Date of Award

2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Gilchrist, Sandra

Keywords

Thalassia testudinum, Sarasota Bay, Seagrass, Restoration

Area of Concentration

Marine Biology

Abstract

Seagrass has numerous vital functions in marine ecosystems worldwide that range from binding substrate to providing food and shelter for fauna. However, seagrass loss is at a dangerously high rate across the globe. Anthropogenic factors such as dredging and pollution have caused seagrass beds to decline in recent years. The lack of methodical restoration efforts as well as the general variability of open ocean restorations has made restoration efforts difficult, but new emerging techniques and advances in technology give hope for improvement. In this experiment the use of nutrient enrichment to affect Thalassia testudinum colonization was studied in the New College bay front portion of Sarasota Bay. Eight coir mats, four of which were treated with fish waste, along with T. testudinum transplants were placed in the bay and sampled biweekly for 15 weeks. Although the nutrient enrichment was not observed to have any significant effect on seagrass colonization, future works related to this pilot study would benefit from focusing restoration efforts within prop scarred seagrass beds.

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