The Joint Ecosystem Modeling team will be running a suite of ecological models to evaluate scenarios and provide insight into how alternative restorations plans compare, indicate whether alternatives could lead to unintended consequences, and determine effects of alternatives that could conflict with other goals.
The Science Issue and Relevance: Ecological models facilitate the evaluation and assessment of alternative approaches to restore the Greater Everglades ecosystem. Joint Ecosystem Modeling (JEM) provides ecological models tailored to address specific natural resources management decisions. The multi-agency REstoration, COordination and VERification (RECOVER) science team uses ecological models, or ecological planning tools, to evaluate the potential impacts of ecosystem restoration plans on species and habitats of concern. Restoration planning teams are interested in applying these models for the evaluation of alternative water control plans for the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM). The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and South Florida Water Management District initiated LOSOM to modify Lake Okeechobee operations within a new regulation schedule to be implemented when the rehabilitation of Herbert Hoover Dike (HHD), a 143-mile earthen dam that surrounds Lake Okeechobee, is completed in 2022.
Methodology for Addressing the Issue: The JEM team will run a suite of eight ecological models using LOSOM hydrologic baseline conditions using downscaled hydrology data from the South Florida Water Management District. These models are: (1) Marl Prairie Habitat Suitability Index, (2) Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow (CSSS) Helper, (3) CSSS Viewer, (4) (native) Florida apple snail population model (EverSnail), (5) EverWaders, (6) Small-sized freshwater fish density and associated days since drydown, (7) Alligator habitat suitability index (HSI), and (8) KiteNest. We will then run the models using a series of alternative hydrologic scenarios and produce visualizations of model outputs to assist with the evaluation of scenarios.
Future Steps: The outputs from our models will be used to 1) provide insight into how alternative restoration plans compare in terms of ecological performance, 2) indicate whether any alternatives could lead to unintended ecological conditions, and 3) determine effects of alternatives that could conflict with other Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) goals.
Joint Ecosystem Modeling: Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow Helper
Joint Ecosystem Modeling: Wader Distribution & Evaluation Modeling (WADEM)
Joint Ecosystem Modeling: Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow Marl Prairie Indicator
Joint Ecosystem Modeling: EverSnail
Joint Ecosystem Modeling: Alligator Production Probability Model
Joint Ecosystem Modeling: Greater Everglades Modeling Decision Support Tools
Advanced Technological Solutions in Support of Greater Everglades Priority Ecosystem Science: Joint Ecosystem Modeling (JEM)
- Overview
The Joint Ecosystem Modeling team will be running a suite of ecological models to evaluate scenarios and provide insight into how alternative restorations plans compare, indicate whether alternatives could lead to unintended consequences, and determine effects of alternatives that could conflict with other goals.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Port Mayaca Lock and Dam, located on the east side of Lake Okeechobee at the junction with the St. Lucie Canal (credit: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) The Science Issue and Relevance: Ecological models facilitate the evaluation and assessment of alternative approaches to restore the Greater Everglades ecosystem. Joint Ecosystem Modeling (JEM) provides ecological models tailored to address specific natural resources management decisions. The multi-agency REstoration, COordination and VERification (RECOVER) science team uses ecological models, or ecological planning tools, to evaluate the potential impacts of ecosystem restoration plans on species and habitats of concern. Restoration planning teams are interested in applying these models for the evaluation of alternative water control plans for the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM). The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and South Florida Water Management District initiated LOSOM to modify Lake Okeechobee operations within a new regulation schedule to be implemented when the rehabilitation of Herbert Hoover Dike (HHD), a 143-mile earthen dam that surrounds Lake Okeechobee, is completed in 2022.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Wood storks in Greater Everglades
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Management areas within the Greater Everglades, overlayed with the area of interest for the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM). Methodology for Addressing the Issue: The JEM team will run a suite of eight ecological models using LOSOM hydrologic baseline conditions using downscaled hydrology data from the South Florida Water Management District. These models are: (1) Marl Prairie Habitat Suitability Index, (2) Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow (CSSS) Helper, (3) CSSS Viewer, (4) (native) Florida apple snail population model (EverSnail), (5) EverWaders, (6) Small-sized freshwater fish density and associated days since drydown, (7) Alligator habitat suitability index (HSI), and (8) KiteNest. We will then run the models using a series of alternative hydrologic scenarios and produce visualizations of model outputs to assist with the evaluation of scenarios.
Future Steps: The outputs from our models will be used to 1) provide insight into how alternative restoration plans compare in terms of ecological performance, 2) indicate whether any alternatives could lead to unintended ecological conditions, and 3) determine effects of alternatives that could conflict with other Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) goals.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Example output from one of the ecological models, shown for both an average and dry year. Darker colors indicate higher habitat suitability (credit: Caitlin Hackett, USGS). - Science
Joint Ecosystem Modeling: Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow Helper
The Sparrow Helper tool allows for the evaluation of water management scenarios by generating, plotting, and mapping hydrologic metrics across a range of time scales to predict impacts of proposed water depth changes to sparrow subpopulations.Joint Ecosystem Modeling: Wader Distribution & Evaluation Modeling (WADEM)
WADEM (Wader Distribution Evaluation Modeling) is a JEM model that estimates species-specific habitat suitability across the landscape for Great Egret (Ardea alba), White Ibis (Eudocimus albus), and Wood Stork (Mycteria americana).Joint Ecosystem Modeling: Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow Marl Prairie Indicator
Marl prairie is the most diverse freshwater vegetation community in the Greater Everglades and provides the only suitable habitat for the federally endangered Cape Sable seaside sparrow (CSSS; Ammodramus maritimus mirabilis).Joint Ecosystem Modeling: EverSnail
EverSnail, developed in collaboration with the University of West Florida, is an age- and size-structured spatially-explicit landscape model of native apple snails (Pomacea paludosa).Joint Ecosystem Modeling: Alligator Production Probability Model
Because the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) is a keystone species of the Everglades ecosystem, managers need a way to quantitatively assess the effects of alternative restoration scenarios on alligators.Joint Ecosystem Modeling: Greater Everglades Modeling Decision Support Tools
The Joint Ecosystem Modeling team is developing and applying ecological models and other decision support tools for Greater Everglades restoration project planning.Advanced Technological Solutions in Support of Greater Everglades Priority Ecosystem Science: Joint Ecosystem Modeling (JEM)
The JEM Biological Database offers secure data storage in relational databases, as well as web applications to manage, search, analyze, and report on captured data.