Date of Award

5-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

College/School

College of Science and Mathematics

Department/Program

Marine Biology and Coastal Sciences

Thesis Sponsor/Dissertation Chair/Project Chair

Colette Feehan

Committee Member

Meiyin Wu

Committee Member

John Gaynor

Abstract

Coral reef health in the Florida Keys, USA has been declining in recent years. To gain an understanding of the current state of macrofaunal abundance and biodiversity on these reefs, research was conducted to identify and count the macrofauna colonizing standardized settlement plates at two coral reef sites, one in the middle (Delta Shoal) and one in the lower (Pelican Shoal) Florida Keys. Plates were deployed for a one-month period in June 2023. At each site, the plates were placed at two heights: ocean bottom and 2 m above ocean bottom (two plates per height per site for a total of 8 plates). Across all plates, a total of ~6,000 organisms were identified. The mean (±SD) macrofauna count was 744 (±230) individuals per plate. The macrofauna identified represented seven animal phyla: Annelida, Arthropoda, Chaetognatha, Chordata, Cnidaria, Echinodermata, and Mollusca. No discernable patterns were observed in the abundance and biodiversity of macrofauna between sites or plate heights. These baseline data could be useful for tracking future monthly or annual changes in macrofaunal abundance and biodiversity at these reefs.

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