Sean P. Powers's research while affiliated with University of South Alabama and other places
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Publications (175)
Localized depletion of marine and estuarine populations often results from large‐scale natural and anthropogenic disturbances (e.g., hurricanes, oil spills) as well as overharvest of fisheries resources. Understanding how such localized depletions may affect populations at larger regional scales requires knowledge of connectivity among local popula...
Greater amberjack are active swimmers that occur over a range of depths around reefs and artificial structures. In this study, we describe overall diel patterns of depth use and swimming activity for greater amberjack. We tested for impacts of fishing-related stress on diel patterns, and we describe the potential influence of cyclonic storms on die...
Fisheries-independent surveys are commonly used to create indices of relative abundance. If properly designed and calibrated, these surveys may also be used to estimate absolute abundance Here, we demonstrate the efficacy of this approach by estimating the absolute abundance of red lionfish (Pterois volitans), gray triggerfish (Balistes capriscus),...
Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) in a variety of marine habitats has revealed distinct spatial and temporal variation of fish sounds that are predicted to vary in association with species composition and abundance, as well as diel and seasonal influences. Reefs in the Alabama Artificial Reef Zone (AARZ) in the northern Gulf of Mexico (nGOM) have a...
Coastal marine habitats continue to be degraded, thereby compelling large‐scale restoration in many parts of the world. Whether restored habitats function similarly to natural habitats and fully recover lost ecosystem services is unclear. In estuaries, oyster reefs have been degraded by multiple anthropogenic activities including destructive fishin...
Estimating fishing effort is an important aspect of effective fisheries management for populations such as red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) in the Gulf of Mexico. Monitoring effort, however, can be limited by where and when anglers can be easily observed, such as boat launches or aerial surveys. Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) can be used to de...
The goals of this study were to generate baseline population dynamics parameters for Gulf of Mexico crevalle jack Caranx hippos and examine the foraging habits of Mississippi and Alabama crevalle jack. Specimens were collected from Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, and age was estimated from sagittal otoliths. Stomachs from some specimens were reta...
Marine recreational fishing is a popular activity enjoyed by more than 9 million Americans annually and is a driver of the American ocean-or blue-economy. To ensure that fish populations are not overexploited, the NOAA Fisheries' Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) monitors recreational catch through a variety of in-person, telephone, ma...
Piscivorous groundfish have been implicated as a major hindrance to Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) population recovery within Prince William Sound, Alaska (PWS); however, the key piscivores have not been identified. To address this knowledge gap, groundfish were collected from PWS herring nursery fjords (2009–2012) during winter, a period when j...
Although catch‐and‐release fishing tournaments undoubtedly reduce mortality of target species, postrelease mortality and fish stockpiling at release sites remain common concerns related to these tournaments. The impacts of live‐release tournaments on freshwater species have been widely studied. However, research on estuarine sport fishes is lacking...
In the southeastern USA and the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), Atlantic Tripletail Lobotes surinamensis are increasingly targeted by recreational anglers, indicating that stock status should be assessed. A critical need for such assessments is age-specific data; however, previous studies have drawn conflicting conclusions regarding the most appropriate stru...
A Correction to this paper has been published: 10.1007/s10641-021-01096-6
Seagrasses, oyster reefs, and salt marshes are critical coastal habitats that support high densities of juvenile fish and invertebrates. Yet which species are enhanced through these nursery habitats, and to what degree, remains largely unquantified. Densities of young-of-year fish and invertebrates in seagrasses, oyster reefs, and salt marsh edges...
While it is common knowledge that Red Drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) inhabit oligohaline waters (salinity <5), lifetime reconstructions of salinity histories have been lacking, and this study provides unique insight into interannual and ontogenetic patterns of oligohaline occupancy by this economically valuable sportfish. Growth consequences of oligoha...
Abstract Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus, hereafter tarpon) are facing a multitude of stressors and are considered Vulnerable by the IUCN; however, significant gaps remain in our understanding of tarpon space use and movement. From 2018 to 2019, citizen scientists facilitated tagging of 23 tarpon with SPOT tags to examine space use and movemen...
Quantifying the nursery role of habitats or locations in supporting fisheries is central to understanding population-scale animal-habitat relationships, and in guiding ecosystem-based management. We assessed the nursery role of northern Gulf of Mexico seagrass meadows for gray snapper, lane snapper, and gag recruiting to Alabama’s extensive offshor...
