Date of Award

2019

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Moore, Jon

Abstract

For fifteen years the Palm Beach County Reef Research Team has been collecting data on the fishes seen at various reefs in Palm Beach County. The aim of this study was to determine the overall health of these reefs by comparing associated fish stocks biodiversity at two reef sites in Palm Beach County from 2003 to 2018. To compare the fish biodiversity over time as well as between reefs sites, a non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) analyses was used. To evaluate general changes, a t-test was used to compare the total abundance of fish between 2003 and 2018. The results of the NMDS show that the reefs’ fish assemblages do not significantly differ over time. Then, using the years as replicates, the t-test showed a few families differed on an individual basis. The results of this study show that the two selected reefs maintain similar fish stocks.

Comments

Includes bibliography.

Extent

35 p.

Identifier

FAUHT00068

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