Researcher ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0007-7492-1725

Graduation Year

2026

Document Type

Open Access Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Biology

Reader 1

Professor Sarah Gilman

Reader 2

Professor Branwen Williams

Terms of Use & License Information

Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Rights Information

2025 Annabel L Fiero

Abstract

Indirect effects, where another species or factor mediates the effects of a given species, are critical to ecosystem structure and resilience. Shifts in fish community structure, as a result of rapidly declining coral reefs in the Caribbean due to warming-induced bleaching, pose a threat to apex predators like Tursiops truncatus (bottlenose dolphins). Branching corals create habitat niches for numerous fish species. These fish rely on coral for food and habitat, and in turn provide food for upper trophic levels. Prior research has highlighted how coral bleaching will disrupt Acroporid reef building corals and fish community structure, but the effects of bleaching on higher trophic level species such as T. truncatus are largely unknown. This proposal aims to use stable isotope analysis and behavioral observations of T. truncatus to understand how trophic structure of coral reefs in Bocas del Toro (BDT), Panama is shifting in response to bleaching. BDT is an ideal study site because it is home to a small, threatened, genetically isolated T. truncatus population. Coral reef communities once supporting high biodiversity are visibly degraded after the 2023 El Nino caused a widespread bleaching event. I predict that T. truncatus will be eating lower on the food web and deriving more carbon from benthic-feeding fish, indicated by lower δ15N and higher δ¹³C isotope values. I also predict behavioral shifts away from coral bleached regions as well as an increased percentage of foraging and traveling compared to more restful behaviors due to added stress of shifting prey availability. Understanding changing diet and behavior of T. truncatus, and consequently food webs shifts as a result of coral bleaching, can inform conservation in regions like BDT which are reliant on reefs for tourism as well as ecosystem services.

Download

Share

COinS