Filter Feeding Ecology of Erect Branching Sponges on Caribbean Coral Reefs Anna Margaret Strimaitis
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Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2012 Filter Feeding Ecology of Erect Branching Sponges on Caribbean Coral Reefs Anna Margaret Strimaitis Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCE FILTER FEEDING ECOLOGY OF ERECT BRANCHING SPONGES ON CARIBBEAN CORAL REEFS By ANNA MARGARET STRIMAITIS A Thesis submitted to the Department of Biological Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2012 Anna Strimaitis defended this thesis on April 25, 2012. The members of the supervisory committee were: Janie L. Wulff Professor Directing Thesis Markus Huettel University Representative Don R. Levitan Committee Member Alice A. Winn Committee Member Kay M. Jones Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the thesis has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii For Aunt Judy. (November 21, 1945 – September 8, 2008) Your fondness for the sea and the Seminoles is always in my thoughts. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I thank Janie Wulff for her collaboration in the design and execution of this project. I thank Markus Huettel, Kay Jones, Don Levitan, and Alice Winn for discussion on project development, data analysis, and writing. Special thanks to Ruth Didier for her guidance and expertise with the flow cytometry analysis at the Florida State University College of Medicine Flow Cytometry Facility. I also thank Cedric Magen for analyzing the DOC and TN samples. From Florida State University, I thank Sonja Bridges and FSU ADP, Greg Hoffman, Audrey Nichols, Cheryl Pye, and Roy Weidner for their help in designing, building, ordering, and preparing field research equipment and facilitating use of research gear. Special thanks to Judy Bowers for everything that she does for the Biological Science graduate students. From the Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystems (CCRE) Program at Carrie Bow Cay, I thank Craig Sherwood, Zachary Foltz, and Michael Jones, and from The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute at Bocas del Toro, I thank Carlo Avila, Plinio Gondola, Urania Gonzalez, Javier Jara, Gabriel Jacome, Michael Lang, Juan Mate, and Edgardo Ochoa. Both groups provided excellent logistical support necessary to carry out these experiments and keep samples frozen at remote field stations. I also thank the Curacao Sea Aquarium and CARMABI for support in Curacao. Special thanks to Brendan Biggs for hours of field assistance in Curacao and Bocas del Toro and to Colin Wulff for field assistance in Belize. Kacey Grace completed the AFDW analysis for D. anchorata. Nicole Poulton at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences advised on water sample collection and analysis with flow cytometry. This research was funded by two Loftin Foundation Awards from Florida State University Department of Biological Science to Anna Strimaitis and the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0550599 to Janie Wulff. Special thanks to Brendan Biggs and Tim Swain for their never-ending support, advice, and encouragement as fellow lab mates and friends. A big thank you also to the enthusiastic academic and social support from the biology graduate student community past and present, particularly EERDG, Mia Adreani, Denis Avey, Lindsey Biggs, Emily Field, Nicole Fogarty, Bonnie Garcia, Elise Gornish, Josh Bear Grinath, Lisa Hollensead, Katie Lotterhos, Megan Lowenberg, Christina Kwapich, Ariel Simonton, Jennifer Schellinger, and, last but certainly not least, Caroline Stahala. Finally, thank you to my family for their unconditional encouragement, for their sincere interest in my research, and for raising me as an inquisitive scientist. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. vi List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. viii Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ix INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................1 1. PICOPLANKTON ABUNDANCE IN WATERS AVAILABLE TO FILTER FEEDING COMMUNITIES OF CARIBBEAN CORAL REEF, MANGROVE, AND SEA GRASS ECOSYSTEMS................................................................................................................................3 1.2 Methods..........................................................................................................................5 1.3 Results ..........................................................................................................................11 1.4 Discussion ....................................................................................................................25 2. FILTER FEEDING RATES AND SELECTIVITY OF ERECT BRANCHING SPONGES ON CARIBBEAN CORAL REEFS ..............................................................................................29 2.2 Methods........................................................................................................................35 2.3 Results ..........................................................................................................................40 2.4 Discussion ....................................................................................................................47 CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................................................52 REFERENCES ..............................................................................................................................53 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .........................................................................................................61 v LIST OF TABLES 1.1 Ambient water sample counts and days of collection .............................................................9 1.2 Panama and Belize summer light intensity ANOVA table ...................................................11 1.3 Belize December and May light intensity ANOVA table .....................................................12 1.4 Dissolved nitrogen ANOVA table .........................................................................................13 1.5 Total picoplankton cell density ANOVA table .....................................................................14 1.6 Picoplankton prey type cell density ANOVA table ..............................................................14 1.7 Picoplankton trophic group cell density ANOVA table ........................................................14 1.8 Total picoplankton carbon ANOVA table .............................................................................15 1.9 Picoplankton prey type carbon ANOVA table ......................................................................16 1.10 Picoplankton trophic group carbon ANOVA table ...............................................................16 1.11 Total picoplankton nitrogen ANOVA table ..........................................................................17 1.12 Picoplankton prey type nitrogen ANOVA table ...................................................................17 1.13 Picoplankton trophic group nitrogen ANOVA table .............................................................17 2.1 Size, carbon, and nitrogen content of different picoplankton prey types ..............................32 2.2 Significance of grazing ANOVA table ..................................................................................40 2.3 Pairwise comparisons of prey growth in control chamber to each treatment chamber .........40 2.4 MANOVA table comparing observed sponges diet to expected diet based on ambient water ..............................................................................................................................................42 2.5 ANOVA table for carbon in the sponge diet .........................................................................42 2.6 ANOVA table for nitrogen in the sponge diet .......................................................................43 2.7 ANOVA table for carbon in the Desmapsamma anchorata diet ..........................................43 2.8 ANOVA table for nitrogen in the Desmapsamma anchorata diet ........................................43 2.9 ANOVA table for carbon in the Amphimedon compressa diet .............................................44 vi 2.10 ANOVA table for nitrogen in the Amphimedon compressa diet ...........................................44 2.11 ANCOVA table for cyanobacteria clearance rate .................................................................46 2.12 ANCOVA table for heterotroph clearance rate .....................................................................46 2.13 ANCOVA table for prochlorophyte clearance rate ...............................................................46 vii LIST OF FIGURES 1.1 Map of the Caribbean depicting the relative locations (*) of the three main study locations: Belize, Panama, and Curacao ...........................................................................................................5 1.2 Map of Carrie Bow Cay, 10-15