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Florida Integrated Science Center - Gainesville

Coastal Ecology and Conservation Research Group

The primary goal of the Coastal Ecology & Conservation Research Group is to qualitatively analyze community structure, biodiversity, habitat affinities, and trophic relationships of estuarine and marine fish communities throughout the Southeastern U.S.  Fundamental scientific knowledge can be used to effectively advise resource agencies on how to best manage and conserve estuarine and marine resources.  Presently, the program is involved with a diversity of fish studies ranging from habitat characterization and population census of threatened and endangered species to holistic ecosystem studies of saltmarsh and deep-reef fish communities.



Recent Publication

Characterization of Northern Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Hard Bottom Communities with Emphasis on Lophelia Coral - Lophelia Reef Megafaunal Community Structure, Biotopes, Genetics, Microbial Ecology, and Geology (2004-2006)

Lophelia Cover ImageThere is a rapidly growing social, political, and scientific awareness of the destruction of sensitive deep coral reefs, and the potential loss of unexplored biodiversity by human activities including bottom trawling, anchoring, cable-laying, ocean dumping, pollution, and offshore oil and gas development. In the Gulf of Mexico, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) exercises an ecological stewardship role for sensitive hydrocarbon seep, hard-bottom and reef habitats relative to hydrocarbon exploration and development activities.  The present U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) community structure team investigation, together with companion investigations by USGS microbiology and genetics research teams, has addressed gaps in knowledge of Lophelia pertusa (Linnaeus, 1758) deep reef ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico, with particular emphasis on the fish and mobile invertebrate megafaunas.  The overall USGS 2004-2006 program of Lophelia community studies complemented a concurrent contract study undertaken by Continental Shelf Associates (CSA, 2003) on behalf of the MMS. Find Out More


Preserving Gulf Sturgeon—A Fish Tale of Gargantuan Proportions

Fishing for sturgeonThe weather is beautiful, sunny and warm, perfect for a day outdoors and on the water. Itīs hard to imagine a better job than doing fieldwork with the USGS Coastal Ecology crew working to keep tabs on the Gulf sturgeon population. Almost every day in Florida is a great day to be out on the river, but itīs especially nice when itīs a workday and you have the water practically to yourself. Learn More

Current Reports

Posters presented at the FlSC Strategic Review in St. Petersburg, Florida, May 9-12, 2006

The Benthic Community of Offshore Sandbanks: A Literature Synopsis of the Benthic Fauna Resources in Potential Outer Continental Shelf Sand Mining Areas (Acrobat PDF - 1044 KB)

Taxonomic Composition and Relative Frequency of the Benthic Fish Community Found on Natural Sand Banks and Shoals in the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico. (A Synthesis of the Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Programs Groundfish Survey Database, 1982-2000)
(Acrobat PDF - 601 KB)

Cold Coral Research in U.S. Waters. (People, Lands, & Water, Vol. 11 No. 2, pg. 13) (Acrobat PDF - 1432 KB)

Lophelia Reef Bathymetry Maps

 

Reports Available:

SYNOPTIC CRUISE REPORT - September, 2004 - Lophelia Reef Fish & Mobile Megafauna Community Structure, Biotope Affinities, and Trophodynamics

SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIVE REPORT - May, 2004 - Age & Reproduction in Three Reef Dwelling Serranid Fishes of the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf: Pronotogrammus martinicensis, Hemanthias vivanus & Serranus phoebe (with Preliminary Observations on the Pomacentrid Fish, Chromis enchrysurus)

SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIVE REPORT - April, 2004 - Characterization of Ichthyoplankton within the U.S. Geological Survey's Northeastern Gulf of Mexico Study Area

FINAL REPORT - February, 2004 - Quantitative assessment of benthic food resources for juvenile Gulf sturgeon, Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi in the Suwannee River estuary, Florida, USA

CRUISE REPORT - March, 2004 - Structure, Function, and Biological/Physical Coupling of Deep Reef Communites in the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico

CRUISE REPORT - February, 2004 - Assessment of Fish Communities Associated with Offshore Sand Banks and Shoals in the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico

TECHNICAL REPORT - June, 2002 - Community Structure and Trophic Ecology of Fishes on the Pinnacles Reef Tract

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