Ruth H. Carmichael, Ph.D.

Senior Marine Scientist
Assistant Professor of Marine Science, University of South Alabama


Ph.D., Boston University, 2004

Email
Curriculum Vitae
 

Marine Ecosystem Response

Research Interests                                                           Lab website 

I use a variety of approaches to make these assessments.  I measure how perturbations affect habitat and food quality for consumers, and then determine the extent to which these effects may be transferred up coastal food webs in terms of change in growth, survival, and physiology.  I also employ natural abundance stable isotopes to trace N and C sources from consumers to their food sources and ultimately to N and C sources from land.  I use this information to discern trophic interactions, define linkages between anthropogenic factors and organism responses, assess nutritional importance of food sources, discern physiological state of organisms, and historically trace responses to environmental change.

1. Population ecology of West Indian manatees in Alabama waters
   
   a. A model for conservation management by integration of
       research and public outreach
   
   b. Use of telemetry and GPS to monitor West Indian manatee
       movements in Alabama waters
   
   c.  Use of tagging and necropsy data to define movements and
        diet of Alabama manatees
   

2. Factors affecting ecology and physiology of bivalves in nGOM waters (and elsewhere)
   
   a. Use of N stable isotope ratios in bivalve shell to trace anthropogenic
       N sources.
   
   b. Effects of N enrichment on oyster growth and survival in Mobile Bay, AL
   
   c. Use of stable isotope ratios to ink wastewater sources to effects on
       shellfish and human health:  Defining relevant and effective spatial and
       temporal scales for management
   
   

3. The trophic importance of land-driven organic matter
   

4. Using molts to evaluate fringe horseshoe crab populations in Downeast
   Maine and the northern Gulf of Mexico
   

5. Development and integration of metadata and research data retention
   at DISL

Courses

• Marine Conservation Biology
• Invertebrate Zoology
• Scientifc Communication
• Stable Isotope Ecology Seminar
• Biology and Conservation of Horseshoe Crabs

Selected Current Research Grants

Past Research Grants

Selected Publications

2012

Carmichael, R. H.*, A. Jones, H. Patterson, W. Walton, A. Perez-Huerta, E. Overton, M. Dailey, K. Willett. Assimilation of oil-derived elements by oysters due to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Environ. Sci. Technol. 46: 12787-12795. pdf

Prado, P., R.H. Carmichael, S. Watts, J. Cebrian, K. Heck.  Diet-dependent Δ13C and Δ15N fractionation among sea urchin (Lytechinus variegatus) tissues: Implications for food web models. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.  462: 175-190. (no paper)

Carmichael, R. H., W. Graham, A. Aven, G. Worthy, S. Howden. 2012. Unusual cold and Deepwater Horizon: Were multiple stressors a ‘perfect storm’ for bottlenose dolphins in 2011? PloS ONE 7(7): e41155. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0041155 link

Carmichael, R. H., E. Brush, Three Decades of Horseshoe Crab Rearing: A Review of Condition for Captive Growth and Survival. Reviews in Aquaculture 4:32–43. pdf

Carmichael, R. H., A. C. Shriver, I. Valiela, Bivalve Response to Estuarine  Eutrophication: The Balance Between Enhanced Food Supply and Habitat Alterations. Journal of Shellfish Research. 31(1):1-11. pdf

Carmichael, R. H.*, W. Walton, and H. Clark. Bivalve enhanced N removal from coastal estuaries. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 69: 1131-1149. link

2011

Biancani, J., R. H. Carmichael, J. Daskin, W. Burkhardt, K. Calci, Seasonal and Spatial Effects of Wastewater Effluent on Growth, Survival, and Accumulation of Microbial Contaminants by Oysters in Mobile Bay, Alabama.  Estuaries and Coasts 35:121-131. First published online Sep 2011, Selected as CESN highlight article pdf

2010   

Graham, W., R. H. Condon, R. H. Carmichael, I. D’Ambra, H. K. Patterson, F. J. Hernandez, Jr. Oil Carbon Entered the Coastal Planktonic Food Web During the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Environ. Res. Lett. 5(045301):1-6. pdf

Carolyn J. Kovacs, J.H. Daskin, H. Patterson, and R.H. Carmichael.   Crassostrea virginica shells record local variation in wastewater inputs to a coastal estuary.  Aquat. Biol. 9: 77-84. pdf

R. H. Carmichael and Caryolyn J. Kovacs. Comment on Watanabe et al. (2009). Mar. Pollut. Bull. 60: 315-315. pdf

2009

C. M. Pabody, Ruth H. Carmichael, Lauren Rice, and Monica Ross.  A new sighting network adds to 20 years of historical data on fringe West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus) populations in Alabama waters.  Gulf of Mexico Science.  1:52-61. pdf

D. R. Smith, Michael J. Millard, and R.H. Carmichael. Comparative status and assessment of Limulus polyphemus with emphasis on the New England and Delaware Bay populations.  p.361-386. In J.T. Tanacredi et al. (eds.), Biology and Conservation of Horseshoe Crabs.  Springer pdf

