Member Profile
Sean King
University of Florida students and faculty researching Florida springs suggest alternative explanations for the algal bloom / nitrogen-enrichment hypothesis
A team of researchers from the University of Florida’s IGERT in Adaptive Management, a National Science Foundation supported Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) program is learning... More »
About Me
I am interested in understanding how ecosystems are structured and why they function the way they do, so that they can be appropriately managed and restored. For my doctoral research I am studying Florida’s large artesian spring ecosystems, with a focus on the causes of the proliferation of filamentous algal mats. There are many unknown factors yet it appears that flow velocity is a strong driver of both nutrient delivery and algal sloughing in these systems. I am testing these relationships both in the laboratory and in situ. The results will be integrated into an ecological model in order to synthesize this information in a manner that can be easily communicated to the public. With this knowledge and the model I plan to disseminate what I have learned so that the historical ecosystems of Florida springs have a better chance of persisting into the future.
