South Florida land-use and its input on coral reefs

Conference · Sun Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:549153

Ogden, J C

A complex and diverse mosaic of land, freshwater, shallow marine ecosystems, and concentrated human activity, the south Florida peninsula is a region of superlatives of geographic size, environmental complexity, and high-profile management attention. The structure of this landscape-seascape is determined by freshwater flows through the Everglades and currents in the surrounding ocean, the sources and partitioning of nutrients in generally oligotrophic waters, and episodic events including hurricanes, flooding, droughts, fires, and freezes. The importance of the region to the nation has been recognized by the establishment of large terrestrial and marine protected areas including the Everglades National Park, Biscayne National Park, and the newly established Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS). The development of the FKNMS management plan since 1991 has focused attention on the dramatic decline of coral cover on the reef tract and the potential role land-use practices on Florida Bay. Water management in south Florida over the last century has affected the quantity, quality, timing and distribution of freshwater flows through the {open_quotes}river of grass{close_quotes} which has been linked to a massive die-back of seagrasses and to persistent plankton blooms. Florida Bay water, periodically inimical to corals, has been traced to the reef tract. A major state and federal effort is underway to restore as much as possible the natural flow of freshwater through the Everglades over the next decade. Appropriately monitored, this project will be unique large-scale ecological experiment which will reveal the natural dynamics of the region and its responses to management.

• OSTI ID: 549153
• Report Number(s): CONF-950264--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
CORALS
DROUGHTS
ECOSYSTEMS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK
FLORIDA
FLUID FLOW
LAND USE
PLANKTON
REEFS
SURFACE WATERS