History...
Florida
Bay is a triangularly shaped body of water about 2200 km2 in area.
Over 85 percent of the Bay lies within Everglades National Park. Much of the remainder is in the Florida Keys
National Marine Sanctuary. The Bay is
bounded by the Florida Everglades on the north and the Florida Keys on the
southeast and includes over 200 small islands or "keys", many of
which are rimmed with mangroves and have interior irregularly flooded
"flats" with calcareous algal mats.
While Florida Bay is known as the principal inshore nursery for the
offshore Tortugas pink shrimp, it also provides critical habitat for juvenile
spiny lobsters, stone crabs, and
many important finfish species.
Moreover, the Bay supports numerous protected species including the
bottle-nosed dolphin, the American crocodile, the West Indian manatee, and
several species of sea turtles.
Shallow and often
hypersaline, the Bay was until recently characterized by clear waters and lush
seagrass meadows covering a mosaic of shallow water banks and numerous
relatively deeper water basins. In
western Florida Bay, seagrasses have been dying since the summer of 1987. A phenomenon such as this has not been
observed previously in Florida Bay nor has a mass mortality of any tropical
seagrass been reported in the scientific literature. In some areas vegetative cover has been partially re-established
by either the original species or another species, but in other areas
recolonization has been slow and large areas of the bottom are still devoid of
vegetation.
There are other
indications that the environmental health of Florida Bay has deteriorated. Fishing success has declined for many of the
commercial and recreational species that depend upon the Bay as a juvenile nursery
habitat, suggesting a decline in recruitment.
Atypical algal blooms have been reported in the last few years across
much of western Florida Bay and have extended into the Florida Keys. These blooms are thought to have attributed
to the Loggerhead sponge die-off. This
is significant because these sponges are the habitat for juvenile lobster. Most recently, mangroves within the Bay are
reported to be in decline. While the
causes of the various problems and the relationships between them are not well
understood, there is no question that, like the sawgrass habitat of the
Everglades, the coastal marine ecosystem of Florida Bay is in jeopardy.
More freshwater alone
will not return Florida Bay to its pristine condition. The timing, location,
and quality of freshwater released to Florida Bay must also be considered. Water quality is particularly important, and
measures to address pollution specific to the Everglades may not be adequate to
protect Florida Bay. Increasing
freshwater flow to the Bay, all else being equal, could increase nutrient
loading which might induce more frequent and more extensive phytoplankton
blooms. These could, in turn, result in
further losses of bottom vegetation in the Bay from light limitation, and
nutrient loads in Bay waters that exit between the Keys could be injurious to
the coral reefs of the Florida Keys Marine Sanctuary. Lastly, increasing water flow could also increase trace
contaminant loading depending on sources and flow pathways.
At present, there is
insufficient scientific knowledge to predict with confidence the consequences
of anticipated alterations in freshwater input to Florida Bay. Although increased flow can certainly reduce
the frequency and severity of hypersalinity, fine-tuning of water flow, reduction
in plant nutrient concentrations in in-flowing water, and other corrective
measures may also be necessary to restore the health and productivity of the
Bay.
Since no one can turn
back the clock and South Florida's rapid development will almost certainly
continue, a series of compromises and tradeoffs will have to be made in
restoring and maintaining a healthy South Florida coastal ecosystem including
Florida Bay. It is essential that
decisions be made based on reliable scientific information. To generate the
requisite information a group of federal and state agencies are collaborating
in an interagency Florida Bay Science Program that conducts closely
complementary research, monitoring, and modeling projects which together will
answer the most critical scientific questions about the Bay ecosystem. This program is guided by a Program
Management Committee (PMC) that has recently expanded to assure coordination
and collaboration with developing programs at Biscayne Bay, Rookery Bay, the
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, and the Dry Tortugas in so far as they
are germane to South Florida ecosystem restoration.
The
Bigger Picture...
The Florida Bay and Adjacent Marine Systems Science Program is a
scientific component of the much larger South Florida Ecosystem Restoration
initiative headed by a Task Force consisting of state and federal agency heads
and representatives from other stakeholder groups. Reporting to the Task Force are a group of regional managers
(Working Group) of those agencies responsible for managing the environmental
resources in South Florida and carrying out the restoration activities. This Working Group has established among
other committees a Science Coordination Team (SCT) responsible for defining and
developing plans to provide the scientific and information needs of the Working
Group. In doing so, South Florida has
been divided into a series of subregions, one of which includes Florida Bay. Results of Florida Bay’s science program are
communicated to the Working Group and its subgroups through the annual Florida
Bay Science Conference, joint membership of some PMC members on the Science
Coordination Team, and by direct briefing of agency managers.
| Main
| Overview | Management & Oversight | Science
Program | Contact Information |
Last Updated 11/01/99
PMC FLBAY Webmaster