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Abiotic Influences on and Community Dynamics of Benthic Dinoflagellate Species in the Florida Keys

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Abiotic Influences on and Community Dynamics of Benthic Dinoflagellate Species in the Florida Keys ABIOTIC INFLUENCES ON AND COMMUNITY DYNAMICS OF BENTHIC DINOFLAGELLATE SPECIES IN THE FLORIDA KEYS A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences Florida Gulf Coast University In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirement for the Degree of Master of Science By Jessica Elizabeth Schroeder 2020 Florida Gulf Coast University Thesis APPROVAL SHEET This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Jessica E. Schroeder Approved: ____________________________ Michael L. Parsons, Ph.D. Committee Chair/Advisor Hidetoshi Urakawa, Ph.D. Serge Thomas, Ph.D. The final copy of this thesis has been examined by the signatories, and we find that both the content and the form meet acceptable presentation standards of scholarly work in the above mentioned discipline. i Acknowledgments I would like to thank all of the people who helped and contributed to this thesis research. My committee members, Drs. Michael Parsons, Hidetoshi Urakawa, and Serge Thomas, thank you all for your help, not only on this project, but in my education here at FGCU since 2012. I would also like to thank the Coastal Watershed Institute and CiguaHAB teams, for your contributions to the project as a whole and for the grant funding that allowed me to work at FGCU and paid for my schooling. And a special thanks to my family and friends for constantly helping me through the stressful times and always pushing me to be the best. Also, a special thanks to my boyfriend, Andrew for helping with my chlorophyll measurements and always motivating me to perfect my thesis. ii Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: Background ......................................................................................................2 Ciguatera Fish Poisoning & Toxins .............................................................................................. 2 Symptoms & Occurrence of CFP ................................................................................................. 3 Gambierdiscus Discovery .............................................................................................................. 4 Habitat ............................................................................................................................................ 5 Chapter 2: Introduction ......................................................................................................7 Objectives ..................................................................................................................................... 10 Chapter 3: Material and Methods ....................................................................................11 Study Sites .................................................................................................................................... 11 Figure 1. ........................................................................................................................................................ 11 Sample Collection......................................................................................................................... 12 Sample Analysis ........................................................................................................................... 13 Figure 2. ........................................................................................................................................................ 14 Figure 3. ........................................................................................................................................................ 14 Data Analysis ................................................................................................................................ 15 Chapter 4: Results .............................................................................................................17 Abiotic Parameters ...................................................................................................................... 17 Figure 4. ........................................................................................................................................................ 17 Table 1. .......................................................................................................................................................... 18 Relationships ................................................................................................................................ 18 Table 2. AIC results based on the parameters from the DistLM. .................................................................. 19 Figure 5. ........................................................................................................................................................ 20 Figure 6. ........................................................................................................................................................ 20 Figure 7. ........................................................................................................................................................ 21 Figure 8. ........................................................................................................................................................ 21 Figure 9. ........................................................................................................................................................ 22 Figure 10. ...................................................................................................................................................... 22 Relationships: Site, Season, and Location ................................................................................. 23 Correlations Between Environmental Parameters and Cell Densities .................................... 23 Table 3. .......................................................................................................................................................... 24 Niche Optima and Tolerance ...................................................................................................... 24 Figure 11. ...................................................................................................................................................... 25 Figure 12. ...................................................................................................................................................... 26 Figure 13. ...................................................................................................................................................... 26 Figure 14. ...................................................................................................................................................... 27 Figure 15. ...................................................................................................................................................... 27 Figure 16. ...................................................................................................................................................... 28 Figure 17. ...................................................................................................................................................... 28 Figure 18. ...................................................................................................................................................... 29 Site Relationships ......................................................................................................................... 29 iii Figure 19. ...................................................................................................................................................... 30 Figure 20. ...................................................................................................................................................... 30 Figure 21. ...................................................................................................................................................... 31 Figure 22. ...................................................................................................................................................... 31 Season and Location Relationships ............................................................................................ 32 Figure 23. ...................................................................................................................................................... 32 Figure 24. ...................................................................................................................................................... 33 Chapter 5: Discussion .......................................................................................................34 5.1 Dinoflagellate Species Individually: Autecology ................................................................. 34 Table 4. .......................................................................................................................................................... 35 5.2 Dinoflagellate Species Assemblages: Synecology ................................................................ 36 5.3 Discussion ............................................................................................................................... 37 5.4
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