Middle School Summer Science Research Opportunity
June 20 - July 3, 2012
FGCU Faculty: Brian Bovard (plant and wetland ecology) and David Green (aquatic
food-web ecology).
This summer’s middle school Science Research Opportunity (SRO) will be structured
around an interdisciplinary research project. The class will collaborate on a complete and
original research problem from hypothesis generation and initial design, through field and
laboratory data collection, and culminating in data analysis and interpretation. The
project concerns an issue of importance to environmental management and development
of Southwest Florida and unites concepts and techniques from ecology, atmospheric
chemistry, and biogeochemistry. Students will spend time collecting data at field sites
located in coastal regions in and around Lee County and will analyze samples and data in
the laboratories at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU). At the conclusion of the
experience students will present their findings. Participants will leave the SRO program
as evidence-seekers, critical thinkers, and community-minded individuals who have
gained an ecological perspective on life in an urbanized, coastal region.
Project Title and Description
Southwest Florida and Global Change:
Human Impacts on Coastal Ecosystem Processes
Human activities like fossil fuel combustion and land use practices like forest clearing
and agriculture have had unprecedented impacts on the natural functioning of Earth’s
biological, chemical and physical processes. These changes are what scientists refer to as
“Global Change.” Locally, south Florida ecosystems have been greatly transformed by
human activities. During the last century, the use of canals to control water flow,
dredging of coastal waterways and the destruction of large wetland habitats for
development and agriculture purposes in south Florida have dramatically altered
hydrological and ecological processes. These human activities and their associated
impacts have led to the largest and most expensive ecological restoration project ever
attempted, the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP)(Clarke and
Dalrymple 2003). This project and many other efforts like it aim to restore ecosystem
functions in these systems to more natural states.
Coastal ecosystems are important in southwest Florida because we rely heavily on their
services for economic reasons. Coastal terrestrial and coastal wetland ecosystems provide
energy resources that downstream aquatic systems rely upon to sustain commerciallyimportant fish and shellfish species. Mangroves act as a line of defense against
hurricanes and coastal erosion. These systems also help to alleviate high nutrient loads
that can potentially lead to eutrophication and harmful algal blooms (e.g. red tide).
Warmer global temperatures will also bring new management issues to coastal
ecosystems of southwest Florida in the coming century. Specifically, sea-level rise will
affect waterfront properties, cause saltwater to encroach into freshwater aquifers, and it
will subject freshwater-adapted plant and animal communities to physiological stress.
Restoring disturbed coastal areas will become a greater challenge in the future due to
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these potential impacts of global change. To reduce or prevent global change impacts and
to restore coastal ecosystems, it is critical to understand the role human activities play on
the function of natural ecosystem processes and associated natural services from which
humans indirectly benefit. Since more than half of the world’s population now resides in
coastal zones, connections between the economy, ecology, and humanity’s well-being
should be examined.
This summer, SRO participants will investigate the impact of human activities on coastal
ecosystem processes in southwest Florida along the lines of the following questions:
1. How does urbanization of coastal areas influence coastal ecosystems in southwest
Florida?
2. What is the role of southwest Florida coastal ecosystems in offsetting the impacts
of urbanization?
3. How do invasive species and invasive species management impact ecosystem
function in coastal ecosystems in southwest Florida?
The following list summarizes the potential types of field and laboratory activities the
group will experience:
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Greenhouse gas emission measurements from soil
Leaf-level photosynthesis and respiration measurements
Tree coring to estimate net primary production
Basal area measurements of tree species
Stand-level measurements of ecosystem productivity
Plant species identification
Animal species identification
Animal behavioral analyses
Terrestrial-Marine interactions
Leaf litter production measurements
Soil coring and soil respiration measurements.
Soil percent carbon, temperature and moisture measurements.
Use of Microsoft EXCEL and ACCESS for data management and analysis
Use of gas chromatograph for analysis of air samples for greenhouse
gases
Determination of biomass production through analysis of forest litter and
long-term forest growth
For additional details contact Shirley Morrison at ca-smorrison@fgcu.edu
239.839.7012
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