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At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
USGS2011

Integrating science and resource management in Tampa Bay, Florida

Tampa Bay is recognized internationally for its remarkable progress towards recovery since it was pronounced "dead" in the late 1970s. Due to significant efforts by local governments, industries and private citizens throughout the watershed, water clarity in Tampa Bay is now equal to what it was in 1950, when population in the watershed was less than one-quarter of what it is today. Seagrass extent has increased by more than 8,000 acres since the mid-1980s, and fish and wildlife populations are increasing. Central to this successful turn-around has been the Tampa Bay resource management community's long-term commitment to development and implementation of strong science-based management strategies. Research institutions and agencies, including Eckerd College, the Florida Wildlife Commission Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, Mote Marine Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Southwest Florida Water Management District, University of South Florida, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Geological Survey, local and State governments, and private companies contribute significantly to the scientific basis of our understanding of Tampa Bay's structure and ecological function. Resource management agencies, including the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council's Agency on Bay Management, the Southwest Florida Water Management District's Surface Water Improvement and Management Program, and the Tampa Bay Estuary Program, depend upon this scientific basis to develop and implement regional adaptive management programs. The importance of integrating science with management has become fully recognized by scientists and managers throughout the region, State and Nation. Scientific studies conducted in Tampa Bay over the past 10–15 years are increasingly diverse and complex, and resource management programs reflect our increased knowledge of geology, hydrology and hydrodynamics, ecology and restoration techniques. However, a synthesis of this research and its integration into resource management has not been prepared for Tampa Bay since the mid-1980s. The need for an up-to-date synthesis of Tampa Bay science and management has resulted in the production of this document. The U.S. Geological Survey recently completed a 5-year Tampa Bay Integrated Science Study, and the Tampa Bay Estuary Program updated the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan for Tampa Bay in 2006. These efforts build upon results of the many research and management studies and programs summarized here.

Florida↗
USGS2019

Adaptive variation, including local adaptation, requires decades to become evident in common gardens

Population‐level adaptation to spatial variation in factors such as climate and soils is critical for climate‐vulnerability assessments, restoration seeding, and other ecological applications in species management, and the underlying information is typically based on common‐garden studies that are short duration. Here, we show >20 yr were required for adaptive differences to emerge among 13 populations of a widespread shrub (sagebrush, Artemisia tridentata ssp wyomingensis ) collected from around the western United States and planted into common gardens. Additionally, >10 yr were required for greater survival of local populations, that is, local adaptation, to become evident. Variation in survival was best explained by the combination of populations’ home ecoregion combined with grouping of minimum temperature and aridity. Additional reductions in survival were explained by ungrouped (i.e., continuous) measures of garden‐to‐population‐origin separation in geographic distance (5% decrease in survival per 100 km increase in separation; R 2 = 0.22) and especially in minimum temperature in younger plants (−4% per + °C difference, R 2 = 0.56 vs. 0.29 in the 14th vs. 27th post‐planting years, respectively). Longer‐term common garden studies are needed. While we await them, uncertainty in adaptive variation resulting from short‐term observations could be quantitatively estimated and reported with seed‐transfer guidelines to reduce risks of introducing maladapted provenances in restoration.

Ecological Applications↗
USGS2011

Conservation of greater sage-grouse- a synthesis of current trends and future management

Recent analyses of Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) populations indicate substantial declines in many areas but relatively stable populations in other portions of the species? range. Sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) habitats neces-sary to support sage-grouse are being burned by large wildfires, invaded by nonnative plants, and developed for energy resources (gas, oil, and wind). Management on public lands, which con-tain 70% of sagebrush habitats, has changed over the last 30 years from large sagebrush control projects directed at enhancing livestock grazing to a greater emphasis on projects that often attempt to improve or restore ecological integrity. Never-theless, the mandate to manage public lands to provide traditional consumptive uses as well as recreation and wilderness values is not likely to change in the near future. Consequently, demand and use of resources contained in sagebrush land-scapes plus the associated infrastructure to sup-port increasing human populations in the western United States will continue to challenge efforts to conserve Greater Sage-Grouse. The continued widespread distribution of sage-grouse, albeit at very low densities in some areas, coupled with large areas of important sagebrush habitat that are relatively unaffected by the human footprint, sug-gest that Greater Sage-Grouse populations may be able to persist into the future. We summarize the status of sage-grouse populations and habitats, provide a synthesis of major threats and chal-lenges to conservation of sage-grouse, and suggest a roadmap to attaining conservation goals.

