Welcome to the first full length In the Grass, On the Reef documentary: Testing the Ecology of Fear. It follows in detail the National Science Foundation funded biogeographic oyster study headed by Dr. David Kimbro, Dr. Randall Hughes and their associates. The study covers over 1,000 kilometers from Florida to North Carolina; here we focus on their Florida sites. The study looks at consumptive and non-consumptive effects of predators on the oyster reef habitat; the show also looks at these effects in other coastal ecosystems such as salt marshes, seagrass beds, and sand flats.
Consider this program the tip of the iceberg. As with anything in ecology, or nature, it seems like you can never truly know everything. You can learn more about these studies, and about how coastal ecosystems affect our lives, by perusing the blog posts on this page.