The Greater Everglades Ecosystem covers much of south Florida, and the highest areas are only a few meters above sea level. Predictions of sea level rise and changes in storm intensity for the 21st century are particularly concerning to the urban population of Miami and the east coast, but also represent a challenge to Everglades National Park and Biscayne National Park resource managers. The Greater Everglades Ecosystem is undergoing a large-scale restoration effort and decisions need to be made that will affect the system for the next 20 to 30 years. Our project is designed to examine responses of the ecosystem to past sea level and climate changes to better understand coastal resiliency.
Project Lead: G. Lynn Wingard
FBGC Project Members: Miriam Jones, Bethany Stackhouse, Sarah Bergstresser, Kristen Hoefke, Bryan Landacre, Christopher Bernhardt
Other USGS Project Members: Andre Daniels, Marci Marot
Collaborator: Anna Wachnicka (FIU / SFWMD)
The urban and natural landscapes of south Florida are vulnerable to flooding from sea level rise and coastal storm surges for several reasons, including low elevation, lack of topographic relief to promote drainage, and a water table that is at or very close to the land surface. With the current rate of relative sea level rise in south Florida estimated to be between 2.4-3.7 mm/year and rising, it is vital for urban planners and resource managers to understand how vulnerable the coast is to retreat and inundation.
Understanding how the natural (pre-human alteration) environment of south Florida has responded to previous changes in sea level and climate variability is an important first step to predicting what will happen over the next century. What factors make the coast more resilient? What are the most important drivers of coastal change? What is the role of mangroves and coastal vegetation in coastal resiliency? The answers to these questions can be found by studying the record preserved in sediment cores collected throughout south Florida. The layers in the cores are analyzed for physical and biological clues that tell us how the environment has changed over time. The sequence of changes seen in the cores provides information about the factors that drive these changes, such as fluctuations in storm frequency or strength, increased or decreased sea level, or loss of key species such as mangroves and sea grass beds.
An important part of interpreting past environmental history in cores is understanding how physical and biological processes interact in the present and what are the ecological requirements of key species. By studying the present, we are better able to interpret the past record in the cores, which in turn can give us insights into what the future will look like. An especially important factor in coastal change in south Florida are hurricanes, and since 1888 twenty-one major hurricanes (category 3 or above on the Saffir-Simpson scale) have made landfall within an approximately 100-mile radius of Florida Bay, where many of our cores are located. Detailed scientific investigations have been conducted following a few of these storms, and this information provides us with a means to look at the decadal-scale impacts of storms on the coastline. In September 2017, Hurricane Irma passed just west of our field sites, giving us a first-hand look at the immediate impact of storms on the mangrove coastline. By combining our observations of ongoing changes in the coastline with the 3000 to 5000 year record preserved in our cores, we are providing resource managers and urban planners with a better understanding of the natural processes of coastal change, the rates of response of the system to these changes, and what factors contribute to coastal resiliency.
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Determining Target Salinity Values for Restoration of the Estuaries of the Greater Everglades
Below are databases associated with this project.
2008 - Present Ecosystem History of South Florida's Estuaries Database (ver. 2.0, June 2022)
Below are publications associated with this project.
Impacts of Hurricane Irma on Florida Bay Islands, Everglades National Park, U.S.A.
The role of paleoecology in restoration and resource management—The past as a guide to future decision-making: Review and example from the Greater Everglades Ecosystem, U.S.A
Application of molluscan analyses to the reconstruction of past environmental conditions in estuaries
Biological indicators of changes in water quality and habitats of the coastal and estuarine areas of the Greater Everglades Ecosystem; Chapter 11
Estimates of natural salinity and hydrology in a subtropical estuarine ecosystem: implications for Greater Everglades restoration
Integrated conceptual ecological model and habitat indices for the southwest Florida coastal wetlands
Impact of Late Holocene climate variability and anthropogenic activities on Biscayne Bay (Florida, U.S.A.): Evidence from diatoms
Florida Bay salinity and Everglades wetlands hydrology circa 1900 CE: A compilation of paleoecology-based statistical modeling analyses
Application of a weighted-averaging method for determining paleosalinity: a tool for restoration of south Florida's estuaries
Climate variability during the Medieval Climate Anomaly and Little Ice Age based on ostracod faunas and shell geochemistry from Biscayne Bay, Florida
Estuaries of the Greater Everglades Ecosystem: Laboratories of Long-term Change
A simulation of historic hydrology and salinity in Everglades National Park: Coupling paleoecologic assemblage data with regression models
- Overview
The Greater Everglades Ecosystem covers much of south Florida, and the highest areas are only a few meters above sea level. Predictions of sea level rise and changes in storm intensity for the 21st century are particularly concerning to the urban population of Miami and the east coast, but also represent a challenge to Everglades National Park and Biscayne National Park resource managers. The Greater Everglades Ecosystem is undergoing a large-scale restoration effort and decisions need to be made that will affect the system for the next 20 to 30 years. Our project is designed to examine responses of the ecosystem to past sea level and climate changes to better understand coastal resiliency.
