Semester Award Granted

Spring 2025

Submission Date

May 2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Malcolm McFarland

Abstract

The Indian River Lagoon (IRL) comprises over 200 Km of the Florida’s east coast and is a bar-built estuary making up one of the most biodiverse estuarine environments in North America. Toxins produced by increasingly frequent harmful algae blooms in the IRL are found throughout the food web, from zooplankton to fish, to apex predators. The impact of species characterized as harmful algae can be traced using fatty acid markers, as phytoplankton and algae that make up HABs produce characteristic poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), which have conservative ratios between trophic levels. This study measured the fatty acid composition of two trophic levels sampled from five locations in the Southern IRL between March 2023 and March 2024. Ratios of fatty acids EPA/DHA, C16/C18 fatty acids, PUFA/SFA, and C16:1/C16 fatty acids showed shifts in the diets of zooplankton from dinoflagellate dominant to diatom dominant, and these ratios were conserved in fish.

Download

Share

COinS