Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology

A Biological Assessment Of Water Quality In El Placer, Ecuador: The Effect Of Agriculture On Stream Health And The Quality Of Historical Versus Current Drinking Water Sources, Danielle Kleinberg Oct 2021

A Biological Assessment Of Water Quality In El Placer, Ecuador: The Effect Of Agriculture On Stream Health And The Quality Of Historical Versus Current Drinking Water Sources, Danielle Kleinberg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Although fresh water is one of Ecuador’s most abundant resources, high quality drinking water for its inhabitants is scarce (Wingfield et al., 2021). The most prevalent sources of water pollution in Ecuador are domestic waste, silver and gold mining, oil production, and agricultural chemicals (Buckalew et al., 1997). El Placer, a village located in Tungurahua, Ecuador, is highly dependent on agriculture as a source of income. The first objective of this study was to determine the effect of agriculture on the El Placer’s Tía Anita Stream through comparing the water quality at three sites with varying agricultural influence. The second …


An Evaluation Of The Organic Carbon Content Found In Fucus Vesiculosus And Ascophyllum Nodosum From Skutulsfjörður And Eyjafjörður, Iceland, Sylvie Alexander Oct 2021

An Evaluation Of The Organic Carbon Content Found In Fucus Vesiculosus And Ascophyllum Nodosum From Skutulsfjörður And Eyjafjörður, Iceland, Sylvie Alexander

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In response to global warming and changing climate, carbon sequestration through macroalgal cultivation has emerged as a possible climate change mitigation technique. Macroalgal cultivation’s relationship to carbon sequestration however is still not well understood. It is imperative to understand macroalgae’s connection to carbon sequestration to evaluate if macroalgal cultivation can help combat climate change. There is a gap in literature regarding the carbon content of Icelandic macroalgae and therefore the contribution of Icelandic macroalgae to national and global carbon sequestration estimates. This paper aims to address this knowledge gap by evaluating organic carbon content of Fucus vesiculosus and Ascophyllum nodosum …


Taxonomic Annotation Of Near-Coral Seawater Microbiota In Kilifi, Kenya, Megan Ruoff Apr 2021

Taxonomic Annotation Of Near-Coral Seawater Microbiota In Kilifi, Kenya, Megan Ruoff

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The general objective of this study was to analyze the microbiome of seawater above a coral reef in Kilifi, Kenya. Specific objectives included establishing a baseline microbiota profile, classifying the identified organisms at various taxonomic levels, and conjecturing about reef health from the presence or absence of bioindicator species including Vibrio bacteria. Sequenced 16S rRNA gene sequences from seawater samples at Kuruwitu Conservancy in Kilifi, Kenya were taxonomically classified by exact matching employing the Dada2 software package and the naïve Bayesian classifier method with 97% similarity cut off. The seawater microbiota contained mostly Proteobacteria (73.28%), followed by Bacteroidetes (14.08%) and …


An Assessment Of Terrestrial Decapoda Diversity Across Three Ecological Zones In Mida Creek, Kenya, Reese Yount Apr 2021

An Assessment Of Terrestrial Decapoda Diversity Across Three Ecological Zones In Mida Creek, Kenya, Reese Yount

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Mangroves make up one of the most effective natural remedies at combating climate change today. They represent great commercial interest worldwide and yet, are being degraded at an unsustainable rate. If successful mangrove conservation plans are to be implemented for our posterity, mangrove ecosystems need to be better understood at the community level. Mangrove crabs make up the most diverse and populace mangrove inhabitants. They are classified as ecosystem engineers and their potential for being used as bioindicators makes them integral to assessing mangrove health. Yet, their diversity and distribution patterns are not well understood. The aim of this study …