Publications by authors named "Kathryn A O'Shaughnessy"

In degraded urban habitats, nature-based solutions aim to enhance ecosystem functioning and service provision. Bivalves are increasingly reintroduced to urban environments to enhance water quality through biofiltration, yet their long-term sustainability remains uncertain. Following the restoration of the disused South Docks in Liverpool in the 1980s, natural colonization of mussels rapidly improved dock-basin water quality and supported diverse taxa, including other filter feeders.

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Worldwide, natural habitats are being replaced by artificial structures due to urbanisation. Planning of such modifications should strive for environmental net gain that benefits biodiversity and ecosystems. Alpha (α) and gamma (γ) diversity are often used to assess 'impact' but are insensitive metrics.

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In recent decades, gobies have dispersed or introduced from the Ponto-Caspian region of eastern Europe in a westerly direction to North American and western European waters. By contrast, the naked goby, Gobiosoma bosc, is the only known gobiid species to have been introduced in an easterly direction from North American to western Europe. The potential invasiveness of G.

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Habitat modification coupled with the spread of non-native species (NNS) are among the top threats to marine biodiversity globally. Species are known to be transported to new locations via international shipping and secondarily spread via regional vessels and artificial structures. Rapid Assessment Surveys (RAS) combining quantitative and semi-quantitative methods compared NNS richness and assemblage composition on intertidal natural rocky shores and artificial structures in harbours in different regions along the south coast of England.

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The BP-contracted Deepwater Horizon Macondo well blowout occurred on 20 April 2010 and lasted nearly three months. The well released millions of barrels of crude oil into the northern Gulf of Mexico, causing extensive impacts on pelagic, benthic, and estuarine fish species. The bay anchovy (Anchoa mitchilli) is an important zooplanktivore in the Gulf, serving as an ecological link between lower trophic levels and pelagic predatory fish species.

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The boring sponge Cliona celata is a nuisance species that can have deleterious effects on eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica growth, condition, and survival. Surprisingly, however, these effects have not been well documented and when examined, results have been equi-vocal. In this study, we provide a direct comparison of growth, condition, and survival of sponge-colonized and uncolonized oysters in southeast North Carolina in 2 separate experiments.

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