Award Abstract # 0620409
FCE LTER II: Coastal Oligotrophic Ecosystems Research

NSF Org: DEB
Division Of Environmental Biology
Recipient: FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
Initial Amendment Date: February 6, 2007
Latest Amendment Date: August 6, 2012
Award Number: 0620409
Award Instrument: Continuing Grant
Program Manager: Saran Twombly
DEB
 Division Of Environmental Biology
BIO
 Directorate for Biological Sciences
Start Date: December 1, 2006
End Date: November 30, 2013 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $4,920,000.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $5,651,150.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2007 = $923,764.00
FY 2008 = $928,000.00

FY 2009 = $957,231.00

FY 2010 = $969,536.00

FY 2011 = $932,620.00

FY 2012 = $939,999.00
History of Investigator:
  • Evelyn Gaiser (Principal Investigator)
    gaisere@fiu.edu
  • Rudolf Jaffe (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Michael Heithaus (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Rene Price (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Laura Ogden (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Daniel Childers (Former Principal Investigator)
  • Evelyn Gaiser (Former Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: Florida International University
11200 SW 8TH ST
MIAMI
FL  US  33199-2516
(305)348-2494
Sponsor Congressional District: 26
Primary Place of Performance: Florida International University
11200 SW 8TH ST
MIAMI
FL  US  33199-2516
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
26
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): Q3KCVK5S9CP1
Parent UEI: Q3KCVK5S9CP1
NSF Program(s): ECOSYSTEM STUDIES,
LONG TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH,
BIOLOGICAL OCEANOGRAPHY,
ENVIR SOCIAL & BEHAVIOR SCIENC,
International Research Collab,
EAPSI
Primary Program Source: 0100999999 NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
01000809DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

01000910DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

01001011DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

01001112DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

01001213DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s): 1195, 1306, 1359, 1650, 4444, 5209, 5912, 5921, 5922, 5926, 5977, 5978, 7218, 7744, 9117, 9169, 9177, 9178, 9232, 9251, 9261, 9278, EGCH, SMET
Program Element Code(s): 118100, 119500, 165000, 520900, 729800, 731600
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.074

ABSTRACT

Approximately 50% of the U.S. population lives within 80 km of a coast. As human populations proximal to coasts increase, demands for the natural resources and services that coastal ecosystems provide will also grow, further stressing these ecosystems. The Florida Coastal Everglades LTER (FCE) is an excellent laboratory for understanding how coastal ecosystem dynamics respond to, and influence, human activities. Oligotrophy is a defining characteristic of FCE, and the estuaries of the study area are biogeochemically upside down because the source of limiting nutrients is the ocean, not the watershed. The conceptual approach for FCE II is evolutionary, with emphases on oligohaline ecotone dynamics; hydrologic, climatological, and human drivers that affect those dynamics; and processes that regulate biophysical inputs to the ecotone from upstream freshwater Everglades marshes and the estuary proper. The overarching theme of FCE II follows this evolution of ideas: In the coastal Everglades landscape, population and ecosystem-level dynamics are controlled by the relative importance of water source, water residence time, and local biotic processes.

This phenomenon is best exemplified in the oligohaline ecotone, where these factors interact most strongly and vary over many temporal and spatial scales. FCE will continue tracking the flow of water from canals to the ocean along two transects in Everglades National Park. Several new initiatives include new research hydrology (particularly groundwater hydrology) and human dimensions. Everglades Restoration is the experimental, BACI-style template for FCE; in this next round of funding a major restoration project will remove a key levee at the head of one of the transects. This grand experiment will cause a considerable increase in freshwater flow to only one transect, and central hypotheses are directed at understanding the results of this major change.

FCE II will continue its close involvement with the many existing modeling efforts in south Florida to avoid redundancies and will expand its dynamic budget simulation modelling to the ecotone regions, thus filling a critical between-ecosystem simulation gap. Finally, FCE II will continue to carefully balance continuity (critical to any successful long-term program) with support for new ideas and initiatives by expanding program leadership to include both FCE I PIs and rising star junior faculty.

FCE is based at FIU, a majority-minority public university that is one of the largest Hispanic-serving institutions in the U.S. The FCE student group is large, active, and diverse. The FCE K-12 program, in which 89% of all students impacted are Hispanic, will be strengthened by including new high school curriculum development and enhanced mentoring. Outreach to the South Florida community (which is over 60% Hispanic) will become fully bilingual. The user-friendly, information-rich FCE website will continue to be the primary outreach portal. FCE II will further the goal of linking FCE science with Everglades Restoration to provide reliable, continuous and growing knowledge transfer from basic ecological theory to the development of more effective environmental management and restoration/rehabilitation programs.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

Note:  When clicking on a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, you will be taken to an external site maintained by the publisher. Some full text articles may not yet be available without a charge during the embargo (administrative interval).

