“An Expert Is a Person Who Has Made All the Mistakes That Can Be Made in a Very Narrow Field.” -- Niels Bohr
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
“An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field.” -- Niels Bohr University of Alberta Biological patterns and processes of glass sponge reefs by Jackson Wing Four Chu A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Biological Sciences ©Jackson Wing Four Chu Fall 2010 Edmonton, Alberta Permission is hereby granted to the University of Alberta Libraries to reproduce single copies of this thesis and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes only. Where the thesis is converted to, or otherwise made available in digital form, the University of Alberta will advise potential users of the thesis of these terms. The author reserves all other publication and other rights in association with the copyright in the thesis and, except as herein before provided, neither the thesis nor any substantial portion thereof may be printed or otherwise reproduced in any material form whatsoever without the author's prior written permission. Library and Archives Bibliothèque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l’édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-67940-1 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-67940-1 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non- L’auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l’Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non- support microforme, papier, électronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L’auteur conserve la propriété du droit d’auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protège cette thèse. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author’s permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformément à la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privée, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont été enlevés de thesis. cette thèse. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n’y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. Examining Committee Sally Leys, Biological Sciences Jens Roland, Biological Sciences Rolf Vinebrooke, Biological Sciences Lindsey Leighton, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences Abstract The glass sponge reefs of western Canada are modern analogues to ancient reefs and are unique habitats requiring conservation. However, the patterns and processes of the glass sponges have not been empirically studied. Here, I characterized the biology of the glass sponges in their reefs. I examined the community structure of the sponges at 3 reefs in the Strait of Georgia (SOG), their role in silica cycling, and the stable isotopes (δ13C and δ15N) of the reef forming sponge Aphrocallistes vastus. Sponges are spatially structured in patches which localize the abundance of other animals. Long term dissolution of spicules is negligible and thus a reef can be considered a silica sink. Lastly, isotope compositions can differentiate populations of A. vastus and depleted carbon signatures at 2 reefs suggest a terrestrial component in their diet. My work represents the biological baseline of 3 glass sponge reefs in the SOG. Acknowledgements The network of mentors, colleagues, students, and friends I established during my thesis created an amazing learning experience. My supervisor, Dr. Sally Leys, took a chance on me as a graduate student. Her infinite energy and enthusiasm is unequalled and her feedback into every chapter and aspect of this thesis pushed me to excel beyond my limits. My committee members, Dr. Jens Roland and Dr. Rolf Vinebrooke, helped me understand the ecological details specific to my degree. I am extremely fortunate to have participated in multiple research cruises. I thank the entire ROPOS team and the Captains and crew of the CCGS Vector, CCGS Neocaligus and CCGS JP Tully for their technical expertise, support, and efficiency during the surveys and sampling. They directly attributed to the success of my degree. I would also like to thank the large team of colleagues that helped me during my cruises. Dr. Henry Reiswig, with every spoken word, taught me something new about glass sponges. Kim Conway provided valuable insight into the glass sponge reefs and I am forever thankful for his part in discovering this wonderful system. Dr. Gitai Yahel taught me how to be efficient during cruises. Also, Andia Chaves-Fonnegra, Emily Adams, Dr. Ana Riesgo, Danielle Ludeman, Jeannette Bedard, Nathalie Forget and Dr. Marjolaine Matabos helped with shipboard activities during the cruises. My time was spent in both Edmonton and Bamfield and the support network at both locations helped shape my degree. I thank my lab mates in Edmonton, Dr. Glen Elliott, Gabrielle Tompkins-MacDonald, Pam Windsor, Emily Adams, Emilio Lanna, and Dr. Ana Riesgo, all who understood the inner workings of sponge world. The Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, the director Dr. Brad Anholt, and Beth Rogers allowed me to establish a wonderful home base of operations at Bamfield for the majority of my degree and allowed me to carve out a teaching niche with the multiple teaching assistantship positions I was awarded from the marine station. At the BMSC, I was fortunate to have mentored students in the very same courses that inspired me as an undergraduate student. I am forever grateful to Dr. Marjorie Wonham for letting me be her trusted sidekick as her teaching assistant during the 3 courses I taught at the BMSC. By shadowing her teachings I became a better communicator, researcher and teacher. I thank the Marine Invertebrate Zoology class of 2009 and especially the fall program classes of 2008 and 2009. My own work was reinforced by sharing the experience and enthusiasm of scientific discovery with each and every student. Finally, I would like to acknowledge my family for letting me explore my passion. Without this gift, I would not have begun nor finished this degree. Specific people collaborated with me in each of my thesis chapters and I wish to address their contributions: Chapter 2 benefited from the early 2005 pilot work at Fraser reef done by Dr. Sally Leys, Dr. Gitai Yahel and Alison Page. Dr. Leys and Dr. Yahel helped design the sampling methodology during 2007 dives. Jim Boutillier, Wolfgang Carolsfeld, James Pegg and the Pacific Biological Station (DFO, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada) provided a substantial gift of ship time with the CCGS Neocaligulus and use of their Phantom HD2+2 ROV. Kim Conway provided bathymetric data and knowledge of the reefs. Dr. Richard Thomson helped immensely by providing his detailed knowledge and data on the benthic flow patterns in the Strait of Georgia. Dr. Yahel helped with the multivariate analysis. Dr. Jens Roland helped greatly with theoretically knowledge and guidance on the semivariogram analyses. Charlene Nielsen provided GIS instruction. Danielle Ludemann helped with image analysis. Dr. Henry Reiswig provided valuable insight into hexactinellid natural history and taxonomy. Sandra Millen confirmed identification of the nudibranch Peltodoris lentiginosa. Dr. Leys, Dr. Yahel, Dr. Ana Riesgo and Dr. Marjorie Wonham provided feedback on early drafts of this chapter. Chapter 3 benefited from early experimental input from Dr. Leys, Dr. Yahel, Dr. Manuel Maldonado, Dr. Frank Whitney and Bill Austin. During the 2007 cruise, water sampling, filtering and processing was done by Dr. Yahel and Dr. Maldonado. Dr. Maite Maldonado provided invaluable information on diatom culturing. Dr. Bruce Cameron and Tao Eastham provided the spectrophotometer, glass cuvettes, and research space at the BMSC for my dissolution experiments. George Braybook and De-Ann Rollings assisted with scanning electron microscopy. Dr. Roland and Dr. Wonham provided early feedback and advice on the experimental design of the dissolution experiments. Dr. Leys, Dr. Manuel Maldonado, Dr. Riesgo and Dr. Yahel provided feedback on early drafts of this chapter. Chapter 4 benefited from input by Dr. Tom Reimchen who supervised and provided the space and resources for preparing my samples used in the stable isotope analyses. Jeannette Bedard and Danielle Ludemann filtered water for the POM samples during the 2009 cruise. Dr. Rolf Vinebrooke and Dr. Kim Juniper provided background knowledge on stable isotope analyses during the initial stages of this study. Chapter 5 benefited from discussions with Dr. Richard Emlet and, in particular, Dr. Mark Denny who provided theoretical background, feedback and advice on my pilot work on the biomechanics of glass sponge spicules. My ideas on future research directions stemmed from taking the course: Biomechanics, Ecological Physiology and Genetics of Intertidal Communities at the Hopkins Marine Station in Pacific Grove, California. I thank the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation for funding my participation in this course. Monetary support for the work at Learmonth Bank was provided by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Healthy Oceans Network (CHONe). Monetary support for this thesis came from graduate student teaching assistantships at the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre and University of Alberta, a Queen Elizabeth II scholarship.