Undergraduate Research: An Archive - 2022 Program
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Grace Barbara ’22<br />
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY<br />
Certificate in Environmental Studies<br />
CONSERVATION<br />
AND BIODIVERSITY<br />
THESIS TITLE<br />
From Bare to Brilliant:<br />
The Migration of Fish<br />
Species to a Newly<br />
Deployed Artificial Coral<br />
Reef Ecosystem in<br />
Delray Beach, Florida<br />
ADVISER<br />
Stephen Pacala,<br />
Frederick D. Petrie<br />
Professor in Ecology<br />
and Evolutionary<br />
Biology<br />
Artificial coral reefs are becoming increasingly<br />
relied upon as alternatives for reef fish due to the<br />
declining health of living corals. <strong>An</strong> artificial<br />
reef consisting of 13 reef balls was deployed<br />
off of Delray Beach, Florida, in January 2021.<br />
I examined how this artificial reef site was<br />
colonized by marine species over a 12-month<br />
period. I found that species richness increased<br />
logarithmically over time and followed the shape<br />
of the species-time curve of the theory of island<br />
biogeography. A comparison between species<br />
compositions of the artificial reef and a nearby<br />
living-reef site found that these reefs shared 59%<br />
of their species, suggesting species migration<br />
from the living to the artificial reef. My thesis<br />
adds to the limited research on how artificial<br />
reefs are colonized and grow corals, sponges and<br />
algae, which contributes to understanding of how<br />
artificial reefs are utilized by reef fish species in<br />
South Florida.<br />
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