Book chapter↗
USGS2022

Modeling and estimating co-occurrence between the invasive Shiny Cowbird and its Puerto Rican hosts

Invasive species threaten island biodiversity globally. For example, the Shiny Cowbird ( Molothrus bonariensis ) parasitizes many of Puerto Rico’s endemic species, particularly in the open forests in the island’s southwest. Less is known, however, about cowbird parasitism in the agro-ecological highlands, which contain a patchwork of forests, shaded-coffee plantations, and coffee farms without shade. In this paper, we estimated co-occurrence rates, a potential indicator of parasitism rates, between the cowbird and four host species across these three land uses, hypothesizing that cowbirds would most likely co-occur with their hosts in shaded-coffee farms. We also hypothesized that the presence of host species would increase the probability of cowbird occurrence. To investigate these hypotheses, we developed three Bayesian hierarchical occupancy models: one where the hosts and parasite occurred independently, one that used the latent host species richness as a predictor of cowbird occurrence, and one that used each latent host occurrence state as predictors. These methods addressed observation errors and appropriately propagated error to our predictions of co-occurrence rates. We selected the best performing model using WAIC, then used it to predict co-occurrence rates. While there was some evidence that host species richness increased the probability of cowbirds, the parsimonious model assumed no interaction. With this model, we found that cowbirds were more likely to overlap with certain hosts in shaded-coffee plantations. This may suggest increased parasitism at these plantations, potentially presenting challenges for managers who advocate for shade restoration to gain ecological services such as biodiversity conservation.

Biological Invasions↗
USGS2023

What evidence exists on the ecological and physical effects of built structures in shallow, tropical coral reefs? A systematic map protocol

Background Shallow, tropical coral reefs face compounding threats from habitat degradation due to coastal development and pollution, impacts from storms and sea-level rise, and pulse disturbances like blast fishing, mining, dredging, and ship groundings that reduce coral reefs’ height and variability. One approach toward restoring coral reef structure from these threats is deploying built structures. Built structures range from engineered modules and repurposed materials to underwater sculptures and intentionally placed natural rocks. Restoration practitioners and coastal managers increasingly consider incorporating built structures, including nature-based solutions, into coral reef-related applications. Yet, synthesized evidence on the ecological and physical performance of built structure interventions across a variety of contexts (e.g., restoration, coastal protection, mitigation, tourism) is not readily available to guide decisions. To help inform management decisions, here we aim to document the global evidence base on the ecological and physical performance of built structures in shallow (≤ 30 m) tropical (35° N to 35° S latitude) coral ecosystems. The collated evidence base on use cases and associated ecological and physical outcomes of built structure interventions can help inform future consideration of built structures in reef restoration design, siting, and implementation. Method To discover evidence on the performance of built structures in coral reef-related applications, such as restoration, mitigation, and coastal protection, primary literature will be searched across indexing platforms, bibliographic databases, open discovery citation indexes, a web-based search engine, a novel literature discovery tool, and organizational websites. The geographic scope of the search is global, and there is no limitation to temporal scope. Primary literature will be screened first at the level of title and abstract and then at the full text level against defined eligibility criteria for the population, intervention, study type, and outcomes of interest. Metadata will be extracted from studies that pass both screening levels. The resulting data will be analyzed to determine the distribution and abundance of evidence. Results will be made publicly available and reported in a systematic map that includes a narrative description, identifies evidence clusters and gaps, and outlines future research directions on the use of built structures in coral reef-related applications.

Environmental Evidence↗
USGS2020

A summary of water-quality monitoring in San Francisco Bay in water year 2017

This report summarizes the activities of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) San Francisco Bay Water-Quality Monitoring and Sediment Transport Project during water year 2017, including an explanation of methods employed, stations operated, and a graphical summary of data for the period of record for stations operational in water year 2017. In cooperation with partner agencies, the USGS maintains a network of sensors that continuously and autonomously measures water-quality parameters in San Francisco Bay including water temperature, specific conductance, turbidity, and suspended-sediment concentration. Data are collected at several locations in the estuary by a network of water-quality sondes sampled at 15-minute intervals. Methods of data collection are presented along with documentation of the regression models utilized to estimate suspended-sediment concentration from observed turbidity, a commonly utilized surrogate to estimate suspended-sediment concentration. The goals of the data collection effort are to (1) obtain long-term, high-frequency, and high-quality data to describe San Francisco Bay water quality; (2) make the data publicly available on the USGS National Water Information System data portal; and (3) help improve understanding of the spatial and temporal variability of water quality in the estuary, informing management decisions regarding restoration, water supply, navigation, and ecology.

