Presenter: Katalin Plummer
Co-Presenters: Alyssa Bjorkquist
Faculty Mentor: Richard Emlet, Jan Hodder
Presentation Type: Poster 48
Primary Research Area: Science
Major: Marine Biology, Spanish
Water flux plays an important role in structuring and maintaining biodiversity in aquatic environments, such as tropical mangrove forests where lower water flux could reduce organic carbon outflow so that critical nutrients are more available for regulating organismal trophic processes. In the present study, we used two dissolution methods to estimate water flux at two mangrove sites within Bocas del Toro, Panama. We investigated how water flux differs with respect to mobility of a substratum (mobile versus stationary) as well as its position within a mangrove forest (exterior versus interior). We also examined organic carbon content of the sediment of each site in relation to water flux activity to ascertain the existence of a correlation between water flux and nutrient cycling in these environments.
Water flux differed significantly between sites for both the long-term and short-term (p < 0.001, both) dissolution trials. Additionally, we found a significant difference in sediment carbon content between sites (p < 0.01). While the two sites differed significantly from one another overall, these results do not suggest that water flux alone significantly affects marine community composition within a mangrove forest. We speculate that outside abiotic or geographic factors also influence physical conditions of these communities. Studying the intersection of biological and physical factors within mangrove forests may inform future research and conservation efforts pertaining to these environmentally sensitive habitats.