Sedimentation and its Effects on
Chlorophyll A Production in High and Low Microbial Sponges

After observing
the various different species of sponges that inhabit the tropical
Caribbean reefs around Jamaica changes in chlorophyll levels were
anticipated between them. Microbial concentrations were determined
and inferences were made that sponges with higher microbes would
produce larger concentrations of chlorophyll A. This week long
experiment looked at sedimentation as well as suspended particles in
the water column to determine whether or not they affected the
microbes and their chlorophyll A production. Due to constraints with
sample sizes and limited field time we were unable to significantly
prove our hypothesis with statistical analysis. However our results
state that there was a marginal significance (p=0.054) between high
microbial sponges and their chlorophyll A production. There was no
direct correlation between sponge surface area and volume to
chlorophyll A concentrations.

Aplysina fistularis

Research Group (Left to right Amy
Marshall, Ben McKeeby, & Kevin Ryan)