Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Relationship Between Water Level, Prey Availability And Reproductive Success In Roseate Spoonbills Foraging In A Seasonally-Flooded Wetland While Nesting In Florida Bay, Jerome J. Lorenz

FCE LTER Journal Articles

The coastal wetlands of northeastern Florida Bay are seasonally-inundated dwarf mangrove habitat and serve as a primary foraging ground for wading birds nesting in Florida Bay. A common paradigm in pulse-inundated wetlands is that prey base fishes increase in abundance while the wetland is flooded and then become highly concentrated in deeper water refuges as water levels recede, becoming highly available to wading birds whose nesting success depends on these concentrations. Although widely accepted, the relationship between water levels, prey availability and nesting success has rarely been quantified. I examine this paradigm using Roseate Spoonbills that nest on the islands …

Effect Of Water Management On Interannual Variation In Bulk Soil Properties From The Eastern Coastal Everglades, R. M. Chambers, R. L. Hatch, T. M. Russell

FCE LTER Journal Articles

We examined interannual variation in soil properties from wetlands occurring in adjacent drainage basins from the southeastern Everglades. Triplicate 10-cm soil cores were collected, homogenized, and analyzed during the wet season 2006–2010 from five freshwater sawgrass wetland marshes and three estuarine mangrove forests. Soil bulk density from the Taylor Slough basin ranged from 0.15 gm-cm⁻³ to 0.5 gm-cm⁻³, was higher than from the Panhandle basin every year, and generally increased throughout the study period. Organic matter as a percent loss on ignition ranged from 7 % to 12 % from freshwater marshes and from 13 % to …

A Review Of The Effects Of Altered Hydrology And Salinity On Vertebrate Fauna And Their Habitats In Northeastern Florida Bay, Jerome J. Lorenz

FCE LTER Journal Articles

Estuarine productivity is highly dependent on the freshwater sources of the estuary. In Florida Bay, Taylor Slough was historically the main source of fresh water. Beginning in about 1960, and culminating with the completion of the South Dade Conveyance System in 1984, water management practice began to change the quantity and distribution of flow from Taylor Slough into Northeastern Florida Bay. These practices altered salinity and hydrologic parameters that had measurable negative impacts on vertebrate fauna and their habitats. Here, I review those impacts from published and unpublished literature and anecdotal observations. Almost all vertebrates covered in this review have …

Timescales For Detecting A Significant Acceleration In Sea Level Rise, Ivan D. Haigh, Thomas Wahl, Eelco J. Rohling, René M. Price, Charitha B. Pattiaratchi, Francisco M. Calafat, Sönke Dangendorf

FCE LTER Journal Articles

There is observational evidence that global sea level is rising and there is concern that the rate of rise will increase, significantly threatening coastal communities. However, considerable debate remains as to whether the rate of sea level rise is currently increasing and, if so, by how much. Here we provide new insights into sea level accelerations by applying the main methods that have been used previously to search for accelerations in historical data, to identify the timings (with uncertainties) at which accelerations might first be recognized in a statistically significant manner (if not apparent already) in sea level records that …

Seasonal Evapotranspiration Patterns In Mangrove Forests, Jordan G. Barr, Marcia S. Delonge, Jose D. Fuentes

FCE LTER Journal Articles

Diurnal and seasonal controls on water vapor fluxes were investigated in a subtropical mangrove forest in Everglades National Park, Florida. Energy partitioning between sensible and latent heat fluxes was highly variable during the 2004–2005 study period. During the dry season, the mangrove forest behaved akin to a semiarid ecosystem as most of the available energy was partitioned into sensible heat, which gave Bowen ratio values exceeding 1.0 and minimum latent heat fluxes of 5 MJ d1. In contrast, during the wet season the mangrove forest acted as a well-watered, broadleaved deciduous forest, with Bowen ratio values of 0.25 and latent …

Photochemical And Microbial Alteration Of Dissolved Organic Matter In Temperate Headwater Streams Associated With Different Land Use, Yuehan Lu, James E. Bauer, Elizabeth A. Canuel, Youhei Yamashita, R. M. Chambers, Rudolf Jaffe´

FCE LTER Journal Articles

[1] Photochemical and microbial transformations of DOM were evaluated in headwater streams draining forested and human-modified lands (pasture, cropland, and urban development) by laboratory incubations. Changes in DOC concentrations, DOC isotopic signatures, and DOM fluorescence properties were measured to assess the amounts, sources, ages, and properties of reactive and refractory DOM under the influence of photochemistry and/or bacteria. DOC in streams draining forest-dominated watersheds was more photoreactive than in streams draining mostly human-modified watersheds, possibly due to greater contributions of terrestrial plant-derived DOC and lower amounts of prior light exposure in forested streams. Overall, the percentage of photoreactive DOC in …

Modeling Light Use Efficiency In A Subtropical Mangrove Forest Equipped With Co2 Eddy Covariance °C, Jordan G. Barr

FCE LTER Journal Articles

Despite the importance of mangrove ecosystems in the global carbon budget, the relationships between environmental drivers and carbon dynamics in these forests remain poorly understood. This limited understanding is partly a result of the challenges associated with in situ flux studies. Tower-based CO₂ eddy covariance (EC) systems are installed in only a few mangrove forests worldwide, and the longest EC record from the Florida Everglades contains less than 9 years of observations. A primary goal of the present study was to develop a methodology to estimate canopy-scale photosynthetic light use efficiency in this forest. These tower-based observations represent a …

