Using high-throughput sequencing to determine the diets of the copepods Eurytemora carolleeae and Pseudodiaptomus forbesi in the San Francisco Estuary
By: Amy Lynn Wong
Department: Interdisciplinary Marine and Estuarine Sciences
Faculty Advisors: Dr. Wim Kimmerer, Dr. Michelle Jungbluth, and Dr. Alison Gould (California Academy of Sciences)
The San Francisco Estuary experienced a phenomenon termed the Pelagic Organism Decline (POD) in which formerly abundant species of fishes have been decimated within a few short decades. A possible cause of this decline that deserves more focus is the shortage of food for the native fishes. My research goal is to use high throughput sequencing on two rRNA genes to determine the diets of the copepods Pseudodiaptomus forbesi and Eurytemora carolleeae, two highly nutritious food items for larval native fishes. I hypothesize that food shortage is driving transitions in copepod abundance. My research goal is to use high throughput sequencing on two rRNA genes to determine the in-situ diets of P. forbesi and E. carolleeae during the spring and autumn transitions. I will also assess which prey items may be lacking in the environment during the springtime temporal gap, possibly causing low abundance of both copepods. With these results we will be able to elucidate if food availability is a cause for the springtime gap, which could help us better understand the mechanisms behind the POD.