Florida Bay/Everglades Projects

History:

Freshwater runoff into the lower Everglades/Florida Bay ecosystem has changed since the early 1900s, primarily due to extensive construction of canals and roads. Some believe that these changes in the water flow are the cause of current ecological problems in Florida Bay, while others believe they are a function of long-termed natural fluctuations.

Objectives:

1) To use the sediment record from the Florida Bay/Everglades region to identify natural and anthropogenic changes recorded in this ecosystem over time.

2) To reconstruct episodic/catastrophic meteorological events and local weeather regimes which critically affect the South Florida ecosystem.

3) To provide rainfall estimates of the entire Florida Bay area using Doppler weather radar so that the freshwater input via precipitation may be identified.

4) To describe and quantify the interaction and exchange of Florida Bay waters with the connecting coastal waters of the Gulf of Mexico and with the Atlantic Ocean through the tidal passses between the Florida Keys.

5) To determine the effects that seasonal temperature and salinity cycles have on zooplankton and micro-zooplankton abundance and grazing consumption.

For more detailed information regarding our objectives, please refer to
the following:

Sediment Record

Episodic Meteorological Events

Monitoring Rainfall Events

Circulation and Exchange

The Trophodynamic Roles of Zooplankton

Scientists Involved in Florida Bay Projects:

Sediment Record:

Terry Nelsen - NOAA/AOML/OCD Michelle Zetwo Jonathan Klay

Collaborating Scientists: Patricia Blackwelder - RSMAS/MGG Terri Hood Jose Leal Carlos Alverez-Zarikian Harold Wanless - University of Miami John Trefry - FIT Simone Metz Lenore Tedesco - IUPUI Peter Swart - RSMAS/MGG

Meteorological Events:

Craig Mattocks - NOAA/AOML/CIMAS Mark Powell - NOAA/AOML/HRD Sam Houston - NOAA/AOML/HRD

Collaborating Scientists: Mark DeMaria - NWS/National Hurricane Center

Monitoring Rainfall:

Paul Willis - NOAA/AOML/CIMAS Frank Marks - NOAA/AOML/HRD

Collaborating Scientists: David Atlas - Atlas Concepts Dean Churchill - RSMAS/MPO

Circulation and Exchange:

Elizabeth Johns - NOAA/AOML/PHOD Doug Wilson - NOAA/AOML/PHOD

Collaborating Scientists: Thomas Lee - RSMAS/MPO

Zooplankton:

Peter Ortner - NOAA/AOML/OCD

Collaborating Scientists: Michael Dagg - Louisiana University Marine Consortium

This page is maintained by Jennifer Garte. Please send any suggestions to garte@aoml.noaa.gov

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