Coastal wetlands are globally significant carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) sinks, yet their long-term stability is threatened by climate-driven vegetation shifts and anthropogenic nutrient inputs. This dissertation investigates how mangrove encroachment, N additions, and soil physical structure regulate the stabilization, formation, and mineralization of organic matter (OM) across Florida’s marsh–mangrove ecotones. Chapter 1 examines how vegetation type, N fertilization, and …
Biology Department CalendarUnderstanding variations in health and immune function across life stages is important for population monitoring and for understanding species’ responses to anthropogenic disturbances. Sea turtles are a model species for evaluating these changes within and across life stages due to their long lifespans with ontogenetic habitat and diet shifts. For my dissertation, I tested whether health-immune proxies differed: across the …
Biology Department CalendarConvergent evolution, the independent emergence of similar traits across unrelated lineages due to shared environmental pressures, offers unique insights into adaptive evolution. In parasitoid Braconidae wasps, convergence is hypothesized to be driven by the diverse biological and ecological traits of their insect hosts, which are variable in their accessibility, life stage, and taxa. However, while host-driven convergence in Braconidae has …
Biology Department Calendar