National Aeronautics and Space

• Main Authors: John Brock, Chris Lea, Mark Duffy, William Krabill
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Barrier Island; Airborne Topographic Mapper
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.400.3700; http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2001/of01-382/of01-382p.pdf

Administration (NASA) are jointly investigating horse-grazing impacts on American beachgrass and resulting effects on natural dune establishment along Assateague Island National Seashore (ASIS). American beachgrass is a pioneer dune-building plant as well as a major staple in the feral horse diet at Assateague Island. Using NASA Airborne Topographic Mapper (ATM) elevation surveys, color-infrared photography, and field data, scientists are investigating the changes in topography and vegetation cover in experimental plots to determine the impacts of horse grazing on geomorphology at ASIS. The horses (Equus caballus Linnaeus) of Assateague Island are a non-native species that have inhabited the barrier island for several centuries. Early colonial settlers introduced horses onto Assateague Island in 1669 to avoid the king’s taxation on fencing and livestock by allowing the horses to graze freely (Bearrs, 1968). Today, the northern two-thirds of the 57-kmlong island is managed by the NPS as