biology

Silvia Maciá

Silvia Maciá is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Silvia Maciá rather than just read about it. In short: Silvia Maciá (born 1972) is an American marine biologist and professor of biology at Barry University in Miami Shores, FL. Her research interests involves both laboratory and field work addressing pipefish mating behavior, seagrass community ecology, coral reef grazing ecology and seagrass restoration.

Key takeaways

Silvia Maciá belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Silvia Maciá to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Silvia Maciá from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Silvia Maciá (born 1972) is an American marine biologist and professor of biology at Barry University in Miami Shores, FL. Her research interests involves both laboratory and field work addressing pipefish mating behavior, seagrass community ecology, coral reef grazing ecology and seagrass restoration. Maciá is perhaps best noted for her discovery that Caribbean reef squid (Sepioteuthis sepioidea) can fly. She and her biologist husband Michael Robinson were boating on the north coast of Jamaica when she spotted something fly out of the water. She initially thought they were flying fish but after watching for a few seconds, she realized they were squid.

Background Maciá has taught a number of courses, including marine biology, oceanography, tropical marine ecosystems, ecology, environmental science and botany. She has published over 20 academic publications, which have been cited over 500 times, resulting in an h-index of 11.

Selected academic publications Maciá, S, MP Robinson (2012) Reproductive pattern in the caridean shrimp Gnathophylloides mineri Schmitt (Gnathophyllidae), a symbiont of sea urchins. J. Crustacean Biol. 32: 727-732. Maciá, S, MP Robinson (2009) Why be cryptic? Choice of host urchin is not based on camouflage in the caridean shrimp Gnathophylloides mineri. Acta Ethologica 12:105-113. Maciá, S. and MP Robinson (2009) Growth rates of the tropical sea urchins Tripneustes ventricosus and Lytechinus variegatus based on natural recruitment events. Caribb. J. Sci. 45(1): 64-68 Maciá, S, MP Robinson (2008) Habitat-dependent growth in a Caribbean sea urchin Tripneustes ventricosus: the importance of food type. Helgoland Mar. Res. 62(4): 303-308. Maciá, S, MP Robinson, A Nalevanko (2007) Experimental dispersal of recovering Diadema antillarum increases grazing intensity and reduces macroalgal abundance on a coral reef. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 348: 173-182. Maciá, S, MP Robinson (2005) Effects of habitat heterogeneity in seagrass beds on grazing patterns of parrotfishes. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 303: 113-121. Maciá, S, MP Robinson, P Craze, R Dalton, and JD Thomas (2004) [1] New observations on airborne jet propulsion (flight) in squid with a review of previous reports. J. Molluscan Studies 70(3): 309-311. Prince, JS, WG LeBlanc, and S Maciá (2004) Design and analysis of multiple choice feeding preference data. Oecologia 138(1): 1-4. Lirman, D. B Orlando, S Maciá, D Manzello, L Kaufman, P Biber and T Jones (2003) Coral communities of Biscayne Bay, Florida and adjacent offshore areas: Diversity, abundance, distribution, and environmental correlates. Aq. Conserv. 13: 121-135. Irlandi, E, B Orlando, S Maciá, P Biber, T Jones, L Kaufman, D Lirman, and E Patterson (2002) The influence of freshwater runoff on biomass, morphometrics, and production of Thalassia testudinum. Aq. Bot. 72(1): 67-78. Maciá, S (2000) The role of sea urchin grazing and drift algal blooms in the community ecology of a subtropical seagrass bed. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 246: 53-67. Maciá, S and D Lirman (1999) Destruction of Florida Bay seagrasses by a grazing front of sea urchins. Bull. Mar. Sci. 65: 593-601.

References

External links Silvia Maciá publications indexed by Google Scholar

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Silvia Maciá

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Silvia Maciá claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Silvia Maciá before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Silvia Maciá ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Silvia Maciá

In research: Silvia Maciá appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Silvia Maciá in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Silvia Maciá is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1972 births, 21st-century American biologists, 21st-century American science writers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Silvia Maciá outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Silvia Maciá” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Silvia Maciá in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Silvia Maciá means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Silvia Maciá out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Silvia Maciá in simple terms?

Why does Silvia Maciá matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Silvia Maciá?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Silvia Maciá.