Independent Research Projects Tropical Marine Biology Class Summer 2018, La Paz, México Western Washington University Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur Title pp Effect of polyvinyl chloride on settled community biodiversity and invasive species: analyzing diversity differences in La Paz Bay.......................................3 The effect of nitrogen high fertilizer on different locations of mangrove forests bacterial community growth in Baja California Sur...................................20 Cytochrome oxidase I (COI) barcode Identification of sushi species in the capital of Baja California Sur.......................................41 Population density and aggression in Mexican fiddler crabs..................................................63 Pomacentrids and invertebrates associated with Diadema mexicanum (Echinodermata: Diadematidae), in the Bay of La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico...........77 Levels of coral bleaching in coral friendly sunscreen compared to normal sunscreen..........94 Effect of nutrients on bioluminescent activity......................................................................108 Size in comparison to territory protection in the Cortez Damselfish (Stegastes rectifraenum) in the Gulf of California Mexico...............................122 Algal growth, in Sargassum sinicola, and total algal density over a possible phosphorus gradient around Bahía de La Paz, Mexico................................135 The effects of climate change on bioluminescent activity: a look at the effects of temperature on bioluminescent activity in the bay of La Paz……………….150 Salinity prefeence of sea stars Pharia pyramidata and Phataria unifascialis.....................163 Effects of mangrove proximity on microalgae community diversity..................................180 1 Summer 2018 Class Students: Laura Anthony Guadalupe Campista Ramírez Miriam Castro Uribe Claire Decoy Esmeralda Farias Bella Glynn Zachary Gregory Jenny Hamilton Kailee Hickey Megan Hills Morgan Kentch Amanda Kunz Madison McKay Maria McNaughton David Martínez Hernández Sylvan Murray Guadalupe Palafox Morales Laura Price Leslie Pichardo Jaclyn Stapleton Elizabeth Walsh é Kate Wicklund Faculty: Alejandro Acevedo-Gutiérrez Deborah Donovan Sergio Francisco Flores Ramírez Benjamin Miner TA: Sebastián Álvarez Costes 2 Effect of polyvinyl chloride on settled community biodiversity and invasive species: Analyzing diversity differences in La Paz Bay Key words: Anthropogenic disturbance, pollution, non-indigenous species, biological invasions, settlement Word Count: 3,607 Western Washington University, 516 High Street, Bellingham, WA 98225 Jaclyn Stapleton: [email protected] 517 32nd Street #31 Bellingham, WA 98225 Laura Anthony: [email protected] 122 Clark Creek Loop, Clancy, MT 59634 Acknowledgments: We thank A. Acevedo-Gutierrez for providing materials necessary for research. B. Miner assisted with species identification and statistical analysis. Z. Gregory provided kayak transportation to place and remove control replicates at Cantamar beach. Lastly, we thank A. Acevedo-Gutierrez, B. Miner, and S. Francisco Flores Ramírez for advising on experimental design. 3 Effect of polyvinyl chloride on settled community biodiversity and invasive species Jaclyn Stapleton and Laura Anthony Abstract As anthropogenic disturbance increases in the marine environment such as plastic and metal pollution, many habitats are facing new problems. One of the issues with little research is the settlement of species on pollution and outcompeting other species. This can decrease biodiversity of areas with excessive amounts of pollution, as well as provide an opportunity for non-indigenous species to spread to new areas due to their high tolerance of harsher substratum. These high tolerance species that can settle and grow more easily on plastics that leach toxic chemicals as they biodegrade and inhibit settlement. Our study analyzed if the biodiversity and proportion of invasive species on plastic differed from natural substrata. We focused on Cantamar beach in the Gulf of California where there are several polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes in the water. The settled macroalgae, macro-invertebrate, and surrounding fish populations were analyzed along these pipes and compared to nearby natural substrata of the same depth. Time for settlement was also accounted for by placing paired PVC pipes and scrubbed rocks around the area below the tidal line for six days. These replicates were removed and species were counted. The difference in biodiversity on the PVC and natural substrata for both the pre-settled and the experimental were not found to be significant. However, Acanthophora spicifera, an invasive red algae in the Gulf of California, was found on the PVC pipes. The proportion of this species was found to be significantly greater on PVC than natural substrata. We conclude that the lack of significant difference could be due to a difference in the time of settlement for each substratum. Our results show that plastic pollution is a viable reason for the growth of invasive species. 