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Research about Collier County, Florida

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Collier County, Florida.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2021

Spatial ecology of invasive Burmese pythons in southwestern Florida

Understanding the spatial ecology of an invasive species is critical for designing effective control programs. Determining and quantifying home range estimates and habitat associations can streamline targeted removal efforts for wide-ranging, cryptic animals. The Burmese python ( Python bivittatus ) is a large-bodied constrictor snake with an established and expanding invasive population in southern Florida. This apex predator has severely impacted native wildlife across the Greater Everglades ecosystem. However, limited ecological information exists on this invasive species at the landscape level. Here, we present results from a study using radiotelemetry to quantify movements and habitat use patterns of 25 adult Burmese pythons in southwestern Florida, USA, for average periods of 814 d (range: 288–1809). Our objective was to quantify home range size, movement rates, and second- and third-order habitat selection. Mean annual home range size was 7.5 km 2 ± 2.9 km 2 (95% kernel density estimate), and pythons moved at a maximum mean daily rate of 0.52 km/d. Burmese pythons selected agriculture, freshwater wetland, saline wetland, and upland land cover classes but avoided open water and urban land cover classes. Nest site selection was highest for pythons at an elevation of 1.7 m with nesting hotspots concentrated on the borders of urban and agricultural areas or in sandy forested upland habitats. A broader understanding of the spatial utilization of Burmese pythons will enhance the utility of emerging control strategies across their invaded range.

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USGS2016

Diadophis Puntatus Puntatus (Southern Ring-neck Snake) Predation

DIADOPHIS PUNCTATUS PUNCTATUS (Southern Ring-necked Snake). PREDATION. Here I present the first record of Buteo lineatus (Red-shouldered Hawk) predator on a Diadophis p. punctatus. At ca. 1100h on l2 February2 013,I observed a B. lineatus eating a katydid in Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary (26.2730'N, 81.6079"W;WGS 84), Collier Co., Florida, USA. The hawk was in a Pond Cypress tree on the edge of a small prairie bordered on one side by a cypress swamp and by pine woodland on the other. Immediately upon consuming the katydid, the hawk flew to the ground ca. 1.5 m from an elevated boardwalk to grab an adult D. punctatus. It then flew with the snake in its talons to a branch 3 m high ca. l0 m from the boardwalk. The hawk stretched and otherwise manipulated the struggling snake (Fig.1) before consuming the still moving snake. Although snakes are a well-known component of B. lineatus diet (Clark1 987A. Field Guide to the Hawks of North America. Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston, Massachusetts 198 pp.), I found only one literature reference to Red-shouldered Hawks eating Ring-neck Snakes (Fisher 1893.Hawks and Owls of the United States in their Relation to Agriculture. U.S. Dept. Agric., Div Ornith. Mamm. Bull. 3). That specimen was from Canton, New York (taken 26 Oct IBBB) and would be a D. p. edwardisii (Northern Ring-necked Snake), while the snake reported on here is a Diadophis p. punctatus (USNM Herp Image 2847a -c). Based on evidence presented by Fontanella et al. (2008. Mol. Phylogenet Evol.46:1049-1070), D. p. edwardisii and D. p. punctatus are likely different species.

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USGS1998

Lithostratigraphy, petrography, biostratigraphy, and strontium-isotope stratigraphy of the surficial aquifer system of western Collier County, Florida

