Jim Reid is a Scientist Emeritus at WARC in Gainesville, FL.
Jim Reid's research interests included the use of GPS, Argos and VHF radio tracking techniques in field-based studies of manatees; seagrass mapping and characterization studies to assess benthic habitats; photo-identification and behavioral observations on individuals; cooperation in international studies of sirenians. From 1990 until his retirement in 2020, Reid was a Fish and Wildlife Biologist with the U. S Geological Survey's Sirenia Project. For the program, he coordinated the application of tagging and tracking systems for research on manatees in the US and Puerto Rico; managed the project’s program of GPS tags monitored through the satellite-based tracking system Service Argos; conducted assessments of marine habitats known to be essential for manatees accomplished by mapping nearshore habitats and seagrass characterization studies; acted as an investigator in radio tracking studies of manatees Everglades National Park, Atlantic coast of southeastern US, northern Gulf of Mexico, and Puerto Rico; acts as field staff for photography efforts at winter aggregation sites for the Manatee Individual Photo-Identification System (MIPS), a computerized database on recognizable manatees; and collaborated with personnel from DOI, DOD, NGOs, and the Commonwealth. Reid's international research co-evolved with manatee researchers in other countries (Brazil, Bahamas, Mexico) to address manatee status, distribution, life history, and research techniques.
Education and Certifications
B.A., Zoology, University of Montana Missoula, 1979
Science and Products
Health Effects and Behavioral Response of Florida Manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris) to Persistent Algal Bloom and Associated Loss of Seagrass Resources in Brevard County, Florida
Manatee Distribution and Habitat Use in the Northern Gulf of Mexico
Winter Manatee Foraging Behavior and the Decline of Seagrass Beds in the Northern Indian River Lagoon
Morphological measurements of Antillean manatees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
Manatee environmental DNA data, and associated attributes, collected from the United States, Cuba, and Cameroon, from 2013-2015
Diving and foraging behaviors
Analysis of body condition indices reveals different ecotypes of the Antillean manatee
Characterizing Manatee habitat use and seagrass grazing in Florida and Puerto Rico: Implications for conservation and management
Possible effects of the 2004 and 2005 hurricanes on manatee survival rates and movement
Possible effects of the 2004 and 2005 hurricanes on manatee survival rates and movement
Traveling to thermal refuges during stressful temperatures leads to foraging constraints in a central-place forager
Coastal habitat change and marine megafauna behavior: Florida manatees encountering reduced food provisions in a prominent winter refuge
Surveys of environmental DNA (eDNA): a new approach to estimate occurrence in Vulnerable manatee populations
Movements and habitat use locations of manatees within Kings Bay Florida during the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge winter season (November 15–March 31)
Tagging and tracking
Consortial brown tide − picocyanobacteria blooms in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba
Science and Products
- Science
Health Effects and Behavioral Response of Florida Manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris) to Persistent Algal Bloom and Associated Loss of Seagrass Resources in Brevard County, Florida
USGS researchers are working with partners to assess the health and foraging behavior of Florida manatees in the northern Indian River Lagoon and Banana River, areas that have experienced declining seagrasses due to an extended phytoplankton bloom.Manatee Distribution and Habitat Use in the Northern Gulf of Mexico
USGS works with partners to assess manatee distribution and habitat use throughout the Northern Gulf of Mexico.Winter Manatee Foraging Behavior and the Decline of Seagrass Beds in the Northern Indian River Lagoon
With high numbers of manatees using the Florida Power and Light power plant warm water refuge during winter, their impact on the seagrass beds in the Indian River Lagoon is considered an important indicator of the long-term capacity of the area to support the manatees. USGS is working with partners to investigate the spatial extent and intensity of manatee use of seagrass beds in the area. - Data
Morphological measurements of Antillean manatees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
The data were collected by U.S.G.S. biologists and their partners during several field trips from March 2013 to April 2014 in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Data were collected during the manatee health assessments. The U.S. Geological Survey's Sirenia Project is a federal research effort focusing on manatee biology and ecology with a long history of studies in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and the internationalManatee environmental DNA data, and associated attributes, collected from the United States, Cuba, and Cameroon, from 2013-2015
