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Multispecies Operational Forecasting in the Florida Everglades
A USGS forecasting tool helps Everglades natural resource managers identify management actions that can benefit one or more species while quantifying the potential costs to others.
Modeling Spatial Habitat Quality for the Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow
The Joint Ecosystem Modeling (JEM) team will develop species distribution models that incorporate hydrologic and habitat variables known to influence Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow occurrence.
Ecological Modeling in Support of the Western Everglades Restoration Project
Joint Ecosystem Modeling (JEM) provides ecological models tailored to address specific management issues, for example, the Western Everglades Restoration Project.
Historical Water-Use in Florida
The Florida Water-Use Program is an ongoing cooperative project between the United States Geological Survey (USGS), Caribbean-Florida Water Science Center and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), Office of Agricultural Water Policy (http://www.freshfromflorida.com/Divisions-...
Evaluating Ecological Vulnerabilities of the Greater Everglades Ecosystem to Provide Decision Support for Restoration
USGS scientists develop decision support tools to help inform management and restoration of the Greater Everglades Ecosystem.
Potential for Increased Inundation in Flood-Prone Regions of Southeast Florida in Response to Climate and Sea-Level Changes in Broward County, Florida, 2060–69
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Broward County Environmental Planning and Resilience Division, has developed county-scale and local-scale groundwater/surface-water models to study the potential for increased inundation and flooding in eastern Broward County that are due to changes in future climate and sea-level rise. The purpose is to provide information that can be used to...
United States Assessments of Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources
USGS Energy Resources Program provides periodic assessments of the oil and natural gas endowment of the United States and the World (click here for information about World Oil and Gas Assessments). This website provides access to new, prioritized, assessment results and supporting data for the United States, as part...
Sea Level and Storm Hazards: Past and Present
Sea level and Storm Hazards: Past and Present is a multidisciplinary study of past changes in sea level. Prehistoric shorelines can be used as a baseline for current and future sea level changes under warmer-than-present climate. Emphasis is placed on looking at sea levels during warm periods of the last 500,000 years as well as how base level changes increase the risk of coastal inundation...
Reconstructing Ocean Circulation & Hydroclimate in the Subtropical Atlantic
Changes in rainfall patterns as a result of anthropogenic climate change are already having large ecological and socioeconomic impacts across the globe. Increases in flood damage, wildfire damage, and agricultural losses can all be attributed to anomalous rainfall events and prolonged droughts across the United States in recent years. Additionally, Atlantic Ocean circulation, which has a large...
Macrofossil and Sediment Processing Laboratory
In the Macrofossil and sediment processing lab we analyze the physical, biological, and geochemical characteristics of peat and sediment samples collected from lake, wetland, and peat cores as proxies for past changes to these depositional environments on timescales of decades to millennia. We primarily study terrestrial wetland ecosystems from subtropical to arctic regions in order to...
Effects of Native and Non-native Fishes on Native Apple Snail Population Dynamics
The Florida apple snail is a critical component of the state's wetland food webs. USGS scientists assess the effects of native and non-native fishes on the native snail populations.

Key Findings for Scenario-Based Assessment for Hurricanes
Percentage of sandy beaches very likely (probability > 0.9) to experience erosion associated with collision, overwash, and inundation during category 1-5 hurricane landfall.

Obique photos offer a unique perspective of the coast. Features such as beach erosion or accretion, dune erosion and overwash can all be clearly characterized in this imagery. It also documents coastal infrastructure, as well as the damage that infrastructure may incur as the result of an impacting hurricane.

Airborne electromagnetic (AEM) and magnetic survey data, a total of 3065 line-kilometers, were collected during October 2001 in two survey blocks and four repeated lines from an earlier survey. The largest area, Block 1 totaling 2692.2 line-kilometers was flown over Big Cypress Preserve, smaller Block 2 along 277.1 line-kilometers was flown near the town of Homestead, and four lines totaling 95.2

The USGS Southeast Regional Office has funded a cross-center collaboration between the Wetland and Aquatic Research Center and the Texas Water Science Center for the development of the Gulf of Mexico Water Dashboard.

These data were collected from Burmese pythons removed from the Florida everglades as part of invasive-species management. These data were used to validate several body condition indices in Burmese pythons.

The National Water Information System (NWIS) web application provides access to real-time and historical surface-water, groundwater, water-quality, and water-use data collected at approximately 1.5 million sites across all 50 states.

Interactive access to coastal change science and data for our Nation’s coasts. Information and products are organized within three coastal change hazard themes: 1) extreme storms, 2) shoreline change, and 3) sea-level rise. Displays probabilities of coastal erosion.

The purpose of this field guide is to provide information on nonindigenous (i.e., non-native) fishes that have been observed in Florida’s marine waters.

The USGS Flood Event Viewer (FEV) is the public data discovery component of the Short-Term Network (STN) database. Data viewable and downloadable from this page are from the STN database. This application integrates with the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS) database for display of time-series water data.

