Guy N. Cameron, Ph.D., Professor of Biology, UH Current information suggests that the construction of corridors connecting fragments of habitat can mitigate negative effects of fragmentation on the diversity and abundance of animal species that live in the habitat fragments. Research will determine whether habitat corridors that connect fragments of wetlands on the Texas coast are used by vertebrate species. Study will focus on bird, mammal, and snake populations in those wetlands near Galveston Bay and establish the usage patterns of corridors. A detailed study of small mammals will assess whether corridors will function to ameliorate extreme differences in population densities among habitat fragments. James R. Lawrence, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Geosciences, UH Vapor and rain samples from hurricanes and tropical storms have distinctly lower isotope ratios than most tropical and summer rains.
Rain has a lower isotope ratio than sea water.
Stable isotope ratios are governed by fractionation during condensation and by diffusion between vapor and rain. Any vapor that has been impregnated with rain water by the evaporation of raindrops will have a lower isotope ratio than vapor evaporated from the sea surface. The stable isotopes of rain and atmospheric water vapor will be used to investigate the water budget of a tropical storm or hurricane. The hypothesis is that low isotope ratios of hurricane water result from the recirculation of this water within hurricanes. Increased understanding of the dynamics of hurricanes should increase the ability of scientists to predict their behavior and severity.