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Sarah Carty MSc Jan 2001 - Spring 2003 Zostera marina and Neotrypaea californiensis as indicators of ecosystem integrity in Grice Bay, British Columbia
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| Project Description | ||
| Using
indicator species as proxies to assess ecosystem integrity has been
identified as a necessary means to develop efficient and effective ways to
monitor natural ecosystems. Criteria have been developed to aid in
the choice of an indicator species and while there are still limitations,
improvements can be made by choosing more than one species and having
multiple indices to measure. This study established baseline data on
the seagrass, Zostera marina and ghost shrimp, Neotrypaea californiensis
for their use as health indicators in Grice Bay, Clayoquot Sound, British
Columbia. The widespread distribution and ecological importance of
seagrasses and their sensitivity to water quality parameters have led to
the use of these plants as biological indicators of water quality.
In this study, seagrass biomass, density, size structure, reproductive
timing & frequency were quantified as indicator parameters.
Physiological indices, for use as early warning signals, were also
quantified including sugar & chlorophyll concentrations. Ghost
shrimp have not previously been used as an indicator species, however
their important role in the food web of Grice Bay as the primary
detritivore and as a prey species for juvenile gray whales makes them an
important organism to monitor. Indicator qualities of ghost shrimp
are those sensitive to water quality, such as density, biomass, population
size structure, frequency of reproductive females, size of reproductive
females and length of reproductive season. |
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| About Sarah | ||
| I am
originally from Toronto and when people ask me if I will ever move back, I
look at them blankly, before I say "There's no ocean there".
I took my undergraduate education at UBC and plodded through as best as I
could until I went on exchange to the University of Queensland in
Australia. There I realized that ecology was fun and I fell in love
with the underwater world. Back in cold British Columbia, I have
spent a lot of time above the water on the intertidal as well as under the
water. I completed an honours project on the life history stage
evolution in the red algae Mazzaella splendens in Barkley Sound, BC
and a Masters on seagrass and ghost shrimp in Clayoquot Sound. I
have enjoyed my time learning about the flora and fauna of the Pacific
Northwest and diving between the seagrass blades in my quiet bay and the
kelp on exposed rocky shores. However, it is now time to move onto
warmer waters and I am looking forward to studying the seagrass and algae
of the tropics. |
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