Mid-Term Report, Florida Coastal Everglades Long Term Ecological Research Program
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Material Information

Title:
Mid-Term Report, Florida Coastal Everglades Long Term Ecological Research Program
Series Title:
Florida Coastal Everglades Annual Reports and Proposals Paper 11
Creator:
Florida Coastal Everglades Long Term Ecological Research Program. Florida International University
Publication Date:
Language:
English

Notes

Scope and Content:
In FCE III, we further expanded our trans-disciplinary research examining how freshwater flow restoration interacts with the presses and pulses of climate variability, particularly sea level rise (SLR) and storms, to shape this productivity gradient. Restoration delays are increasing saltwater and P intrusion into the oligohaline ecotone (Lagomasino et al. 2014a), promoting transgression of mangroves to the interior (Saha et al. 2011). Interactions with freshwater use and supply in the South Florida Urban Gradient (see Fig. 1) mechanistically link human and biophysical domains across spatial and temporal scales. FCE III activities are addressing four main themes: (1) to evaluate the source of socio-political conflicts over water distribution, and how solutions that improve inflows to the Everglades reduce or delay the effects of SLR on estuarine conditions in the coastal zone; (2) to determine how the balance of fresh and marine water supplies to the oligohaline ecotone will control the rates and pathways of carbon (C) sequestration, storage, and export by influencing P availability, water residence time, and salinity; (3) to characterize spatial-temporal patterns in ecosystem sensitivity to, and legacies of, modifications of freshwater delivery to the Everglades that are driven by climate variability and land-use change, and; (4) to develop future scenarios of freshwater distribution and use that maximize the human-environmental sustainability in regions like south Florida that face SLR (Fig. 3). This hydropolitical context for our research is couched in contemporary socialecological theory examining the roots of transformation of novel ecosystems. These thematic goals are met through dedicated long-term research in four core working groups – biogeochemical cycling, primary production, organic matter and trophic dynamics. Our research approach couples long-term measurements and multi-scale experiments along the Everglades gradient with socio-political research in the South Florida Urban Gradient to understand the drivers of change (Fig. 3). All of our research contributes to and is informed by an very large array of integrative modeling efforts dedicated to understanding processes of change and predicting consequences of decisions.

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Source Institution:
Florida International University
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