Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Sponge Community Biocomplexity, Competition, And Functional Significance In Hard-Bottom Habitats Of The Florida Keys, Fl (Usa), Marla Maxine Valentine

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Sponges can have powerful effects on ecosystem processes in shallow, tropical marine ecosystems and are an integral component of the bentho-pelagic cycle of nutrients, via filtering of dissolved and particulate organic matter from the water column. The diversity of marine communities is thought to play a determining role in intensity of ecosystem processes; thus the loss of taxa alters community function and by extension ecosystem processes. Coastal sponge populations worldwide are increasingly exposed to declining water quality that in several regions has resulted in mass sponge mortalities and reduced sponge diversity. In the Florida Keys (Florida, USA), for example, frequent …