California↗
USGS2022

Restoration for resilience: The role of plant-microbial interactions and seed provenance in ecological restoration

With global efforts to restore grassland ecosystems, researchers and land management practitioners are working to reconstruct habitat that will persist and withstand stresses associated with climate change. Part of these efforts involve movement of plant material potentially adapted to future climate conditions from native habitat or seed production locations to a new restoration site. Restoration practice often follows this plant-centered, top-down approach. However, we suggest that restoration of belowground interactions, namely between plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi or rhizobia, is important for restoring resilient grasslands. In this synthesis we highlight these interactions and offer insight into how their restoration might be included in current grassland restoration practice. Ultimately, restoration of belowground interactions may contribute to grassland habitat that can withstand and respond to future climate uncertainties.

Natural Areas Journal↗
USGS2023

Trends, impacts, and cost of catastrophic and frequent wildfires in the sagebrush biome

Fire regimes in sagebrush ( Artemisia spp.) ecosystems have been greatly altered across the western United States. Broad-scale invasion of non-native annual grasses, climate change, and human activities have accelerated wildfire cycles, increased fire size and severity, and lengthened fire seasons in many sagebrush ecosystems to the point that current wildfire-management practices and postfire restoration efforts cannot keep pace to ameliorate the ecological consequences of sagebrush ecosystem loss. The greatest impact of uncharacteristically frequent fire is the transition from native sagebrush-perennial grass communities to invasive, non-native, annual grasslands that are highly flammable. These community transitions are often permanent, owing to the low probability of reestablishing native perennial plants in non-native annual grass−dominated communities. Moreover, these grasses can form extensive and continuous fine fuel loads that promote more frequent fire and the continued expansion of invasive, non-native annuals. More frequent, larger, and severe wildfires necessitate greater resources for fire-prevention, fire-suppression, and postfire restoration activities, while decreasing critical ecosystem services, economic and recreational opportunities, and cultural traditions. Increased flexibility and better prioritization of management activities based on ecological needs, including commitment to long-term prefire and postfire management, are needed to achieve notable reductions in uncharacteristic wildfire activity and associated negative impacts. Collaboration and partnerships across jurisdictional boundaries, agencies, and disciplines can improve consistency in sagebrush-management approaches and thereby contribute to this effort. Here, we provide a synthesis on sagebrush wildfire trends and the impacts of uncharacteristic fire regimes on sagebrush plant communities, dependent wildlife species, fire-suppression costs, and ecosystem services. We also provide an overview of wildland fire coordination efforts among federal, state, and tribal entities.

Rangeland Ecology and Management↗
USGS2005

Implications of global climatic change and energy cost and availability for the restoration of the Mississippi delta

Over the past several thousand years, inputs from the Mississippi River formed the Mississippi delta, an area of about 25,000 km 2 . Over the past century, however, there has been a high loss of coastal wetlands of about 4800 km 2 . The main causes of this loss are the near complete isolation of the river from the delta, mostly due to the construction of flood control levees, and pervasive hydrological disruption of the deltaic plain. There is presently a large-scale State-Federal program to restore the delta that includes construction of water control structures in the flood control levees to divert river water into deteriorating wetlands and pumping of dredged sediment, often for long distances, for marsh creation. Global climate change and decreasing availability and increasing cost of energy are likely to have important implications for delta restoration. Coastal restoration efforts will have to be more intensive to offset the impacts of climate change including accelerated sea level rise and changes in precipitation patterns. Future coastal restoration efforts should also focus on less energy-intensive, ecologically engineered management techniques that use the energies of nature as much as possible. Diversions may be as important for controlling salinity as for providing sediments and nutrients for restoring coastal wetlands. Energy-intensive pumping-dredged sediments for coastal restoration will likely become much more expensive in the future.

