This past week, I have been setting up tanks to grow Gracilaria in the lab. First, we are attaching Gracilaria to three different structures to determine which method allows the Gracilaria to grow the best. These structures are a white plastic grid, a PVC frame, and hollow tubes with mesh on the ends to allow water to flow through. We also wanted to know if the Gracilaria grows better when we bubble air into the water or when water is pumped over the seaweed. To determine which methods allow the greatest growth, we are growing the Gracilaria in the lab for two weeks. Once we know which method works the best, we will be starting more experiments to figure out how well Gracilaria grows under different environmental conditions. 

I am currently working on amphipod abundance surveys and amphipod predation assays, as well as, analyzing my data from my Gracilaria field experiments.  The number of tethered amphipods remaining in the field after 24 hours has decreased. It looks like the amphipod predation rate has increased this summer while the number of amphipods in the field has decreased.  I will keep you posted on my Gracilaria experiment results as they come in.

I just broke down my second field experiment.  This experiment was set up the same way as the one in May. Just a quick reminder, Gracilaria was threaded through ropes and the ropes were attached to PVC poles and placed back in the field for 4 weeks.  During break down, we brought all the Gracilaria into the lab and removed all of the animals and plants that were living on it by hand, and then we swabbed the Gracilaria with a giant cue tip for bacteria!  Now, I am counting and identifying all of the animals that we found.