Summertime Influences Of Tidal Energy Advection On The Surface Energy Balance In A Mangrove Forest, Jordan G. Barr, J. D. Fuentes, M. S. Delonge, T. L. O'Halloran, J. C. Zeiman

FCE LTER Journal Articles

Mangrove forests are ecosystems susceptible to changing water levels and temperatures due to climate change as well as perturbations resulting from tropical storms. Numerical models can be used to project mangrove forest responses to regional and global environmental changes, and the reliability of these models depends on surface energy balance closure. However, for tidal ecosystems, the surface energy balance is complex because the energy transport associated with tidal activity remains poorly understood. This study aimed to quantify impacts of tidal flows on energy dynamics within a mangrove ecosystem. To address the research objective, an intensive 10-day study was conducted in …

Mechanisms Of Bicarbonate Use Influence The Photosynthetic Carbon Dioxide Sensitivity Of Tropical Seagrasses, Justin E. Campbell, James W. Fourqurean

FCE LTER Journal Articles

The photosynthetic bicarbonate () use properties of three widely distributed tropical seagrasses were compared using a series of laboratory experiments. Photosynthetic rates of Thalassia testudinum, Halodule wrightii, and Syringodium filiforme were monitored in an enclosed chamber while being subjected to shifts in pH and dissolved inorganic carbon. Specific mechanisms of seagrass use were compared by examining the photosynthetic effects of the carbonic anhydrase inhibitor acetazolamide (AZ). All seagrasses increased photosynthetic rates with reduced pH, suggesting a large effect of dissolved aqueous carbon dioxide (CO_2(aq)). However, there was considerable interspecific variation in pH response. T. testudinum was …

Controls On Sensible Heat And Latent Energy Fluxes From A Short-Hydroperiod Florida Everglades Marsh, Jessica L. Schedlbauer, Steven F. Oberbauer, Gregory Starr, Kristine L. Jimenez

FCE LTER Journal Articles

Little is known of energy balance in low latitude wetlands where there is a year-round growing season and a climate best defined by wet and dry seasons. The Florida Everglades is a highly managed and extensive subtropical wetland that exerts a substantial influence on the hydrology and climate of the south Florida region. However, the effects of seasonality and active water management on energy balance in the Everglades ecosystem are poorly understood. An eddy covariance and micrometeorological tower was established in a short-hydroperiod Everglades marsh to examine the dominant environmental controls on sensible heat (H) and latent energy …

Survival And Growth Responses Of Eight Everglades Tree Species Along An Experimental Hydrological Gradient On Two Tree Island Types, Susana L. Stoffella, Michael S. Ross, Jay P. Sah, René M. Price, Pamela L. Sullivan, Eric A. Cline, Leonard J. Scinto

FCE LTER Journal Articles

Questions: How are the early survival and growth of seedlings of Everglades tree species planted in an experimental setting on artificial tree islands affected by hydrology and substrate type? What are the implications of these responses for broader tree island restoration efforts?

Location: Loxahatchee Impoundment Landscape Assessment (LILA), Boynton Beach, Florida, USA.

Methods: An experiment was designed to test hydrological and substrate effects on seedling growth and survivorship. Two islands – a peat and a limestone-core island representing two major types found in the Everglades – were constructed in four macrocosms. A mixture of eight tree species was planted on …

Flux Of Organic Carbon In A Riverine Mangrove Wetland In The Florida Coastal Everglades, Melissa M. Romigh, Stephen E. Davis Iii, Victor H. Rivera-Monroy, Robert R. Twilley

FCE LTER Journal Articles

Short-term (daily) and seasonal variations in concentration and flux of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) were examined over 15 tidal cycles in a riverine mangrove wetland along Shark River, Florida in 2003. Due to the influence of seasonal rainfall and wind patterns on Shark River’s hydrology, samplings were made to include wet, dry and transitional (Norte) seasons. We used a flume extending from a tidal creek to a basin forest to measure vertical (vegetated soil/water column) and horizontal (mangrove forest/tidal creek) flux of DOC. We found significant (p < 0.05) variations in surface water temperature, salinity, conductivity, pH and mean concentration of DOC with season. Water temperature and salinity followed seasonal patterns of air temperature and rainfall, while mean DOC concentration was highest during the dry season (May), followed by the wet (October) and ‘Norte’ (December) seasons. This pattern of DOC concentration may be due to a combination of litter production and inundation pattern of the wetland. In contrast to daily (between tides) variation in DOC flux between the mangrove forest and tidal creek, daily variations of mean water quality were not significant. However, within-tide variation of DOC flux, dissolved oxygen content and salinity was observed. This indicated that the length of inundation and water source (freshwater vs. saltwater) variation across tidal cycles influenced water quality and DOC flux in the water column. Net DOC export was measured in October and December, suggesting the mangrove forest was a source of DOC to the adjacent tidal creek during these periods. Net annual export of DOC from the fringe mangrove to both the tidal creek and basin mangrove forest was 56 g C m⁻² year⁻¹. The seasonal pattern in our flux results indicates …