Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

8-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Agricultural, Environmental, and Sustainability Sciences

First Advisor

Erin Easton

Second Advisor

Carlos Cintra-Buenrostro

Third Advisor

Owen Temby

Abstract

Despite the ecological significance of meiofauna, meiofauna are a largely understudied group in South Texas. To provide a preliminary evaluation of the vertical distributions of meiofaunal assemblages across the Bahia Grande, a bifurcated, inverse estuary in South Texas, community and abundance metrics were measured against 96 meiofaunal samples across various environmental factors throughout the uppermost layer of sediment, L1, (0-1-cm depth) and the second layer, L2, (1-2-cm depth). Biodiversity and species evenness, in both layers, was highest in the northern compartment, representative of higher salinities and higher pH, while richness and total individuals were highest in the southern compartment. Differences in meiofaunal abundances were largely driven by temporal changes associated with dissolved oxygen content, salinity, temperature, and pH, across each season of the year, rather than location differences, i.e., northern and southern compartments. Abundances in L1 were nearly three times as high as abundances in L2, consistent with other studies where meiofauna populations decrease with increasing depth. These findings serve as a baseline of information for meiofaunal studies in the Bahia Grande.

Comments

Copyright 2025 Katherine R. Garcia. All Rights Reserved. https://proquest.com/docview/3253967914

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Available for download on Tuesday, August 31, 2027

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