Increasing post‐release survival of discarded fishes is a critical challenge to the development of effective conservation and management strategies for a multitude of commercial and recreational fisheries. Among reef fishes, this challenge is further complicated by pressure‐related injuries collectively known as barotrauma. Left alone, these injuri...
To use elements as salinity proxies, relationships of elemental concentrations with salinity must be known and vary from freshwater to marine endmembers. To extend these proxies to biogenic carbonates, elements must incorporate into carbonate matrices proportional to environmental concentrations. Therefore, this study quantified calcium (Ca), magne...
Understanding the factors that influence species’ distributions is crucial for implementing effective management and conservation practices, yet difficult for highly vagile species like sharks. Many shark species demonstrate either spatial and/or temporal sexual segregation, further confounding accurate quantification of habitat suitability. Given...
Estuarine‐dependent fishes experience a wide range of environmental conditions, and most species exhibit distinct associations with particular habitats. However, similar species or multiple conspecifics often overlap spatiotemporally, which can result in ecological interactions that have consequences for behaviors that can shape the structure and f...
Subadult (age < 3) Red Drum Sciaenops ocellatus support a valuable recreational fishery, and mortality estimates for young Red Drum are needed for proper management. To obtain these estimates, age‐1 and age‐2 Red Drum were implanted with acoustic transmitters and external Floy tags in two coastal Alabama rivers (Fowl and Dog rivers). Fates of tagge...
Coastal communities exist on the front lines of diverse natural hazards and the growing impacts of climate change. While traditional strategies for dealing with coastal hazards have often involved the hardening or armoring of shorelines, more recent research and practice have demonstrated the value and cost-effectiveness of “living shorelines” and...
The northcentral Gulf of Mexico (nGoM) encompasses a range of environments that support a speciose predatory assemblage. Large predatory species are often viewed as trophically-analogous, sharing similar isotopic niches. To investigate the regional and seasonal isotopic variability of a predator assemblage across the coastal waters of the nGoM (Lou...
Fishery-independent data on fishes and crustaceans collected in spring and fall over three decades (1986–2015) from coastal areas of southeastern Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama were analyzed to determine if these areas differed in species composition and environmental conditions over this period. Multivariate community analyses revealed signif...
In response to our recent paper (Drymon et al. 2019), Yosef (2019) questions the mechanism proposed to explain interactions between tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier) and migratory songbirds, while offering an alternative mechanism based on a single observation. We appreciate the comments from Yosef and the opportunity to respond. Yosef (2019) questi...
Strontium (Sr), barium (Ba), and their ratios to calcium (Ca) may be used as indirect proxies of salinity in otoliths, given that generally Sr:Ca is positively and Ba:Ca is negatively related to salinity. However, these relationships are non-linear, dependent on water chemistry, and vary among species. To determine if salinity reconstructions in no...
The contents of 1056 stomachs were included in a trophic‐guild analysis to document separation amongst 16 groundfish species inhabiting Pacific herring Clupea pallasii and walleye pollock Gadus chalcogrammus nursery fjords in Prince William Sound, Alaska and to determine the relative contribution of C. pallasii and G. chalcogrammus to that separati...
Estuarine ecosystems are characterized by heterogeneity in species assemblages and habitat complexity, so prey in these systems are often threatened by multiple predators across a mosaic of habitats. When several predator species or conspecifics co-occur, behavioral interactions between them can introduce non-independence to their predator-prey dyn...
Accurate estimates of exploitation are essential to managing an exploited fishery. However, these estimates are often dependent on the area and vulnerable sizes of fish considered in a study. High‐reward tagging studies offer a simple and direct approach to estimating exploitation rates at these various scales and in examining how model parameters...
The Gulf of Mexico greater amberjack (Seriola dumerili) stock has been designated as “overfished” by the National Marine Fisheries Service and is currently under a rebuilding plan. Its fishery in the Gulf of Mexico is dominated by recreational landings, where 75% of the total recreational catch are regulatory discards; as such, uncertainty regardin...
—A standard method used by fisheries managers to decrease catch and effort is to shorten the length of a fishery; however, data on recreational angler response to this simple approach are surprisingly lacking. We assessed the effect of variable season length on daily fishing effort, measured by using numbers of boat launches per day, anglers per bo...
Following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) reefs in the northern Gulf of Mexico were exposed to oil and various associated clean-up activities that may have compromised oyster reef health. Included in the exposure was oil, dispersant, and in some locales, atypical salinity regimes. Oil and dispersants can be d...