Louisiana↗
USGS2012

Waterbird nest monitoring program in San Francisco Bay (2005-10)

Historically, Forster’s Terns ( Sterna forsteri ), American Avocets ( Recurvirostra americana ), and Black-necked Stilts ( Himantopus mexicanus ) were uncommon residents of San Francisco Bay, California (Grinnell and others, 1918; Grinnell and Wythe, 1927; Sibley, 1952). Presently, however, avocets and stilts are the two most abundant breeding shorebirds in San Francisco Bay (Stenzel and others, 2002; Rintoul and others, 2003). More than 4,000 avocets and 1,000 stilts, roughly 20 percent of their San Francisco Bay wintering populations, breed within the estuary, making San Francisco Bay the largest breeding area for these species on the Pacific Coast (Stenzel and others, 2002; Rintoul and others, 2003). Forster’s Terns were first observed breeding in the San Francisco Bay in 1948 (110 nests); they had increased to over 4000 individuals by the 1980s (Sibley, 1952; Gill, 1977; Harvey and others, 1992; Carter and others, 1990) and were estimated at 2000–3000 for 1998–2002; (Strong and others, 2004). It is hypothesized that the relatively large size of the current waterbird breeding populations is a result of the creation of artificial salt evaporation ponds from the 1930s through the 1950s (Gill, 1977; Goals Project, 1999). Until recently, these salt ponds and associated islands used by waterbirds for nesting have been managed relatively similarly and have supported large breeding waterbird populations. Recently, the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project has implemented plans to convert 50–90 percent of the 15,000 acres of salt ponds in the South San Francisco Bay back to tidal marsh habitat. Therefore, there is concern that the Restoration Project, while benefiting other native species, could negatively influence local breeding populations of waterbirds that are reliant on salt pond habitats for both breeding and foraging. A primary goal of the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project is to maintain current breeding waterbird populations (South Bay Salt Pond Long-Term Restoration Project, 2004); thus, specific efforts are planned to ensure that the Restoration Project enhances the habitats of the remaining salt ponds for breeding waterbirds. Here, we provide a summary of nesting ecology data for Forster’s Terns, American Avocets, and Black-necked Stilts, collected from 2005 to 2010 in the areas of the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project, including lands managed by the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge and Eden Landing Ecological Reserve. These results provide baseline conditions for breeding waterbirds prior to implementation of most restoration actions and can be used to both guide future restoration actions as well as to determine the effect of the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project on breeding waterbirds. It is imperative to continue to collect nesting waterbird data annually to assess the response of birds to the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project.

California↗
USGS2017

Temporary wetlands: Challenges and solutions to conserving a ‘disappearing’ ecosystem

Frequent drying of ponded water, and support of unique, highly specialized assemblages of often rare species, characterize temporary wetlands, such as vernal pools, gilgais, and prairie potholes. As small aquatic features embedded in a terrestrial landscape, temporary wetlands enhance biodiversity and provide aesthetic, biogeochemical, and hydrologic functions. Challenges to conserving temporary wetlands include the need to: (1) integrate freshwater and terrestrial biodiversity priorities; (2) conserve entire ‘pondscapes’ defined by connections to other aquatic and terrestrial systems; (3) maintain natural heterogeneity in environmental gradients across and within wetlands, especially gradients in hydroperiod; (4) address economic impact on landowners and developers; (5) act without complete inventories of these wetlands; and (6) work within limited or non-existent regulatory protections. Because temporary wetlands function as integral landscape components, not singly as isolated entities, their cumulative loss is ecologically detrimental yet not currently part of the conservation calculus. We highlight approaches that use strategies for conserving temporary wetlands in increasingly human-dominated landscapes that integrate top-down management and bottom-up collaborative approaches. Diverse conservation activities (including education, inventory, protection, sustainable management, and restoration) that reduce landowner and manager costs while achieving desired ecological objectives will have the greatest probability of success in meeting conservation goals.

