Coral reefs in Jobos Bay (National Estuarine Research Reserve) are under duress by anthropogenic as well as by natural stressors. The main purpose of this project is to implement the FORAM Index and to determine which factors play a seasonal role in the water quality of the reefs. This project is funded by Puerto Rico Sea Grant.
The overall project scope is to develop and implement a low-cost and high- impact tool for determining historical changes of coastal ecosystem health in Apalachicola Bay-FL.
The objective of this project is to provide information to stakeholders on the levels of heavy metals and pesticides from sediment cores and surface samples. This will help to answer the question: "Is Apalachicola Bay polluted?" and "Since when?". Benthic fossil foraminiferal assemblages will be implemented to study the impacts of pollutants on benthic ecosystem. This will help in establishing reference conditions which will help stakeholders assess pre-polluted and/or pre-management conditions. This project is funded by a subaward from the Apalachicola Bay System Initiative (FSU-ABSI).
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Florida A&M University
- Dr. Michael Martínez-Colón (PI)
- Adebayo Solanke (PhD student)
Outcomes:
Two abstracts presented at two national conferences:
2022: Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve Symposium in Apalachicola-FL.
2022: Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) North America 43rd Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA.
Now Dr. Adebayo Solanke collecting a sediment core.
Now Dr. Adebayo Solanke collecting sediment samples.
Playing with dirt.
