ASGSB 1998 Annual Meeting Abstracts

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NASA SPACE LIFE SCIENCES TRAINING PROGRAM: ECOLOGICAL STUDIES PROGRAM.   A. F. Schlundt, J. Rebman K. Pilotte, M. Dooris, B. Miles, R. Marquette, T. L. Hollar, A. Gavurnik, and R. Woods. Space Life Science Training Program, NASA, Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and Florida A & M University, Tallahassee, FL.

Seven out of 40 undergraduate students who competed for independent research support in the 1998 SLSTP were selected for involvement in the Ecology Program. They worked under the direct supervision of principal investigators in several ongoing field projects related to the wide variety of ecosystems found in the contiguous lands of KSC, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Canaveral National Seashore, and Cape Canaveral Air Station. Research conducted by the group included: (1) Comparing the use of digital ortho quad maps to differential Global Positioning System in radio-tracking Indigo snakes (Drymarchon corais couperi); (2) conducting baseline studies of horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus) including the relationship of hydrogen sulfide in sediments to local populations; (3) investigating marsh sediment sampling techniques for heavy metals analysis near launch pads; (4) evaluating scrub jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens) habitat restoration subsequent to bulldozing, drying, piling, and burning; (5) measuring volatile organic emissions from important native and exotic shrubs; (6) watershed model evaluations; and (7) fish foraging of important wading birds. The SLSTP studies continue to provide important data for long-term research efforts at KSC, some projects involve older ecological and climatological data (1943) while others have been ongoing for at least a decade and still others are new long-term studies initiated this season. (Supported by the NASA Space Life Sciences Training Program)

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