"You cannot protect a place unless you understand it. You can't love it until you know it." -Kristine Tompkins
Coral reefs are declining globally and climate change is accelerating, with climate related disasters piling up season after season. Coral, specifically, are at risk of bleaching. Since you cannot protect what you do not understand, I hope to teach others about the threats to Oculina varicosa and the importance of protecting them here in Volusia County.
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| Dredging increases coral habitat degradation and increases the amounts of total suspended sediment concentration on the animal |
By regrouping with a mentor who is also an Oculina coral expert, Chad Macfie, I was able to develop a specific point of research which easily led to the materials and methods I'll be using. I learned how valuable mentorship is in research after I had clarity and direction after meeting with Macfie. As an expert in my area of research, I recognized the importance of having assistance in the beginning stages which lay the foundation for my entire research. Macfie informed me how difficult it would be to regularly collect data on shallow water Oculina because of the currents and poor visibility of their habitat on the jetty. Despite my original research and methods plan to SCUBA dive on the jetty was not practical, I still wanted to learn more about and teach others how to protect this species. Macfie had years of information collected by SCUBA divers of deep water Oculina on artificial reefs! This was encouraging to me, because I know that with climate change accelerating, artificial reefs may be the future to protecting and understanding the functioning of our coral ecosystems.
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| Coral restoration efforts leveraging the SCUBA system. This is uncommon for Oculina since it lives in deep water past recreational SCUBA diving limits |
The data that Macfie gave me is documentation of which substrates and which artificial sites offshore of Volusia County Oculina prefer to grow on. With this data I can answer the scientific question:
What substrate do Oculina varicosa prefer to grow on at artificial Reefs? What factors contribute to this? Height of artificial reef? Time the reef has been there? The substrate? Site location?
The materials and methods I will be using are:
- Artificial reef surveys taken by the Volusia County Reef Research Dive Team
- Excel to document my variables
In order to demonstrate the importance of understanding and protecting Oculina, I will also include photos of shallow water Oculina that live in the Indian River Lagoon to show that this is a very local problem. I will use snorkeling gear and my GoPro Hero 7 to take the photos at the Ponce Inlet Jetty.
Jenna Fairchild
Jenna--great post, again! First, your genus/species should be in italics; please correct this. I would be interested in knowing more about the different artificial reef substrates that are represented in the data? e.g., are they wooden ships, rocks, tossed tires? I'd also like to know more about what the data represent--coral height, number, etc.? And what graphs might you be using to represent your data? e.g., is there a correlation between species number and substrate type? I'm really looking forward to your information.
ReplyDeleteIn response to most of your questions (still determining materials used for each substrate):
ReplyDeleteScientific Question:
• Which artificial reef sites have the highest abundance of Oculina varicosa in Volusia County, Florida?
To be answered by a line graph showing change over time.
OR
Date durations for each substrate (x-axis) to demonstrate which substrate Oculina is most abundant on over time.
• What vertebrates are most abundant at each substrate type? (Substrates: Culverts, Barges, Prefabricated)
To be answered by a 100% stacked column graph with substrate type as X axis and percent of each fish species as Y axis). Examples of fish based off data: Gag Grouper, Sheepshead, Grey Snapper, Grey Angelfish, Flounder, baitfish, amberjacks, +others.
•What invertebrates are most abundant at each substrate type?
To be answered by a 100% stacked column graph
Examples: Yellow and orange sponges, Ivory Bush Coral, Dying/Dead Telesto, New Growth Telesto, and Sea Whips, Sea Fan, Sea Rod. Also, Sea Pork and Sea Squirts.
REEF count codes: S = Single, F = Few, 2-10 M = Many, 11=100; A = Abundant > 100 Leave code blank for fish not seen.
• Relief is the difference in height elevation between geographic features.
What is the relationship between the relief of a substrate and the presence of Oculina?
To be demonstrated by a scatter plot to determine the relationship between the two variables.
*This will give more information on the relationship between Oculina’s habitat preference and locations that have more nutrients from upwellings.