Biological Conservation↗
USGS2017

Predicting wading bird and aquatic faunal responses to ecosystem restoration scenarios

In large-scale conservation decisions, scenario planning identifies key uncertainties of ecosystem function linked to ecological drivers affected by management, incorporates ecological feedbacks, and scales up to answer questions robust to alternative futures. Wetland restoration planning requires an understanding of how proposed changes in surface hydrology, water storage, and landscape connectivity affect aquatic animal composition, productivity, and food-web function. In the Florida Everglades, reintroduction of historical hydrologic patterns is expected to increase productivity of all trophic levels. Highly mobile indicator species such as wading birds integrate secondary productivity from aquatic prey (small fishes and crayfish) over the landscape. To evaluate how fish, crayfish, and wading birds may respond to alternative hydrologic restoration plans, we compared predicted small fish density, crayfish density and biomass, and wading bird occurrence for existing conditions to four restoration scenarios that varied water storage and removal of levees and canals (i.e. decompartmentalization). Densities of small fish and occurrence of wading birds are predicted to increase throughout most of the Everglades under all restoration options because of increased flows and connectivity. Full decompartmentalization goes furthest toward recreating hypothesized historical patterns of fish density by draining excess water ponded by levees and hydrating areas that are currently drier than in the past. In contrast, crayfish density declined and species composition shifted under all restoration options because of lengthened hydroperiods (i.e. time of inundation). Under full decompartmentalization, the distribution of increased prey available for wading birds shifted south, closer to historical locations of nesting activity in Everglades National Park.

Restoration Ecology↗
USGS2002

The impact of buffer strips and stream-side grazing on small mammals in southwestern Wisconsin

The practice of continuously grazing cattle along streams has caused extensive degradation of riparian habitats. Buffer strips and managed intensive rotational grazing (MIRG) have been proposed to protect and restore stream ecosystems in Wisconsin. However, the ecological implications of a switch from traditional livestock management to MIRG or buffer strip establishment have not been investigated. Differences in small mammal communities associated with riparian areas on continuously grazed and MIRG pastures, as well as vegetative buffer strips adjacent to row crops, were investigated in southwestern Wisconsin during May-September 1997 and 1998. More species (mean of 6-7) were found on the buffer sites than on the pasture sites (mean of 2-5). Total small mammal abundance on buffer sites was greater than on the pastures as well: there were 3-5 times as many animals on the buffer sites compared to the pasture sites, depending on year. There were no differences in species richness or total abundance between MIRG and continuously grazed pastures in either year. Total small mammal abundance was greater near the stream than away from the stream, regardless of farm management practice but there were no differences in species richness. Buffer strips appear to support a particularly rich and abundant small mammal community. Although results did not detect a difference in small mammal use between pasture types, farm-wide implications of a conversion from continuous to MIRG styles of grazing may benefit small mammals indirectly by causing an increase in the prevalence of pasture in the agricultural landscape.

Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment↗
USGS2020

Efficient mammal biodiversity surveys for ecological restoration monitoring

Efficient biodiversity surveys are critical for successful restoration monitoring and management. We studied the effect of varying sampling effort on the observed species richness of surveys of small mammals (trapping transects), bats (passive acoustic detection), and medium to large mammals (trail cameras). Field studies provided mammalian biodiversity data for 4 bottomland hardwood restoration sites in northeastern Indiana. Subsampled data were used to simulate monitoring surveys with a range of levels of effort. We then used hierarchical Bayesian nonlinear mixed models to analyze how different components of sampling effort affected observed species richness, a key monitoring outcome. We found that observed small mammal richness increased with the increased number of transects in a survey, while observed bat and medium to large mammal richness increased with the increased duration of sampling. Variation between sites was important for the observed richness of small mammals and bats but not for medium to large mammals. The key driver of richness observed in simulated surveys was related to the spatial scale at which target fauna interact with the habitat, with decreasing richness accompanied by a greater spatial scale of animal–habitat interactions. Our findings suggest taxon-specific recommendations for efficiently quantifying the mammalian diversity of managed sites.

