Abundance and Composition

Influxes of Sargassum have been recurring events in the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and Florida, but abundance of those landings have increased since 2011. This poses issues for coastal ecosystems, local communities and economies dependent on them, while demanding scientists and managers to supply explanations and solutions. To address this problem, a monitoring program began in September 2018 to quantify frequency and abundance of Sargassum landings in South Florida.

Community Science methods were introduced to our Sargassum research by our graduate student Lowell Iporac. This method relies on collaborations with the community, such as the County Sea Turtle Conservation Program at NOVA Southeastern University. Volunteer participants use the app Epicollect5 to collect photos of their monitoring sites (with/without Sargassum) and species composition, allowing estimation at large geographic scales over long periods of time. This photographic data can be complemented with in situ monitoring methods to compare the variability of abundance through in situ sampling and reports from the volunteer-reported observations.

Morphology

Identification is key when dealing with algae. There are many species of macroalgae that possess similar appearances. Through previous works and published archives, we have compared our Sargassum morphometrics to Parr (1939) and Wrinn et al (2016).

Nutrients and Metals

An observed increase of pelagic Sargassum blooms within the last decade has resulted in nutrient enrichment of coastal ecosystems, as well as heavy metal pollution due to its nature as a biosorbent. Quantifying the nutrient contribution of periodic influxes of pelagic Sargassum on shorelines is important to understand the allochthonous sources of pollution and its potential impact in coastal systems.

Undergraduate Student Work

Monitoring Program for Pelagic Sargassum Landings in South Florida