The last 2 weeks of my project were very analytical. I looked at the 6 weeks of data that I had recorded throughout the summer and had to decide how to present it. I settled on bar graphs and error plots to best describe my settlement data. The most significant trends in the inner basin were that the colonial tunicate Distaplia occidentalis was more abundant than in the outer basin and that it increased steadily in settlement each week, starting at a mean of 7 in week 1 up to a mean of 188 for week 6. There were very few barnacles in the inner basin, whereas in the outer basin I noticed a decrease every week in barnacle (Balanus sp.) settlement, most noticeable at my site 6. I started with high numbers in week 1 (mean of 60) to week 6 (no settlement).
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| 6 week old site 2P Distaplia occidentalis is seen |
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| 6 week old site 6P Barnacles are seen |
I wish I could have stayed longer to continue the research on fouling species because a 6 week data set is simply not a large enough picture. I was lucky enough to have a student continue where I left off on my research to continue to study the trends between and across the basins, especially as we enter another season. I expect the summer settlement to be different from fall settlement based simply on the trends that I noticed progress with the season. I am excited to see the data that comes along with the continuation of this study and how the seasons may affect the settlement rates of the fouling species studied.
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