Transforming Farming Systems on Public Lands in the EAA to Support Everglades Restoration

Conference · Fri Jan 08 04:00:00 EST 2010

OSTI ID:1338927

Capece, John ^[1]; Hanlon, Ed A. ^[2]

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1. Caloosahatchee River Citizens Association (Riverwatch), LaBelle, FL (United States); Intelligentsia International,Inc.
2. Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States). Inst. of Food and Agricultural Sciences; Southwest Florida Research and Education Center, Immokalee, FL (United States)

The public purchase of farmlands in the EAA provides an opportunity for transforming farming systems into truly sustainable systems and these can support the Everglades restoration efforts. The concept proposed in this presentation is that by reducing the yield intensity of farms and adding ecosystem services, public farm lands can serve both restoration and the economy more effectively and more efficiently. This working hypothesis will be evaluated by applying systems analysis approaches including life cycle analysis and embodied energy analysis. The rationale for pursuing new approaches ranges from the fact that climate change threats are global, not local, to the fact that eliminating Florida farms and moving production elsewhere yields no net ecological benefit. Historic water flow from Lake Okeechobee to Everglades is shown and the current concept of moving water explained. Southern Flow Way Plan 6 is explained and sustainable farming system in this newly acquired land presented. To determine if an EAA pulse-way strategy would work and meet the sustainability criteria requires integrated analysis of several systems - water budget, soil & water nutrient dynamics, prospects for new sugarcane varieties, soil subsidence and overall energy and carbon budget.

• Research Organization: Hendry County, Labelle, FL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Bioenergy Technologies Office (EE-3B)
• DOE Contract Number: EE0000303
• OSTI ID: 1338927
• Report Number(s): DOE-HENDRYFLA--00303-424
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
EAA
Florida
ecosystem services
emergy analysis
farming systems
sustainable