Abstract:
<p>This paper offers a spatial analysis of the intertidal zone's mass mortality event that began affecting sea star species in 2013 and continues to this day. My study focuses on the analysis of the disease's effects on the keystone species <i>Pisaster ocracheus </i>and the population dynamics on the California coast prior to the emergence of the disease, the impacts of the disease on the population structure, and the ability of the populations to recover. Using data from an online database known as Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network (MARINe), I was able to compare data from different sites in the northern, central, and southern California geographic regions. The results from my study illustrate the geographic patterns that reflect the relationship between the total population count of <i>Pisaster ochraceous </i>and the presence of Sea Star Wasting Syndrome throughout the sites. </p>
Keywords: sea star, biogeography, marine, coastal, california