4 Resumen A medida que aumenta la perturbación antropogénica en el entorno marino, como la contaminación de plástico y metales, muchos hábitats se enfrentan a nuevos problemas. Uno de los temas que tiene poca investigación es el asentamiento de especies en la contaminación y la competencia con otras especies. Esto puede disminuir la biodiversidad de áreas con cantidades excesivas de contaminación, y también brinda una oportunidad para que las especies no indígenas se propaguen a nuevas áreas debido a su alta tolerancia al sustrato más duro. Estas especies de alta tolerancia pueden asentarse y crecer más fácilmente en plásticos que lixivian químicos tóxicos a medida que se biodegradan e inhiben la sedimentación. Nuestro estudio analizó si la biodiversidad y la proporción de especies invasoras asentadas en el plástico difieren de los sustratos naturales. Nos enfocamos en la playa de Cantamar, en el Golfo de California, donde hay varias tuberías de cloruro de polivinilo (PVC) en el agua. Se analizaron las macroalgas, macroinvertebrados establecidos y las poblaciones de peces circundantes a lo largo de estas tuberías, y se compararon con los substratos naturales cercanos de la misma profundidad. También se tuvo en cuenta el tiempo de asentamiento colocando tubos de PVC emparejados y rocas lavadas alrededor del área debajo de la línea de marea durante seis días. Estas réplicas se eliminaron y las especies se contaron. La diferencia en la biodiversidad en el PVC y los sustratos naturales tanto para el pre- establecido como para el experimental no fue significativa. Sin embargo, se encontró Acanthophora spicifera, una alga roja invasora en el Golfo de California, en las tuberías de PVC, y se encontró que la proporción de esta especie era significativamente mayor en PVC que en los sustratos naturales. Concluimos que la falta de diferencia significativa podría deberse a una diferencia en la cantidad de tiempo de para cada sustrato. Nuestros resultados muestran que la contaminación plástica es una razón viable para el crecimiento de especies invasoras. 5 Introduction The marine environment has experienced a significant amount of anthropogenic disturbance, including pollution (Occhipinti-Ambrogi 2006). Pollution has increased in the marine environment due to an increase in the manufacturing of materials such as plastics and metals (Barnes 2002), which can cause a multitude of problems. While issues such as entanglement and ingestion have received much attention (Young et al. 2009, Jambeck et al. 2015), problems such as the settlement of algae and invertebrates on pollution has been less publicized. Many types of pollution cover natural substratum and can prohibit species from settling on their natural habitat (Piola & Johnston 2008). Several also leach various chemicals as they biodegrade that both harm species and prevent their settlement (Li et al. 2015). Because pollution is harsh substrata, settlement of more competitive species, such as invasive species, becomes more prominent on many pollution types that are in the ocean (Piola & Johnston 2008). Thus, the diversity of the region is lowered. Non-indigenous species are transported to new areas via pollution because they are able to tolerate harsher conditions and can then become invasive (Barnes 2002, Occhipinti-Ambrogi 2006). In addition, previously non-indigenous species can become invasive as pollution increases as they outcompete native species (Piola & Johnston 2008). The transport of species can be from both the fouling of ship hulls and ballast water, as well as the movement of marine debris. Ship hulls are often covered in anti-fouling paint, so any species able to tolerate these chemicals are often able to outcompete native species (Piola & Johnston 2008). Similarly, drift debris can move species that are able to tolerate different types of pollution to new areas where they can again become invasive (Barnes 2002). Invasive species 6 are an issue because they can take up nutrients and exclude native species, thus changing an entire ecosystem (Ávila et al. 2012). Plastics both provide a unique substrate and release chemicals as they degrade (Fotopoulou & Karapanagioti 2015, Li et al. 2015). Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) ranges from soft to hard, and was found to have a rough and uneven surface with ER, allowing for easier settlement (Li et al. 2015). In addition, as plastics such as PVC degrades, new functional groups are exposed on the surface and