9734472 Eggleston Populations of animals and plants often fluctuate in a seemingly chaotic manner. Fundamental challenges include formulating population models that can tease apart the precise effects of different environmental forces on population dynamics, and determining the interaction between biological feedback mechanisms and the environment. This project addresses processes that determine population dynamics in the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) in North Carolina, through comprehensive and integrated field observations and experiments, population modeling of long- term abundance data, and computer visualizations of water currents. The overall hypothesis is that environmental perturbations, primarily in the form of tropical cyclones, will markedly alter biological feedback mechanisms, producing large fluctuations in abundance of juvenile and adult crabs. The overall goal of the student/teacher enrichment program is to enhance scientific literacy, and involve students and teachers in the scientific method that have traditionally been under-represented in science, by linking public schools, state, and academic scientists together with a common research goal. Fisheries species are an ideal focal point since they are of significant cultural and economic importance to coastal counties, and lie at the center of such critical issues as overfishing, water quality degradation, and habitat loss.
