively when feeding conditions deteriorate and growth decreases. The overall conclusions of the thesis are that behavioural, not only direct trophic interactions are key when studying ecosystems. / <p>At the time of the doctoraldefense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status asfollows: Paper2: In press. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

The objectives of this study were: 1) to compare and contrast the effects of variations in natural densities of two common freshwater predators of crustacean zooplankton, Chaoborus spp. and Mysis relicta; and 2) to determine whether the combined impacts of these predators together differed from their effects when alone. In deep (>10m) mesocosms, additions of Chaoborus and Mysis at natural densities did not result in large changes in zooplankton abundances, lengths, or biomass. Significant decreases in abundance were observed only for Bosmina longirostris and Daphnia spp. In small (~20L) enclosures, higher predator densities caused zooplankton declines over three days. Strong interactive effects between Chaoborus and Mysis were not detected in either the large or small enclosures. This suggests that the combined effects of these two predators can be predicted from their effects determined in isolation.

Lake Winnipeg has been subject to intense eutrophication and invasive species such as Rainbow Smelt and Eubosmina coregoni for the last 40 years. This study demonstrated significant increases in total phosphorus, total nitrogen, chlorophyll-a, overall zooplankton abundance, and specifically Cladocera, between 1969 and the first decade of the 21st century. There were specific basin differences in the long-term changes of the Cladocera community, with the species Chydorus sphaericus and Ceriodaphnia quadrangula negatively affected by high levels of phosphorus, nitrogen and chlorophyll-a. Moreover, long-term change in the Cladocera community composition and abundance throughout the years (1969-2011) during summer was correlated with intensifying eutrophication. Additionally, weak diel vertical migration in the zooplankton community was observed for the first time in Lake Winnipeg.