Written by Miranda Mays, 2024 undergraduate summer intern hosted by Dr. Marc Hensel at the UF/IFAS Nature Coast Biological Station
Me and the Nature Coast Biological Station
This summer, I had the privilege of interning with Dr. Marc Hensel at the UF/IFAS Nature Coast Biological Station in Cedar Key, Florida studying coastal ecology research. My internship with NCBS provided me with many opportunities to explore the field of environmental science from different perspectives while allowing me to advance the field of ecology. While working with the Hensel Lab, I have studied various coastal ecosystems, the intersection of geographic information systems and environmental science, and research methods that I intend to utilize in my future as a scientist.
Introduction to Coastal Ecology
Despite living in Florida most of my life, my first experiences with coastal ecosystems, other than recreational boating and beach trips, occurred throughout this internship. In my first few days, I learned lots of information about marsh grasses, mangroves, and wildlife like mud crabs, periwinkle snails, and feral hogs, along with trial-and-error of the proper way to walk through soft mud that can swallow your boots. After a change of boots and a perfected marsh trudging method, Dr. Hensel and I were finally able to make strides in improving our understanding of Cedar Key marsh ecosystems. As we continued to explore, we found evidence of feral hogs in salt marshes through uprooted and trampled grass shoots, along with mangrove takeovers of marshes. Although we have not further researched this evidence of hogs, Dr. Hensel intends to develop questions surrounding megafauna ecosystem interactions in the future. However, we continued investigating this noticed takeover of marshes by mangroves.
Geographic Information Systems in Environmental Science
Given my background in geospatial information analysis, Dr. Hensel and I decided that the best way to investigate this mangrove takeover would be with geographic information systems. I first created a mangrove growth form using ArcGIS Online to record information about specific mangroves such as their species, height, location, and other notes or distinguishing characteristics. Once you complete this survey, this information is immediately added to a map that creates a point and a pop-up based on where the tree is located. Additionally, I utilized satellite imagery and Google Earth Engine to track changes in marsh, mangrove, forest, sand, and dune plant distributions on the Cedar Key islands. I programmed a supervised classification code that utilized the training points I established for each vegetation type to create maps of the Cedar Keys with each vegetation type highlighted with a different color. I replicated this process with satellite imagery from 2017, 2019, 2021, and 2023 to find any differences throughout time. I found that forest coverage decreased throughout this timeframe as mangroves and marshes “swapped” places in vegetation dominance, showing the takeover we noticed while working in the field. I intend to continue this research with the skipped years (2018, 2020, 2022, 2024) to pinpoint when major changes occurred and possibly link those to extreme weather events.
Other Wet Lab and Field Work Experiences
This summer provided me with many opportunities to learn about every aspect of ecology, so I was also taught other research procedures in the field and the wet lab. With the help of the Reynolds Lab, I learned about seagrass species, specifically Thalassia testudinum, and methods of measuring their growth and reproduction rates. I had the opportunity to visit sampling sites in the Nature Coast Aquatic Preserve to aid in collecting samples in the Gulf so they could be later processed in the wet lab back at NCBS. I also applied my knowledge of the seagrass growth and reproduction rate measuring procedure to Zostera marina samples from Chesapeake Bay. Also from the Chesapeake Bay, I have helped by measuring the growth and reproduction rates of its bivalves such as oysters, scallops, and mercenaria. Finally, I have also worked with Hensel Lab Ph.D. student, Alex Walus, in setting up seagrass grazing experiments and recording data from trawling sessions out in the Gulf to study the effects of phosphorus gradients on these aquatic ecosystems. Being out on the water allowed me to improve my fish identification skills and to learn about proper boating and research techniques while seeing some amazing wildlife ranging from the tiniest seahorse to the biggest loggerhead turtle.
Conclusions
Thank you again to the Nature Coast Biological Station for the amazing learning opportunities, research platform, the Hensel Lab, and mentors they have provided me this summer that have made me a better student and ecologist.
| Follow the link to learn more about the UF/IFAS NCBS Undergraduate Summer Internship program. Read more intern blogs here. |
Featured image credit: UF/IFAS Photo by Tyler Jones
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