In 1996, seven cores were recovered in western Collier County, southwestern Florida, to acquire subsurface geologic and hydrologic data to support ground-water modeling efforts. This report presents the lithostratigraphy, X-ray diffraction analyses, petrography, biostratigraphy, and strontium-isotope stratigraphy of these cores. The oldest unit encountered in the study cores is an unnamed formation that is late Miocene. At least four depositional sequences are present within this formation. Calculated age of the formation, based on strontium-isotope stratigraphy, ranges from 9.5 to 5.7 Ma (million years ago). An unconformity within this formation that represents a hiatus of at least 2 million years is indicated in the Old Pump Road core. In two cores, Collier-Seminole and Old Pump Road, the uppermost sediments of the unnamed formation are not dated by strontium isotopes, and, based on the fossils present, these sediments could be as young as Pliocene. In another core (Fakahatchee Strand-Ranger Station), the upper part of the unnamed formation is dated by mollusks as Pliocene. The Tamiami Formation overlies the unnamed formation throughout the study area and is represented by the Ochopee Limestone Member. The unit is Pliocene and probably includes the interval of time near the early/late Pliocene boundary. Strontium-isotope analysis indicates an early Pliocene age (calculated ages range from 5.1 to 3.5 Ma), but the margin of error includes the latest Miocene and the late Pliocene. The dinocyst assemblages in the Ochopee typically are not age-diagnostic, but, near the base of the unit in the Collier-Seminole, Jones Grade, and Fakahatchee Strand State Forest cores, they indicate an age of late Miocene or Pliocene. The molluscan assemblages indicate a Pliocene age for the Ochopee, and a distinctive assemblage of Carditimera arata and Chione cortinaria in several of the cores specifically indicates an age near the early/late Pliocene boundary. Undifferentiated sands overlie the Pliocene limestones in two cores in the southern part of the study area. Artificial fill occurs at the top of most of the cores. The hydrologic confining units penetrated by these cores are different in different parts of the study area. To the west, a hard tightly cemented dolostone forms the first major confining unit below the water table. In the eastern part of the study area, confinement is more difficult to determine. A tightly cemented sandstone, much younger than the dolostones to the west and probably not laterally connected to them, forms a slight confining unit in one core. Thick zones of poorly sorted muddy unconsolidated sands form a slight confining unit in other cores; these probably are not correlative to either the sandstone or the dolostones to the west. The age and sedimentologic observations suggest a complex compartmentalization of the surficial aquifer system in southwestern Florida. The calibrations of dinocyst and molluscan occurrences with strontium-isotope stratigraphy allows us to expand and document the reported ranges of many taxa. This report is preliminary and has not been reviewed for conformity with U.S. Geological Survey editorial standards or with the North American Stratigraphic Code. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

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USGS1980

Water-resources investigations, Collier County, Florida

Early water-resources investigations in Collier County, Fla., were related to saltwater intrusion in Naples. With the advent of canal drainage and land reclamation farther inland, investigations were directed at effects of canals on water resources and the environment. High on the list of investigative needs are: (1) areal and vertical delineation of the shallow aquifer, the prime source of freshwater; (2) delineation of areas of poor quality ground water and the sources of the poor quality; (3) establishment of network of hydrologic data stations; and (4) determination of the relation between canals and the shallow aquifer. (USGS)

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USGS1977

The effect of the Faka Union Canal system on water levels in the Fakahatchee Strand, Collier County, Florida

The Faka Union Canal system, constructed in the western Big Cypress Swamp, Fla., in the early 1970's, lies about 3.5 miles west of the centerline of the Fakahatchee Strand, a forested water course which the State of Florida has designated as an Area of Critical State Concern in order to conserve natural resources. Between 1970 and 1975 the canal system annually discharged to the Gulf of Mexico from 143,200 to 275,600 acre-feet of freshwater. Discharge lowered ground-water levels as much as 4 feet near the eastern canal and created a water-level gradient that indicates water flowed from the Fakahatchee Strand west toward the canal during most of the year. In June 1975, water from early summer rains was impounded in the eastern canal upstream of the control structure at Janes Scenic Drive, and, as water levels rose in this reach, water flowed from the canal into the aquifer and around the control structure. The annual low-water level in the center of the Fakahatchee Strand declined from nearly 3 feet above mean sea level in 1972 to 1 foot above mean sea level in 1974. (Woodard-USGS)

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USGS1973

Reconnaissance of water quality in the vicinity of Sunniland Oil Field, Collier County, Florida, 1971-72

Oil exploration in Florida began around the turn of the century in Escambia County (Gunter, 1949). Many test wells were drilled from 1900 until Humble Oil and Refining Company developed Florida's first producing well (Gulf Coast Realties Corp. No. 1) in September 1943 at Sunniland. (See fig. 1.) The first production well was drilled to 11,626 feet below sea level and had an initial production of 97 barrels of oil per day. Since this first well was developed many more have been drilled in the Sunniland field, and at this time (1973) 17 wells are producing about 50,000 barrels of oil per month (W. R. Oglesby, written commun., 1972). The Sunniland field, in north central Collier County, remained the chief oil producing field in Florida until 1966 when the Sunoco-Felda field, about 20 miles north of the Sunniland field, began producing more oil (Babcock, 1970). Oil produced in both fields is transported by pipeline to Port Everglades, on the east coast. Anticipation of oil exploration in the Big Cypress area (fig. 1) aroused concern the effects a producing field would have on the quality of surface water in the area. The Florida Department of Natural Resources requested the U.S. Geological Survey to determine whether there have been any such effects. The 29-year old Sunniland oil field was chosen for this preliminary evaluation. A second phase of the investigation was to monitor the effects of building roads, drilling operations and other exploratory activities related to development of an oil field, on the quality of surface water in the areas of proposed exploration. This report presents the results of the first phase.

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