Indiana↗
USGS2025

Integrating sea level rise scenarios into Everglades restoration planning

One of the largest and most expensive restoration efforts in the world is occurring in the Everglades, a sub-tropical freshwater wetland system located in southern Florida. This unique ecosystem supports several endangered species, provides flood control for Florida’s large urban population, and provides water for both agriculture and drinking supply within the state. The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), authorized by Congress in 2000, guides federal, state, and local efforts to build the infrastructure necessary to bring more water into the Everglades and restore its ecological integrity, while balancing other water-related needs such as water supply and flood protection in the human environment. The Everglades encompasses the southern coast of Florida and restoration efforts are likely to be impacted by climate-induced sea level rise. However, currently, many project planning studies do not formally incorporate the potential impacts of sea level rise when evaluating restoration plan outcomes. Resource managers and project planners require methods and tools to confidently incorporate scenarios of sea level rise into their evaluations. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and partners from the University of Florida worked with project planners from multiple agencies to identify restoration questions for consideration when addressing sea level rise. In addition, our project team sought to understand the types of sea level rise decision-support tools that would be of interest, and then worked with Everglades restoration managers and project planners to develop those tools. The tools developed by this project can be used by project planners to inform their decision-making abilities when considering multiple restoration plans across the Everglades landscape. Specifically, the novel ways to visualize output information from ecological models that came of this project can help project planners compare alternative restoration plans that include potential sea level rise impacts. This effort demonstrates how incorporating sea level rise scenarios into Everglades restoration project planning can help managers decide whether projects will maintain or improve ecological integrity and evaluate water availability for wildlife and humans.

Final Report↗
USGS2025

Quantifying regional ecological dynamics using agency monitoring data, ecological site descriptions, and ecological site groups

Information about what ecological conditions are likely, causes or drivers of degradation, and potential management actions to restore degraded lands may support land conservation and restoration decisions. State-and-transition models (STMs) describe persistent plant and ecological conditions that are possible (the “state”) within a given abiotic setting and drivers or actions that can cause shifts between states (the “transitions”). These primarily conceptual models are widely used to inform resource and conservation decisions. Data-driven STMs have been developed for some lands, but not at regional or national scales. Here, we demonstrate a new repeatable workflow for developing data-driven STMs in the United States (US). The approach leverages predictive maps of Ecological Site Groups (ESGs), extensive field-based Federal monitoring databases, information from Ecological Site Description (ESD) STMs, soil erosion models, remotely sensed productivity, and other available spatial information (fire, land protection, and drought) to provide context and descriptions of the data-driven states, including likely drivers of transitions. Results of this workflow applied to one dryland ESG in the Upper Colorado River Basin in the southwestern US suggest that an Invaded state (16% of 1352 plots) and some occurrences of a Grassland state (30% of plots) are in a degraded or at-risk condition with reduced ecosystem services. The most common drivers of state transitions in the associated ESDs ( n = 26) are related to livestock grazing and fire. The Invaded state in the ESG has evidence of degraded habitat quality and accelerated run-off while the Grassland state occurrences show reduced richness, productivity, and elevated erosion risk by wind. Areas subject to wildfire and with lower protection status had greater probability of Invaded state occurrence, generally supporting drivers in ESDs. The workflow presented here can serve as a template for describing ecological dynamics at regional scales, and support prioritization of land for conservation and climate adaptation activities.

Rangeland Ecology & Management↗
USGS2019

Wildland fire science at the U.S. Geological Survey—Supporting wildland fire and land management across the United States postcard

The U.S. Geological Survey’s Wildland Fire Science Program produces information to identify the causes of wildfires, understand the impacts and benefits of both wildfires and prescribed fires, and help prevent and manage larger, catastrophic events. USGS fire scientists provide information and develop tools that are widely used by stakeholders to make decisions before, during, and after wildfires in desert, grassland, tundra, wetland, and forest ecosystems across the United States. Active areas of research include— Wildland fire behavior and risk management Fire ecology, fire effects, and post-fire restoration of ecosystems Risk assessments for human health, public safety, and the Nation’s infrastructure Remote sensing and geospatial tools and data.

General Information Product↗
USGS2005

The ecological - Societal underpinnings of Everglades restoration

The biotic integrity of the Florida Everglades, a wetland of immense international importance, is threatened as a result of decades of human manipulation for drainage and development. Past management of the system only exacerbated the problems associated with nutrient enrichment and disruption of regional hydrology. The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) now being implemented by Federal and State governments is an attempt to strike a balance between the needs of the environment with the complex management of water and the seemingly unbridled economic growth of southern Florida. CERP is expected to reverse negative environmental trends by "getting the water right", but successful Everglades restoration will require both geochemical and hydrologic intervention on a massive scale. This will produce ecological trade-offs and will require new and innovative scientific measures to (1) reduce total phosphorus concentrations within the remaining marsh to 10 ??g/L or lower; (2) quantify and link ecological benefits to the restoration of depths, hydroperiods, and flow velocities; and (3) compensate for ecological, economic, and hydrologic uncertainties in the CERP through adaptive management. ?? The Ecological Society of America.

Conference Paper↗