The Future of Urban Epifauna: Investigating and Informing the Ecology of Human-Made Coastal Structures Along Urban Shores

Investigating the potential for green-gray protection systems to establish, restore, and protect shoreline benthic ecosystems and mangrove-associated biodiversity in South Florida.

Human-made coastal structures provide habitat for marine life, but the marine invertebrate communities inhabiting them - which may provide critical functions such as water purification, essential fish habitat, critical trophic linkages - are not well understood. With researchers at the Institute of Zoology, King's College London, and the University of Miami, this PhD investigates marine invertebrate communities on artificial coastal structures in the urban subtropics. Specifically, using underwater camera surveys, photogrammetry, and resilience assessments, the project will establish baseline data on epifaunal assemblages inhabiting artificial structures in Florida (including the University of Miami's SEAHIVEs) and investigate key indicators of their ecological resilience. This project aims to advance the emerging field of urban marine biology by providing science to A) understand these epifaunal communities and characteristics of their resilience B) use this information to optimize engineered defense structures ecological performance.