Date of Award
2021
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Social Sciences
First Advisor
Diaz-Almedya, Erika
Area of Concentration
Marine Biology
Abstract
Marine bacterial communities in sediment can be an indicator of health and stability for the environments in which they reside. Previous studies have primarily focused on anthropogenic pollution in the form of wastewater or agricultural runoff. This study instead examines the impacts of human recreation across six sites in the Florida Bay and Western Atlantic: three beach sites, two reef sites, and a mangrove site. Travel restrictions enacted in the Florida Keys to prevent tourists from rapidly spreading COVID-19 in the summer of 2020 caused a drastic decrease in marine recreational activity in the area. Sediment samples were collected from each site and human presence levels (high, medium, and low) were assigned to each sample based on visually collected data. The bacterial community composition for each sample was determined through 16S rRNA gene sequencing and compared using Principal Component Analysis. Environmental data was also collected, and nutrient concentrations were determined. The PCA plot of bacterial community composition suggests that bacterial community compositions are site specific. Variability in environmental data was also shown to be site specific. Results also indicated that changes in human presence levels have no short-term, detectable effect on bacterial community composition in these sites.
Recommended Citation
Schenker, Elliot, "BACTERIAL COMMUNITIES ARE SITE SPECIFIC IN SEDIMENT ACROSS COASTAL RECREATIONAL MARINE SITES IN THE FLORIDA KEYS." (2021). Theses & ETDs. 6136.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/6136