New field course (EFB

500)(winter break ’02-’03)Aquatic Ecosystems of the

Southeastern USK. Limburg & K.

Schulz, expedition leaders

Course Philosophy

• Field study of aquatic ecosystems

• Exploration of diverse ecosystems– ‘Pristine’ systems

– Human-dominated systems

• Independent Projects

Course Overview

• 3 meetings before the field trip

• 26 December – 14 January field trip

• Prepare posters from your independent projects (on return) to be displayed in the spring 2003 SUNY ESF poster session

Chesapeake Bay/CarolinasDecember 26 - 28

seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEAWIFS/ IMAGES/cities/S1998029172...

Chesapeake Bay/Carolinas

• Naturally productive• Oysters, crab, fish• Human population

influences

• Salt marshes• Mud flats• Trawling

http://gis.cdc.gov/atsdr/map-library/chesapeake-npls.jpg

http://thechesapeakebay.com/gallery/chesapeake%20fish.jpg

Crab pots in a channel on the Chesapeakehttp://www.photolib.noaa.gov/coastline/line0656.htm

Maryland blue crab

www.photolib.noaa.gov/coastline/

Crabs and menhaden on a fishing boat deckwww.photolib.noaa.gov/coastline/

Egret fishing in a tidal poolwww.photolib.noaa.gov/coastline/

Chesapeake Oyster

www.photolib.noaa.gov/coastline/ images/line0794.jpg

Oyster Recovery Partnership transplants oyster reefs for recolonization

Diamondback terrapin

Horseshoe crabs

Osprey

Cow-nosed ray

Fiddler crabwww.photolib.noaa.gov/coastline/

Critters

Problems

Oil boom; industrial/ag pollutionAbandoned nets

Shoreline development

Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia29 – 30 December

• Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge – largest forested wetland wilderness in the United States

• Cypress swamps• Prarie wetlands• Pine uplands

“Land of the Trembling Earth”

Sapelo Island, Georgia30 December – 2 January

• ‘Pristine’

• Salt marsh• Beaches• Trawling trip

University of Georgia Marine Institute

Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades

3 January – 6 January

• Massive human engineering projects

• High natural diversity• Hydrologic disruption• Exotic species

What it was…

http://www.nps.gov/ever/eco/threats2.htmwww.saj.usace.army.mil/h2o/lib/ graphics/structures/s77-1.gi

What we did to it…

Slight changes in elevation (only inches), water salinity, and soil create entirely different landscapes, each with its own community of plants and animals.

http://www.nps.gov/ever/eco/habitats.htm

Lake Okeechobee

www.pilothouseonline.com/.../ Lake%20Okeechobee.jpg

Everglades

native slash pine (Pinus elliottii)

Prescribed burning in sawgrass (Cladium jamaicensis) to maintain marshwww.uni-freiburg.de/fireglobe/ photos/florida/florida.htm

www.americanparknetwork.com/parkinfo/ ev/images/ev-home.jpg

Mangroves

Florida Bay/Keys 6 January – 12 January

• Florida Institute of Oceanography; Keys Marine Laboratory

• Tour• Boating Expedition• Independent Projects

Keys

• Within ½ hour of:– Coral reefs– Florida Bay– Grass flats– Sandy beaches– Mud flats– Mangrove forest– Oceanic waters (Gulf

Stream / Florida Straits)

Long Key State Park http://thefloridakeys.com/parks/lignum.htm

http://thefloridakeys.com/parks/lignum.htm

http://thefloridakeys.com/dive/divesites

Anne’s Beach, Long Keyhttp://thefloridakeys.com/parks/lignum.htm

http://thefloridakeys.com/parks/lignum.htm

LIGNUMVITAE KEY STATE BOTANICAL SITEhttp://thefloridakeys.com/parks/lignum.htm

St. Petersburg

What you should get from this course

• A good overview of southeastern estuarine, freshwater and nearshore marine ecosystems – Some critters & green stuff

– Ecology

– Ecosystem processes

– Human impacts

• A chance to do independent research in aquatic systems – either individually or in a small group

• Learn how to develop a poster on your research