(Credit: G. Lynn Wingard, USGS. Public domain.) Project Lead: G. Lynn Wingard
FBGC Project Members: Miriam Jones, Bethany Stackhouse, Sarah Bergstresser, Kristen Hoefke, Bryan Landacre, Christopher Bernhardt
Other USGS Project Members: Andre Daniels, Marci Marot
Collaborator: Anna Wachnicka (FIU / SFWMD)
The urban and natural landscapes of south Florida are vulnerable to flooding from sea level rise and coastal storm surges for several reasons, including low elevation, lack of topographic relief to promote drainage, and a water table that is at or very close to the land surface. With the current rate of relative sea level rise in south Florida estimated to be between 2.4-3.7 mm/year and rising, it is vital for urban planners and resource managers to understand how vulnerable the coast is to retreat and inundation.
Understanding how the natural (pre-human alteration) environment of south Florida has responded to previous changes in sea level and climate variability is an important first step to predicting what will happen over the next century. What factors make the coast more resilient? What are the most important drivers of coastal change? What is the role of mangroves and coastal vegetation in coastal resiliency? The answers to these questions can be found by studying the record preserved in sediment cores collected throughout south Florida. The layers in the cores are analyzed for physical and biological clues that tell us how the environment has changed over time. The sequence of changes seen in the cores provides information about the factors that drive these changes, such as fluctuations in storm frequency or strength, increased or decreased sea level, or loss of key species such as mangroves and sea grass beds.
A few months after Hurricane Irma hit Florida, a team from the Florence Bascom Geoscience Center conducted field work to determine what effects the storm had on islands in Florida Bay. On Bob Allen island approximately 5.5 cm of mud (the upper layer shown here) were deposited by the storm. The distinctive blue-green algal mat below the mud (visible where the block of storm deposited mud has been removed) made it easy to tell the thickness of the storm deposition. An important part of interpreting past environmental history in cores is understanding how physical and biological processes interact in the present and what are the ecological requirements of key species. By studying the present, we are better able to interpret the past record in the cores, which in turn can give us insights into what the future will look like. An especially important factor in coastal change in south Florida are hurricanes, and since 1888 twenty-one major hurricanes (category 3 or above on the Saffir-Simpson scale) have made landfall within an approximately 100-mile radius of Florida Bay, where many of our cores are located. Detailed scientific investigations have been conducted following a few of these storms, and this information provides us with a means to look at the decadal-scale impacts of storms on the coastline. In September 2017, Hurricane Irma passed just west of our field sites, giving us a first-hand look at the immediate impact of storms on the mangrove coastline. By combining our observations of ongoing changes in the coastline with the 3000 to 5000 year record preserved in our cores, we are providing resource managers and urban planners with a better understanding of the natural processes of coastal change, the rates of response of the system to these changes, and what factors contribute to coastal resiliency.
- Science
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Determining Target Salinity Values for Restoration of the Estuaries of the Greater Everglades
The Greater Everglades Ecosystem, which includes Everglades National Park and Biscayne National Park, experienced significant alterations in the 20th century with the construction of canals to divert water, water management practices, growth of agriculture, and the rapidly expanding urban population of Miami and south Florida. In the 1990s a federal, state, and local effort to restore the Greater... - Data
Below are databases associated with this project.
2008 - Present Ecosystem History of South Florida's Estuaries Database (ver. 2.0, June 2022)
The 2008 - Present Ecosystem History of South Florida's Estuaries Database contains listings of all sites (modern and core) and modern monitoring site survey information (water chemistry, floral and faunal data, etc.). Three general types of data are contained within this database: 1) Modern Field Data (2008-present), 2) Master list of location information on all modern sites, and 3) Core data - l - Multimedia
- Publications
Below are publications associated with this project.
Impacts of Hurricane Irma on Florida Bay Islands, Everglades National Park, U.S.A.