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(Showing: 1 - 10 of 232)
Yamashita, Y.;B.D. Kloeppel;J. Knoepp;G.L. Zausen;R. Jaffe "Effects of Watershed History on Dissolved Organic Matter Characteristics in Headwater Streams" Ecosystems , v.14 , 2011 , p.1110 10.1007/s10021-011-9469-z
Amiro, B.D.;A.G. Barr;J.G. Barr;T.A. Black;R. Bracho;M. Brown;J. Chen;K.L. Clark;K.J. Davis;A.R. Desai;S. Dore;V. Engel;J.D. Fuentes;A.H. Goldstein;M. Goulden;T.E. Kolb;M.B. Lavigne;B.E. Law;H.A. Margolis;T. Martin;J.H. McCaughey;L. Misson;et. al. "Ecosystem carbon dioxide fluxes after disturbance in forests of North America" Journal of Geophysical Research , v.115 , 2010 , p.G00J02 10.1029/2010JG001390
Armitage, AR; Fourqurean, JW "Stable Isotopes Reveal Complex Changes in Trophic Relationships Following Nutrient Addition in a Coastal Marine Ecosystem" ESTUARIES AND COASTS , v.32 , 2009 , p.1152 View record at Web of Science 10.1007/s12237-009-9219-
Armitage, AR; Frankovich, TA; Fourqurean, JW "Long-Term Effects of Adding Nutrients to an Oligotrophic Coastal Environment" ECOSYSTEMS , v.14 , 2011 , p.430 View record at Web of Science 10.1007/s10021-011-9421-
Baggett, L.P.;Heck, K.L., Jr.;Frankovich, T.A.;Armitage, A.R.;Fourqurean, J.W.; "Nutrient enrichment, grazer identity and their effects on epiphytic algal assemblages: field experiments in sub-tropical turtlegrass (Thalassia testudinum) meadows" Marine Ecology Progress Series , v.406 , 2010 , p.33-45
Balcarczyk, KL; Jones, JB; Jaffe, R; Maie, N "Stream dissolved organic matter bioavailability and composition in watersheds underlain with discontinuous permafrost" BIOGEOCHEMISTRY , v.94 , 2009 , p.255 View record at Web of Science 10.1007/s10533-009-9324-
Barr, J.G.;Engel, V.;Fuentes, J.D.;Zieman, J.C.;O "Controls on mangrove forest-atmosphere carbon dioxide exchanges in western Everglades National Park" Journal of Geophysical Research , v.115 , 2010 , p.G02020
Barr, JG; Fuentes, JD; Engel, V; Zieman, JC "Physiological responses of red mangroves to the climate in the Florida Everglades" JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-BIOGEOSCIENCES , v.114 , 2009 View record at Web of Science 10.1029/2008JG00084
Barr, J.G.;J.D. Fuentes;M.S. DeLonge;T.L. O'Halloran;D. Barr;J.C. Zieman "Influences of tidal energy advection on the surface energy balance in a mangrove forest" Biogeosciences Discussions , v.9 , 2012 , p.11739 10.5194/bgd-9-11739-2012
Barr, J.G.;V. Engel;T.J. Smith;J.D. Fuentes; "Hurricane disturbance and recovery of energy balance, CO2 fluxes and canopy structure in a mangrove forest of the Florida Everglades" Agricultural and Forest Meteorology , v.153 , 2012 , p.54-66 j.agrformet.2011.07.022
Belicka, L.;E.R. Sokol;J.M. Hoch;R. Jaffe;J.C. Trexler; "A molecular and stable isotopic approach to investigate the importance of algal and detrital energy pathways in a freshwater marsh" Wetlands , v.32 , 2012 , p.531-542 10.1007/s13157-012-0288-6
(Showing: 1 - 10 of 232)

PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT

Disclaimer

This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.

The Florida Coastal Everglades (FCE) LTER Program studies how global climate change and shifting approaches to water management impact the Florida Everglades and the 9 million residents of the region. Profoundly changed by regional water management practices and altered patterns of land use, the Everglades has been reduced to less than half its original extent, and is now primarily contained within Everglades National Park.  Although the present day park is a mere remnant of the historical Everglades, it provides an excellent laboratory for studying how coastal ecosystems interact with human activities.  This long term study examines the restoration of water flow to the Everglades in a landscape-level experiment that tests general ecological theory, serves as a guide for effective restoration policy, and allows development of new frameworks for discoveries in coastal ecosystem and restoration science.

Intellectual Merit:  During phase II of this long-term program (2007-2012), we discovered that delays in freshwater restoration have increased rates of saltwater encroachment into the freshwater Everglades.  Saltwater is seeping inland both above and below-ground and is reducing the abundance of the dominant marsh plant, sawgrass.  The intrusion of marine water has increased the concentrations of phosphorus, an important plant nutrient, above those on the Everglades interior and has led to an increase in the density of salt-tolerant mangroves.  Our results have revealed that these subtropical mangrove forests and nearby seagrass communities remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than most other ecosystems on the planet.  However, the effects of persistent saltwater encroachment will influence the fate of this carbon which is primarily stored in Everglades soils.  FCE research has shown that the organic material produced by these coastal plant communities is less abundant when freshwater flow is reduced. As an important food source in Everglades estuarine food webs, changes in the abundance of organic matter can influence animal populations.  Tracking studies have shown that large, aquatic, consumers such as alligators and bull sharks spend much of their time in the upper freshwater marshes of the Everglades.  We have also learned that they also travel to marine waters to feed and thereby transport marine nutrients and energy inland. Our results have also indicated that tropical storms punctuate the directional pressure of saltwater encroachment and the continued diversion of freshwater away from the Everglades drainages.  In addition, we have found that sometimes these storm surge supply sediments and nutrients that help the coastal system to recover more quickly. 

Finally, our work has begun to reveal how South Florida residents have responded to changes in the Everglades and led to conflict over land and resource distribution decisions between stakeholders and ultimately delayed the restoration process.  FCE research is unique in its partnership with government agency scientists.  Through this collaboration, modeling efforts are being used to project future scenarios for the Everglades under a range of management plans and climate change conditions and had enabled us to influence restoration decisions that benefit the ecosystem and people of South Florida.

Over 200 refereed journal articles, 4 books, 19 book chapters, 3 thematic issues of journals, and 36 dissertations and theses were produced between 2007-2012 (see http://fcelter.fiu.edu/publications/ for a full list).  A total of 135 datasets have been generated, 125 of which are publically available online through a centralized system (https://portal.lternet.edu/nis/) that enables discovery by scien...

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