Changes in Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) communities associated with anthropogenic impacts (direct and indirect) are of concern in estuaries throughout the nation. There is a large data gap in that there have been few studies examining the potential impacts of shift from an eelgrass dominated habitatto a widgeongrass dominated habitat on fish communities in temperate waters, which is occurring in estuaries throughout the region, and may accelerate and spread given future climatic predictions.
The intern will assist with the construction and field deployments of video recording devices in the Barnegat Bay, a lagoonal estuary in New Jersey. Following retrieval, the intern will be responsible for reviewing and annotating the video to identify fish species and quantify abundance. There will be an opportunity to analyze the compiled data through univariate and multivariate statistics if time allows.