The University of Maine DigitalCommons@UMaine Electronic Theses and Dissertations Fogler Library Summer 8-23-2019 Deep Benthic Coral Habitats of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska Elise C. Hartill University of Maine, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd Part of the Marine Biology Commons, and the Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons Recommended Citation Hartill, Elise C., "Deep Benthic Coral Habitats of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska" (2019). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2996. https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/2996 This Open-Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UMaine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UMaine. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DEEP BENTHIC CORAL HABITATS OF GLACIER BAY NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE, ALASKA By Élise Catherine Hartill B.Sc. University of Maine, 2017 A THESIS Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science (in Marine Biology) The Graduate School The University of Maine August 2019 Advisory Committee: Rhian Waller, Associate Professor of Marine Science, Advisor Peter Auster, Research Professor Emeritus of Marine Sciences, University of Connecticut Damian Brady, Associate Professor of Oceanography Brenda Hall, Professor School of Earth and Climate Sciences and Climate Change Institute DEEP BENTHIC CORAL HABITATS OF GLACIER BAY NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE, ALASKA By Élise Catherine Hartill Thesis Advisor: Dr. Rhian Waller An Abstract of the Thesis Presented In Partial Fulfillments of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science (in Marine Biology) August 2019 Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve in Southeast Alaska is a system of fjords that presents an ideal natural laboratory to study terrestrial, aquatic and marine patterns of succession due to its unique and recent history of deglaciation. The patterns of deep benthic community assemblages in the fjords of Glacier Bay were investigated by quantitative assessment of underwater photo-quadrats collected using a remotely operated vehicle. The percent cover and diversity of species were lowest near the glaciated heads of the fjords and highest in the Central Channel and at the mouths of the fjords of Glacier Bay, where oceanographic conditions of low sedimentation and increased tidal currents are favorable. The diverse communities at the mouths of the fjords and in the Central Channel consisted of large colonies of the Red Tree Coral, Primnoa pacifica, as well as sponges, brachiopods, multiple species of cnidarians, echinoderms, molluscs and arthropods. The communities at the heads of the fjords were heavily dominated by pioneering species such as brachiopoda, hydrozoan turf, the encrusting stoloniferan coral Sarcodyction incrustans, and smaller colonies of Primnoa pacifica. This research demonstrates a gradient of species dominance from the Central Channel to the heads of the glaciated fjords of Glacier Bay, which is likely driven by a combination of physical and biological factors such as sedimentation, nutrient availability, larval dispersal, and competition. Keywords: community structure, Primnoa pacifica, diversity, fjord ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I’d like to thank my advisor, Dr. Rhian Waller, for giving me the opportunity to pursue a master’s degree in a field that I find exciting and challenging, and for creating a laboratory environment that is an incubator for women to succeed in science. I’d also like to thank my advisory committee, Dr. Peter Auster, Dr. Damian Brady, and Dr. Brenda Hall, for answering my questions, challenging me, and supporting me throughout this journey. I’d like to acknowledge the funding of this project from the NOAA Ocean Exploration program and extend a special thank you to the science party, ROV Kraken II pilots and ship crew aboard the Norseman II who made the exploration of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve in March of 2016 possible. I would like to thank Bob Stone for his support and humor, and for answering all of my species identification questions. I would also like to recognize the folks at the National Park in Glacier Bay who work hard to protect this natural wonder, and who make the Park accessible to the visitors of today and tomorrow. I’d like to thank the staff at the Darling Marine Center, especially Paul, Yvette and Gayle, and Randy Lackovic in the library. And I’d like to thank Ashley Rossin, Julia Johnstone, Keri Feehan, and Tyler Fountain for being the best lab and office mates anyone could possibly hope for. Lastly, I’d like to thank my friends, family and my partner, for supporting me throughout this time. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................ ii LIST OF TABLES ...............................................................................................................v LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... vi PREAMBLE ..................................................................................................................... vii Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................1 1.1 Cold-Water Corals .............................................................................................1 1.2 Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve ..............................................................2 1.3 Primnoa pacifica Ecology in Alaska .................................................................5 1.4 Research Goal ....................................................................................................6 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS .............................................................................7 2.1 Study Site & Data Collection .............................................................................7 2.2 Environmental Data Collection..........................................................................8 2.3 Community Analysis .........................................................................................9 2.4 Statistical Analysis .............................................................................................9 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ............................................................................11 3.1 Habitat Characteristics .....................................................................................11 3.2 Benthic Assemblages .......................................................................................11 3.3 Species Dominance ..........................................................................................20 3.4 Implications & Further Research .....................................................................23 4. CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................25 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................26 APPENDIX A. Species Accumulation Curves & Richness Estimators Across Sites .......30 iii APPENDIX B. Relative Frequency of Taxa Occurrence ..................................................33 APPENDIX C. Similarity Percentage (SIMPER) Routines ..............................................34 BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR ....................................................................................39 iv LIST OF TABLES Table 1. ROV Metadata by Site ...........................................................................................8 Table 2. Relative Frequency of Taxa Occurrence .............................................................33 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Map of Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve ....................................................4 Figure 2. Species Accumulation Curves and Richness Estimates .....................................13 Figure 3. Pictures of Taxa Observed..................................................................................14 Figure 4. Species Dominance by Site ................................................................................17 Figure 5. Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling Plot ........................................................18 Figure 6. Site Similarity Dendrogram ................................................................................20 Figure 7. Species Accumulation Curves for Sites in Near Zones ......................................30 Figure 8. Species Accumulation Curves for Sites in Mid Zones .......................................31 Figure 9. Species Accumulation Curves for Sites in Far Zones ........................................32 vi PREAMBLE The ecology of deep benthic habitats is the one of the last frontiers in marine science. The inaccessibility of these habitats due to their distance from shore and the depth at which they exist makes them extremely difficult to study. Temperate fjords around the world (e.g. Alaska, Chile, New Zealand and Scandinavia) support an abundance of marine life. They also have populations of deep-sea species that have emerged at shallower depths due to the unique oceanographic conditions present in temperate high and low latitude fjords. Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve in Southeast Alaska is one such