Species Richness in a Brackish Ecosystem is Similar to that of a Saltwater Ecosystem

Introduction

Methods

Conclusions

Literature Cited

Acknowledgments

Results

Mann Whitney U Test Results

Critical Value U Value

5 10.5

The U value from our Mann Whitney U Test was larger than the critical value, leading us to fail to reject our null hypothesis, implying there is little difference in the species richness between saltwater and freshwater habitats, or more specifically the ecosystems of Biscyane and Lake Oscela

We would like to give a special thanks to The UM Bio Department, Dana Krempels, and especially, Andrew Reeve for a great semester Lake Oscela Biscayne

There was no statistical significance between the biodiversity/species richness found in the saltwater habitat of Biscayne Bay and the brackish water found in Lake Osceola. We failed to reject our null hypothesis that stated there was no difference between saltwater and brackish water. In the future more samples can be taken at each habitat to get a better comparison of the two habitats. It is possible that some of the organisms in the samples collected died from being transported or the changes in temperature in light. Experiments like these are important to monitor changes in biodiversity with changing ecosystems.