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Presentation Type
Presentation
Full Name of Faculty Mentor
Aneilya Barnes, History, and Clayton Whiteside, Anthropology & Geography
Major
Anthropology and Geography
Presentation Abstract
As the seafloor is a mostly static surface, the smallest alterations are capable of changing the localized area for both sea and land-goers. Hundreds of shipwrecks and artificial reef habitats exist within the Florida Keys and Gulf of Mexico and play instrumental roles in the ecological and economic landscape for nearby coastal communities. These artificial reef habitats form self-sustaining ecosystems on the seafloor and attract swaths of both human and aquatic visitors. Many locations of shipwrecks off the Florida Keys are logged with GPS within open-access databases. This research analyzes prevalent sites of human seafloor alterations (e.g. dredging, shipwrecks, etc.) near Marathon Key as one of the many instances in which an altered seafloor presents unforeseen ramifications to both the physical and human landscape. Site history, depth, and relief are also considered, and geospatial tools are examined to understand how local communities use these seafloor alterations for commercial success.
Location
Virtual Session Room 3
Start Date
22-4-2021 12:40 PM
End Date
22-4-2021 1:00 PM
Recommended Citation
Johnson, Johnathan, "Economic Effect of Localized Anthropogenic Seafloor Changes in the Florida Keys" (2021). Undergraduate Research Competition. 29.
https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/ugrc/2021/fullconference/29
Link for accompanying storymap
Economic Effect of Localized Anthropogenic Seafloor Changes in the Florida Keys
Virtual Session Room 3
As the seafloor is a mostly static surface, the smallest alterations are capable of changing the localized area for both sea and land-goers. Hundreds of shipwrecks and artificial reef habitats exist within the Florida Keys and Gulf of Mexico and play instrumental roles in the ecological and economic landscape for nearby coastal communities. These artificial reef habitats form self-sustaining ecosystems on the seafloor and attract swaths of both human and aquatic visitors. Many locations of shipwrecks off the Florida Keys are logged with GPS within open-access databases. This research analyzes prevalent sites of human seafloor alterations (e.g. dredging, shipwrecks, etc.) near Marathon Key as one of the many instances in which an altered seafloor presents unforeseen ramifications to both the physical and human landscape. Site history, depth, and relief are also considered, and geospatial tools are examined to understand how local communities use these seafloor alterations for commercial success.