R. H. Carmichael, Emily Gaines, Zacharia Sheller, Amanda Tong, Amanda Clapp, and Ivan Valiela.  Diet composition of juvenile horseshoe crabs:  Implications for growth and survival of natural and cultured stocks.  p.521-534. In J.T. Tanacredi et al. (eds.), Biology and Conservation of Horseshoe Crabs.  Springer pdf

2008

R. H. Carmichael, T. Hattenrath, I. Valiela, and R.H. Michener. C stable isotopes in the shell of Mercenaria mercenaria trace wastewater inputs from watersheds to estuarine ecosystems. Aquat. Biol. 4: 99-111. Feature Article. pdf

J. H. Daskin and R. H. Carmichael. Use of N stable isotope and microbial analyses to define wastewater influence in Mobile Bay, AL. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 56: 860-868. pdf

2007             

J. Bowen, K. Kroeger, G. Tomasky, W. J. Pabich, , M. L. Cole, R. H. Carmichael, Valiela, I. A review of land-sea coupling by groundwater discharge pf nitrogen to New England estuaries:  Mechanisms and effects. Applied Geochemistry. 22: 175-191. pdf

2005               

Carmichael, R. H. and I. Valiela. Coupling of near-bottom seston and surface sediment composition: Changes with nutrient enrichment and implications for estuarine food supply and biogeochemical processing.  Limnol. Oceanogr. 50: 97-105.  pdf

2004               

Carmichael, R. H., A. Shriver, and I. Valiela. Changes in shell and soft tissue growth, tissue composition, and survival of quahogs, Mercenaria mercenaria, and softshell clams, Mya arenaria, in response to eutrophic-driven changes in food supply and habitat. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 313: 75-104. pdf

Rutecki, D., R. H. Carmichael, and I. Valiela.  Magnitude of harvest of Atlantic horseshoe crabs, Limulus polyphemus, in Pleasant Bay, MA.  Estuaries 27: 179-187.  pdf 

Carmichael, R. H., B. Annette, and I. Valiela. N loading to Pleasant Bay, Cape Cod:  Application of models and stable isotopes to detect incipient nutrient enrichment of estuaries.  Mar. Pollut. Bull. 48: 137-143.  pdf

Carmichael, R. H. Effects of eutrophication on Mya arenaria and Mercenaria mercenaria: Growth, survival, and physiological responses to changes in food supply and habitat in estuaries receiving different N loads.  Ph.D. Thesis, Boston University.

Carmichael, R. H., D. Rutecki, B. Annett, E. Gaines, and I. Valiela.  Position of horseshoe crabs in estuarine food webs: N and C stable isotopic study of foraging ranges and diet composition. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 299: 231-253.  pdf

2003              

Carmichael, R. H., D. Rutecki, and I. Valiela.  Abundance and population structure of the Atlantic horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, in Pleasant Bay, Cape Cod.  Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 246: 225-239.  pdf

O'Connell, C. W., S. P. Grady, A. S. Leschen, R. H. Carmichael, and I. Valiela.  Stable isotopic assessment of site loyalty and relationships between size and trophic position of the Atlantic horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, in Cape Cod estuaries.  Biol. Bull. 205: 254-255 pdf

2002

Weiss, E., R. H. Carmichael, and I Valiela.  The effects of eutrophication on growth of quahogs and softshell clams through changes in food supply.  Aquaculture  211:275-289. pdf

Shriver, A. C., R. H. Carmichael, and I. Valiela.  Growth, condition, reproductive potential, and mortality of bay scallops, Argopecten irradians, in response to eutrophic-driven changes in food resources.  J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 279: 21-40.  pdf

Gaines, E., R. H. Carmichael, S. P. Grady, and I. Valiela.  Stable isotopic evidence for changing nutritional sources of juvenile horseshoe crabs.  Biol. Bull. 203: 228-230. pdf

Suggs, D. R. H. Carmichael, S. P. Grady, and I. Valiela.  Effects of individual size on pairing in horseshoe crabs. Biol. Bull. 203: 225-227. pdf           

2001

Grady, S., D. Rutecki, R. H. Carmichael, and I. Valiela.  Age structure of the Pleasant Bay population of Crepidula fornicata: A possible tool for estimating horseshoe crab age.  Biol. Bull.  201: 296-297. pdf

Fila, L., R. H. Carmichael, A. Shriver, and I. Valiela.  Stable N isotopic signatures in Bay scallop tissue, feces, and pseudofeces in Cape Cod estuaries subject to different N loads.  Biol. Bull. 201: 294-296. pdf

1996

Herrold R. E., A. Marchini, S. Fruehling, and R. Longnecker. Glycoprotein 110 (gp110), the Epstein-Barr Virus Homolog of Herpes Simplex Virus Glycoprotein B (gB), Is Essential for Epstein-Barr Replication In Vivo. J Virol. 70: 2049-2054. pdf

Fruehling S., S. K. Lee, R. Herrold, B. Frech, G. Laux, E. Kremmer, F. A. Grasser, and R. Longnecker. Identification of Latent Membrane Protein 2A (LMP2A) Domains Essential for the LMP2A Dominant-Negative Effect on B-lymphocyte Surface Immunoglobulin Signal Transduction. J Virol. 70: 6216-6226. pdf