Presenter(s): Ellie Jones − Marine Biology
Co Presenter(s): Emily Bork
Faculty Mentor(s): Richard Emlet
Poster 78
Research Area: Marine Biology
Funding: Global Education Oregon Mills Scholarship
Mangrove forests create an important community at the interface of land and sea. Since 1980, 20-35% of global mangrove area has been lost due to deforestation, aquaculture, and pollution. Degradation or loss also impacts the marine communities living on the prop roots. In this research, we studied mangrove communities near the Bocas Research Station of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (BRS-STRI) in Panama to determine if the abundance and composition of prop root epibionts vary with proximity to human development. We hypothesized that sponge, algal, and oyster abundance will increase with proximity to human development due to higher nutrient content, but sponge species richness will decrease due to conditions that can only be tolerated by one or a few dominant species. We took water quality and biological measurements from a village site, adjacent to a human-occupied shoreline, and a reserve site, in the vicinity of BRS-STRI. Water quality measurements included temperature, salinity, pH, water clarity, and organic matter. Biological measurements included sponge, algae, and oyster abundance, as well as sponge color and morphotype. There were a greater number of sponge species at the reserve than the village site. Temperature was higher at the reserve site, but no other abiotic factors differed. Turf algae was more abundant at the village site, but no other epibionts differed. Our work is significant because mangrove communities are particularly vulnerable to environmental stressors. It is important to identify potential bioindicators of environmental stress in these ecosystems to be able to adequately monitor further change.