Christina Iovino and Morgan Mathews presented findings from their project titled, Microtopographic Consequences of Feral Pig Rooting: Unveiling Soil Disturbance Patterns at Fine Scales, at a conference hosted by the Florida Association of Environmental Professionals and won first place. This research explored how alterations in microtopography induced by pig rooting affects soil properties and nutrient fractions. It was concluded that pig rooting alters soil structure and function at fine scales. More data from this project will be available soon as Morgan finishes soil particle analysis and Christina finalizes organic carbon and nitrogen concentrations. Morgan has future plans to attend graduate school and this project prepared her for that next step in her scientific career. Christina will continue working on feral pig impacts for her dissertation and hopes to provide insight on this invasive species. See the image below of Christina and Morgan conducting fieldwork!
Ecosystems Lab at USF 