Hurricane Irma made landfall in south Florida, USA, on September 10, 2017 as a category 4 storm. In January 2018, fieldwork was conducted on four previously (2014) sampled islands in Florida Bay, Everglades National Park to examine changes between 2014 and 2018. The objectives were to determine if the net impact of the storm was gain or loss of island landmass and/or elevation; observe and quantifThe role of paleoecology in restoration and resource management—The past as a guide to future decision-making: Review and example from the Greater Everglades Ecosystem, U.S.A
Resource managers around the world are challenged to develop feasible plans for sustainable conservation and/or restoration of the lands, waters, and wildlife they administer—a challenge made greater by anticipated climate change and associated effects over the next century. Increasingly, paleoecologic and geologic archives are being used to extend the period of record of observed data and provideApplication of molluscan analyses to the reconstruction of past environmental conditions in estuaries
Molluscs possess a number of attributes that make them an excellent source of past environmental conditions in estuaries: they are common in estuarine environments; they typically have hard shells and are usually well preserved in sediments; they are relatively easy to detect in the environment; they have limited mobility as adults; they grow by incremental addition of layers to their shells; andBiological indicators of changes in water quality and habitats of the coastal and estuarine areas of the Greater Everglades Ecosystem; Chapter 11
This chapter summarizes the application of various biological indicators to studying the anthropogenic and natural changes in water quality and habitats that have occurred in the coastal and estuarine areas of the Greater Everglades ecosystem.Estimates of natural salinity and hydrology in a subtropical estuarine ecosystem: implications for Greater Everglades restoration
Disruption of the natural patterns of freshwater flow into estuarine ecosystems occurred in many locations around the world beginning in the twentieth century. To effectively restore these systems, establishing a pre-alteration perspective allows managers to develop science-based restoration targets for salinity and hydrology. This paper describes a process to develop targets based on natural hydrIntegrated conceptual ecological model and habitat indices for the southwest Florida coastal wetlands
The coastal wetlands of southwest Florida that extend from Charlotte Harbor south to Cape Sable, contain more than 60,000 ha of mangroves and 22,177 ha of salt marsh. These coastal wetlands form a transition zone between the freshwater and marine environments of the South Florida Coastal Marine Ecosystem (SFCME). The coastal wetlands provide diverse ecosystem services that are valued by society anImpact of Late Holocene climate variability and anthropogenic activities on Biscayne Bay (Florida, U.S.A.): Evidence from diatoms
Shallow marine ecosystems are experiencing significant environmental alterations as a result of changing climate and increasing human activities along coasts. Intensive urbanization of the southeast Florida coast and intensification of climate change over the last few centuries changed the character of coastal ecosystems in the semi-enclosed Biscayne Bay, Florida. In order to develop management poFlorida Bay salinity and Everglades wetlands hydrology circa 1900 CE: A compilation of paleoecology-based statistical modeling analyses
Throughout the 20th century, the Greater Everglades Ecosystem of south Florida was greatly altered by human activities. Construction of water-control structures and facilities altered the natural hydrologic patterns of the south Florida region and consequently impacted the coastal ecosystem. Restoration of the Greater Everglades Ecosystem is guided by the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration PlanApplication of a weighted-averaging method for determining paleosalinity: a tool for restoration of south Florida's estuaries
A molluscan analogue dataset is presented in conjunction with a weighted-averaging technique as a tool for estimating past salinity patterns in south Florida’s estuaries and developing targets for restoration based on these reconstructions. The method, here referred to as cumulative weighted percent (CWP), was tested using modern surficial samples collected in Florida Bay from sites located near fClimate variability during the Medieval Climate Anomaly and Little Ice Age based on ostracod faunas and shell geochemistry from Biscayne Bay, Florida
An 800-year-long environmental history of Biscayne Bay, Florida, is reconstructed from ostracod faunal and shell geochemical (oxygen, carbon isotopes, Mg/Ca ratios) studies of sediment cores from three mudbanks in the central and southern parts of the bay. Using calibrations derived from analyses of modern Biscayne and Florida Bay ostracods, palaeosalinity oscillations associated with changes in pEstuaries of the Greater Everglades Ecosystem: Laboratories of Long-term Change
Restoring the greater Everglades ecosystem of south Florida is arguably the largest ecosystem restoration effort to date. A critical goal is to return more natural patterns of flow through south Florida wetlands and into the estuaries, but development of realistic targets requires acknowledgement that ecosystems are constantly evolving and changing in response to a variety of natural and human-driA simulation of historic hydrology and salinity in Everglades National Park: Coupling paleoecologic assemblage data with regression models
Restoration of Florida’s Everglades requires scientifically supportable hydrologic targets. This study establishes a restoration baseline by developing a method to simulate hydrologic and salinity conditions prior to anthropogenic changes. The method couples paleoecologic data on long-term historic ecosystem conditions with statistical models derived from observed meteorologic and hydrologic data - Partners