Environmental DNA (eDNA) detection is a rapidly expanding technique used to non-invasively detect cryptic, low density, or logistically difficult-to-study species, such as imperiled manatees. Genetic material shed into the environment through tissue and body fluids is concentrated from water samples and analyzed for the presence of targeted eDNA. To help delineate manatee habitat ranges, high use - Publications
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Diving and foraging behaviors
Manatees and dugongs live in tropical and semi-tropical regions around the world. Their preferred habitats are seagrass beds, rivers, lakes, and estuaries. Manatees live in both freshwater and marine systems although habitat preferences vary across the three species, while the dugong is entirely marine. Sirenians are shallow water divers, and their dive durations are short compared to most other mAnalysis of body condition indices reveals different ecotypes of the Antillean manatee
Assessing the body condition of wild animals is necessary to monitor the health of the population and is critical to defining a framework for conservation actions. Body condition indices (BCIs) are a non-invasive and relatively simple means to assess the health of individual animals, useful for addressing a wide variety of ecological, behavioral, and management questions. The Antillean manatee (TrCharacterizing Manatee habitat use and seagrass grazing in Florida and Puerto Rico: Implications for conservation and management
The Indian River Lagoon on the Atlantic coast of Florida, USA, and the east coast of Puerto Rico provide contrasting environments in which the endangered West Indian Manatee Trichechus manatus experiences different thermal regimes and seagrass communities. We compare Manatee feeding behaviour in these two regions, examine the ecological effects of Manatee grazing on a seagrass community in the IndPossible effects of the 2004 and 2005 hurricanes on manatee survival rates and movement
Abstract not supplied at this timePossible effects of the 2004 and 2005 hurricanes on manatee survival rates and movement
Abstract not supplied at this timeTraveling to thermal refuges during stressful temperatures leads to foraging constraints in a central-place forager
Central-place foragers can be constrained by the distance between habitats. When an organism relies on a central place for thermal refuge, the distance to food resources can potentially constrain foraging behavior. We investigated the effect of distance between thermal refuges and forage patches of the cold-intolerant marine mammal, the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris), on foragingCoastal habitat change and marine megafauna behavior: Florida manatees encountering reduced food provisions in a prominent winter refuge
A decline in submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) within Florida’s spring-fed thermal refuges raises questions about how these systems support winter foraging of Florida manatees Trichechus manatus latirostris. We analyzed telemetry data for 12 manatees over 7 yr to assess their use of Kings Bay, a winter refuge with diminished SAV. After accounting for the effect of water temperature, we hypothesizSurveys of environmental DNA (eDNA): a new approach to estimate occurrence in Vulnerable manatee populations
Environmental DNA (eDNA) detection is a technique used to non-invasively detect cryptic, low density, or logistically difficult-to-study species, such as imperiled manatees. For eDNA measurement, genetic material shed into the environment is concentrated from water samples and analyzed for the presence of target species. Cytochrome bquantitative PCR and droplet digital PCR eDNA assays were developMovements and habitat use locations of manatees within Kings Bay Florida during the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge winter season (November 15–March 31)
Kings Bay, Florida, is one of the most important natural winter habitat locations for the federally threatened Trichechus manatus latirostris (Florida manatee). Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1983 specifically to provide protection for manatees and their critical habitat. To aid managers at the refuge and other agencies with this task, spatial analyses of local habitat uTagging and tracking
The number of stranding response facilities for marine mammals in the United States has increased over the past two decades, resulting in thousands of rehabilitated marine mammals released back into the wild (Geraci and Lounsbury 2005; Moore et al. 2007; Johnson and Mayer 2015; Simeone et al. 2015). All rehabilitated marine mammals released in the United States must be tagged or marked (50 CFR 216Consortial brown tide − picocyanobacteria blooms in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba
A brown tide bloom of Aureoumbra lagunensis developed in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba during a period of drought in 2013 that followed heavy winds and rainfall from Hurricane Sandy in late October 2012. Based on satellite images and water turbidity measurements, the bloom appeared to initiate in January 2013. The causative species (A. lagunensis) was confirmed by microscopic observation, and pigment and g - News