The Indian River Lagoon (IRL) spans approximately one-third of the east coast of Florida and faces numerous harmful algal blooms. The potentially toxic diatom, Pseudonitzschia, has been observed in many locations of the IRL. The goal of this study was to obtain a better understanding of the factors contributing to population dynamics of Pseudo-nitzschia in the southern IRL system. Bi-monthly surface water samples were collected for 18 months from five locations. Cell counts enumerated all microphytoplankton, and environmental data was collected at sampling sites throughout the study by the Indian River Lagoon Observatory Network. Six species of Pseudonitzschia were isolated and characterized through 18S Sanger sequencing and scanning electron microscopy, all showed toxicity. Surface water samples also showed domoic acid (DA) presence. We report the first known occurrence of Pseudo-nitzschia micropora in the IRL and the first known DA production from this taxon. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (MS)--Florida Atlantic University, 2021. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fau.edu/oai:fau.digital.flvc.org:fau_78757 |
Contributors | Schreiber, Stephanie (author), Sullivan, James (Thesis advisor), Florida Atlantic University (Degree grantor), Department of Marine Science and Oceanography, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science |
Publisher | Florida Atlantic University |
Source Sets | Florida Atlantic University |
Language | English |
Detected Language | English |
Type | Thesis or Dissertation, Text |
Format | 83 p., application/pdf |
Rights | Copyright © is held by the author with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder., http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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