Summary
- Major: Biology
- Faculty Mentor: Dr. Elizabeth Pringle
- Research Topic: Investigating the Effect of Invasive Fish on Carbon Cycling: A Meta-analysis Approach
- New Scholar: 2023 Cohort
- Graduating with a Baccalaureate Degree: 2025
Abstract
Aquatic ecosystems store and cycle carbon in globally significant quantities. These ecosystems are threatened by invasive species, which have the potential to impact carbon cycling. Invasive fish are of particular concern as aquatic ecosystem invaders, as their impacts can be strong and may cascade through the ecosystem. This study hypothesizes that invasive fish significantly disrupt carbon cycling processes. The research focuses on understanding these effects through a meta-analysis of existing studies. Data from ten journal articles were collected and analyzed based on their relevance to invasive fish and extractable carbon data. The analysis involves calculating and comparing effect sizes among studies and carbon cycling related variables to quantify the impact of invasive fish on carbon cycling. Preliminary results from random effects models show that the overall effect of invasive fish on carbon cycling is negative, with an overall effect size of -0.72 (95% Confidence Interval: -1.00 to-0.44). However, there is variation in the direction and magnitude of each carbon variable to this overall effect: invasive fish strongly decrease dissolved organic carbon, but slightly increase the presence of photosynthetic algae. These findings are crucial for guiding management decisions and advancing ecological understanding to mitigate the negative impacts of invasive species on ecosystem dynamics and carbon cycling. Future research will focus on expanding the dataset and refining the analysis to enhance the robustness of the conclusions.