Home
Resource
Horseshoe crab spawning in the Delaware Bay: a potential response to sea surface
PDF
PDF format is widely accepted and good for printing.
Plug-in required
PDF-1(2.28 MB)
Citation & Export
View Usage Statistics
Staff View

Citation & Export
Hide

Simple citation

Thatcher, Sean. Horseshoe crab spawning in the Delaware Bay: a potential response to sea surface. Retrieved from https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-ntxd-ym59

Export

Click here for information about Citation Management Tools at Rutgers.

Statistics
Hide

Description

TitleHorseshoe crab spawning in the Delaware Bay: a potential response to sea surface
NameThatcher, Sean (author); Lathrop, Richard G (chair); Schneider, Laura (internal member); Robinson, David (internal member); Rutgers University; School of Graduate Studies
Date Created2020
Other Date2020-10 (degree)
SubjectGeography, Sea surface temperature, Limulus polyphemus, Delaware Bay (Del. and N.J.)
Extent1 online resource (xiii, 91 pages) : illustrations
DescriptionThe American horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus (HSC) spawns in their greatest densities in the Delaware Bay; however, over-harvests have reduced their population size by 90% in the late 20th century and climate change is degrading their spawning habitat. Because their eggs are an important food source for threatened shorebird species and adjust the timing they spawn due to ocean temperatures efforts were made to understand sea surface temperatures (SSTs) throughout the Bayshore area, patterns of egg cluster abundances and surface densities, identify a SST threshold for peak spawning activity, and use physical characteristics related to specific sites identified as increasing egg abundances. The highest egg abundances – specifically clusters – were in the southern region and decreased northward, while SSTs showed the opposite pattern. Surface egg densities were also the most abundant in the Southern region but are believed to be transported widely within and between regions. The CART analysis identified that the five-day moving average for SST of 17° C when abundance shifted from pre-peak to post-peak and currently occurs between May 29 and June 5. This temperature threshold was determined to have advanced by several days for all regions and beaches with the Northern region experiencing the most significant advancement, suggesting that a potential does exist for a mismatch to develop if HSCs spawn earlier to match this advancement. Beach nourishment activities will be important for the continued existence of suitable habitat for HSC spawning in the Bayshore area and should focus on increasing the physical parameters that increase cluster abundance such as having sand depth of at least 40 cm and beach width of at least 22 m. As climate change continues to alter the physical habitat in the Bayshore area, continued monitoring of when HSCs are spawning as a response to SST will be important to understand if this mismatch is developing, potentially jeopardizing the recovering red knot population. The MUR dataset is a useful and time and cost-efficient way to monitor SSTs in the Bayshore area for both beaches and regions, allowing it to be implemented in surveying HSC spawning to identify more specific temperature patterns.
NoteM.S.
NoteIncludes bibliographical references
Genretheses, ETD graduate
Persistent URLhttps://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-ntxd-ym59
LanguageEnglish
CollectionSchool of Graduate Studies Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
RightsThe author owns the copyright to this work.
Version 8.5.5
Rutgers University Libraries - Copyright ©2024