The Red Snapper Lutjanus campechanus is an economically and ecologically important species in the northern Gulf of Mexico, where it often dominates the reef fish community in shallow to mid water depths along the continental shelf. The affinity of Red Snapper for artificial and natural reefs is well established; however, this affinity appears to va...
Culture of the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) is rapidly expanding. Combined with their continuing role as an environmental sentinel species and ecological model, this trend necessitates improved molecular tools for breeding and selection, as well as population assessment and genetic conservation. Here, we describe the development and valid...
Large predatory fishes, capable of traveling great distances, can facilitate energy flow linkages among spatially separated habitat patches via extended foraging behaviors over expansive areas. Here, we tested this concept by tracking the movement of a large mobile estuarine fish, red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus). Specifically, we addressed the follo...
The overexploitation of many traditionally targeted reef fishes, such as red snapper, Lutjanus campechanus (Poey, 1860), alongside the implementation of increasingly restrictive management measures on those species, has led to increased targeting of conventionally discarded Gulf of Mexico gray triggerfish, Balistes capriscus Gmelin, 1789, commercia...
Nearshore marine ecosystems are among the most productive areas in the world. Unfortunately, these areas also receive pollutants released into oceanic and riverine waters. Six years following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, the largest in U.S. history, the complexity of ecological injuries in this system is just now being elucidated. Here, we desc...
Nearshore coastal ecosystems are among the most productive environments on the planet but are threatened as a result of sea level rise, human development and pollution. These ecosystems often act as a sink for contaminants released into the open ocean as documented during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The geographic extent (1000s of km of p...
The explosion of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) drilling platform initiated an unprecedented chain of environmental perturbations that threatened nearshore sensitive habitats in the northern Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Here, we examine subtidal oyster reef populations monitored by state resource agencies prior to and after the DWH incident in the spring–s...
Response actions associated with oil spills often have significant impacts on ecological communities. During the 87 day long Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, the State of Louisiana released vast quantities of Mississippi River water into two estuarine basins (Barataria Bay and Black Bay/Breton Sound) in response to the approach of oil. We assessed the...
In 2011, an intensive, multiple-gear, fishery-independent survey was carried out in the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) to collect comprehensive age and length information on Red Snapper Lutjanus campechanus. Based on this synoptic survey, we produced a spatial map of Red Snapper relative abundance that integrates both gear selectivity effects and on...
Marine species with planktonic larvae often have high spatial and temporal variation in
recruitment that leads to subsequent variation in the ecology of benthic adults. Using a combination of
published and unpublished data, we compared the population structure of the salt marsh snail, Littoraria
irrorata, between the South Atlantic Bight and the Gu...
Quantifying the trophic dynamics of mesopredators in coastal habitats is an essential precursor to understanding their role in linking multiple trophic levels. Traditional dietary analyses may miss key aspects of a species’ feeding ecology and may thus fail to identify trophic linkages between predators and economically important prey populations....
As coastal human populations increase and offshore fishery regulations become more stringent in the northern Gulf of Mexico, nearshore fisheries may be subjected to increased exploitation. Spanish Mackerel Scomberomorus maculatus and Florida Pompano Trachinotus carolinus are two nearshore, coastal migratory pelagic species vulnerable to undergoing...
Estimating fishing effort is of critical importance in assessing population trends of exploited species. We used video camera footage collected by surveillance cameras to estimate effort during the federal recreational seasons for Red Snapper Lutjanus campechanus during 2012–2015 in coastal Alabama. For 2012 (40 d in duration) and 2013 (28 d in dur...
We evaluated the impact of shoreline dynamics on fringing vegetation density at mid- and low-marsh elevations at a high-energy site in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Particularly, we selected eight unprotected shoreline stretches (75 m each) at a historically eroding site and measured their inter-annual lateral movement rate using the DSAS method for...
Oyster reefs and seagrass beds are being lost worldwide at alarming rates. These habitats provide many services to humankind and, thus, much effort has been dedicated to their restoration. Here, we examine the efficacy of created oyster reefs at enhancing seagrass beds through the amelioration of hydrographic conditions and water quality. We carrie...
This project addresses the need for an expansion in the monitoring of marine environments by providing a detailed description of a low cost, robust, user friendly sonde, built on Arduino Mega 2560 (Mega) and Arduino Uno (Uno) platforms. The sonde can be made without specialized tools or training and can be easily modified to meet individual applica...
An undescribed, cryptic species of Didymocystis, as determined from sequences of 2 ribosomal genes and superficially similar to Didymocystis scomberomori (MacCallum and MacCallum, 1916), infected the skin of the Spanish mackerel, Scomberomorus maculatus, in the north central Gulf of Mexico (GOM). An analysis of 558 fish from 2011-2013 from Louisian...
Deepwater Horizon was the largest marine oil spill in U.S. waters, oiling large expanses of coastal wetland shorelines. We compared marsh periwinkle (Littoraria irrorata) density and shell length at salt marsh sites with heavy oiling to reference conditions ~16 months after oiling. We also compared periwinkle density and size among oiled sites with...
GoPro tank placement.
Schematic diagram of GoPro placement in tanks.
(TIF)
Detailed diet data.
Complete list (n = 46) of unique prey taxa identified from stomachs of red and vermilion snapper.
(DOCX)
Feeding attempts.
Examples of failed and successful feeding attempts and red and vermilion snapper.
(MOV)
Understanding the complex nature of direct and indirect species interactions is a critical precursor to successful resource management. In the northern Gulf of Mexico fisheries ecosystem, red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) and vermilion snapper (Rhomboplites aurorubens) are two commercially harvested species within a larger reef fish complex. These...
The seasonal and spatial heterogeneity of highly mobile mesopredators may play a large structuring role in estuarine dynamics. With a hypothesized relaxation of predation pressure from large sharks, growing populations of cownose rays (Rhinoptera bonasus) have been implicated in negatively affecting shellfish beds across multiple estuaries of the A...
1. Quantification of ecosystem services is increasingly valuable for conservation and restoration decision making. Structured habitats serve as nursery grounds by enhancing juvenile fish and mobile crustacean survival and abundance. This service is challenging to quantify due to ontogenetic shifts in habitat use by many species. 2. We reviewed avai...
1. Quantification of ecosystem services is increasingly valuable for conservation and restoration decision making. Structured habitats serve as nursery grounds by enhancing juvenile fish and mobile crustacean survival and abundance. This service is challenging to quantify due to ontogenetic shifts in habitat use by many species.
2. We reviewed ava...
Background
Barrier islands are dynamic features of the northern Gulf of Mexico that are affected by natural processes and more frequently, anthropogenic disturbances. In addition to providing a barrier from storms, these islands offer habitat for many marine species. In an effort to prevent oiling of the Alabama coastline following the Deepwater Ho...
Restoration of degraded ecosystems is an important societal goal, yet inadequate monitoring and the absence of clear performance metrics are common criticisms of many habitat restoration projects. Funding limitations can prevent adequate monitoring, but we suggest that the lack of accepted metrics to address the diversity of restoration objectives...
Presumably an individual's risk of predation is reduced by group membership and this 'safety in numbers' concept has been readily applied to investigations of schooling prey; however, foraging in groups may also be beneficial. We tested the hypothesis that, when feeding in groups, foraging of a coastal fish (Florida Pompano, Trachinotus carolinus)...
Habitat loss and fragmentation are leading causes of species extinctions in terrestrial, aquatic and marine systems. Along coastlines, natural habitats support high biodiversity and valuable ecosystem services but are often replaced with engineered structures for coastal protection or erosion control. We coupled high-resolution shoreline condition...
Spanish Mackerel (Scomberomorus maculatus) support important commercial and recreational fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Although federally managed because of interstate migrations, harvest, essential fish habitat consideration, and management are largely state issues. Contrary to the accepted paradigm of a well-mixed stock from the GOM to t...
Satellite-tracked manatees routinely lose satellite tags or tag functionality, resulting in the loss of valuable data on migration and habitat use patterns. Fortunately, some movement data from these animals remain salvageable because manatees typically retain a peduncle belt containing an acoustic transmitter that can be detected with a submersibl...
Estuarine shorelines have been degraded since humans arrived in the coastal zone. In recent history, a major cause of habitat degradation has been the armoring of shorelines with vertical walls to protect property from erosive wave energy; however, a lack of practical alternatives that maintain or enhance ecological function has limited the options...
Batoids are important mesopredators whose high mobility and extensive migrations can link seemingly distant food webs in coastal ecosystems. Despite this recognition, our knowledge of the movement patterns of many species is limited due to the logistical challenge of tracking these animals on multiple scales. Smart Positioning or Temperature (SPOT)...
perspectives and values for improved stewardship of a coastal ecosystem engineer. Ecology and Society 19(3): ABSTRACT. Oyster reefs provide coastal societies with a vast array of ecosystem services, but are also destructively harvested as an economically and culturally important fishery resource, exemplifying a complex social-ecological system (SES...