USGS data portray selected structures data, including the location and characteristics of manmade facilities. Characteristics consist of a structure's physical form (footprint), function, name, location, and detailed information about the structure. The types of structures collected are largely determined by the needs of the disaster planning and response and homeland security organizations.

Boundaries data or governmental units represent major civil areas including states, counties, Federal, and Native American lands, and incorporated places such as cities and towns.

The National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) and Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD) are used to portray surface water on The National Map.
Early life history and spatiotemporal changes in distribution of the rediscovered Suwannee moccasinshell Medionidus walkeri (Bivalvia: Unionidae)
Accurate distribution data are critical to the development of conservation and management strategies for imperiled species, particularly for narrow endemics with life history traits that make them vulnerable to extinction. Medionidus walkeri is a rare freshwater mussel endemic to the Suwannee River Basin in southeastern North America....
Johnson, Nathan A.; Mcleod, John; Holcomb, Jordan; Rowe, Matthew T.; Williams, James D.The structure and composition of Holocene coral reefs in the Middle Florida Keys
The Florida Keys reef tract (FKRT) is the largest coral-reef ecosystem in the continental United States. The modern FKRT extends for 362 kilometers along the coast of South Florida from Dry Tortugas National Park in the southwest, through the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS), to Fowey Rocks reef in Biscayne National Park in the...
Toth, Lauren T.; Stathakopoulos, Anastasios; Kuffner, Ilsa B.Evaluating water management scenarios to support habitat management for the Cape Sable seaside sparrow
The endangered Cape Sable seaside sparrow (Ammodramus maritimus mirabilis) is endemic to south Florida and a key indicator species of marl prairie, a highly diverse freshwater community in the Florida Everglades. Maintenance and creation of suitable habitat is seen as the most important pathway to the persistence of the six existing sparrow...
Beerens, James M.; Romañach, Stephanie S.; McKelvy, MarkHistorical files from Federal Government mineral exploration-assistance programs, 1950 to 1974
The Defense Minerals Administration (DMA), Defense Minerals Exploration Administration (DMEA), and Office of Minerals Exploration (OME) mineral exploration programs were active over the period 1950–1974. Under these programs, the Federal Government contributed financial assistance in the exploration for certain strategic and critical minerals. The...
Frank, David G.Tree island pattern formation in the Florida Everglades
The Florida Everglades freshwater landscape exhibits a distribution of islands covered by woody vegetation and bordered by marshes and wet prairies. Known as “tree islands”, these ecogeomorphic features can be found in few other low gradient, nutrient limited freshwater wetlands. In the last few decades, however, a large percentage of...
Carr, Joel A.; D'Odorico, P.; Engel, Victor C.; Redwine, JedA one-dimensional model of solid-earth electrical resistivity beneath Florida
An estimated one-dimensional layered model of electrical resistivity beneath Florida was developed from published geological and geophysical information. The resistivity of each layer is represented by plausible upper and lower bounds as well as a geometric mean resistivity. Corresponding impedance transfer functions, Schmucker-Weidelt transfer...
Blum, Cletus; Love, Jeffrey J.; Pedrie, Kolby; Bedrosian, Paul A.; Rigler, E. JoshuaWater withdrawals in Florida, 2012
In 2012, the total amount of water withdrawn in Florida was estimated to be 14,237 million gallons per day (Mgal/d). Saline water accounted for 7,855 Mgal/d (55 percent), and freshwater accounted for 6,383 Mgal/d (45 percent). Groundwater accounted for 4,167 Mgal/d (65 percent) of freshwater withdrawals, and surface water accounted for the...
Marella, Richard L.Predicting spatial and temporal distribution of Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans) in Biscayne Bay through habitat suitability modeling
Invasive species may exhibit higher levels of growth and reproduction when environmental conditions are most suitable, and thus their effects on native fauna may be intensified. Understanding potential impacts of these species, especially in the nascent stages of a biological invasion, requires critical information concerning spatial and temporal...
Bernal, Nicholas A.; DeAngelis, Donald L.; Schofield, Pamela J.; Sullivan Sealey, KathleenWater withdrawals, use, and trends in Florida, 2010
In 2010, the total amount of water withdrawn in Florida was estimated to be 14,988 million gallons per day (Mgal/d). Saline water accounted for 8,589 Mgal/d (57 percent) and freshwater accounted for 6,399 Mgal/d (43 percent). Groundwater accounted for 4,166 Mgal/d (65 percent) of freshwater withdrawals, and surface water accounted for the...
Marella, Richard L.Invasive lionfish use a diversity of habitats in Florida
Two species of lionfish (Pterois volitans and Pterois miles) are the first marine fishes known to invade and establish self-sustaining populations along the eastern seaboard of the United States. First documented off the coast of Florida in 1985, lionfish are now found along the Atlantic coast of the United States as well as in the Caribbean Sea...
Schofield, Pamela J.; Akins, Lad; Gregoire-Lucente, Denise R.; Pawlitz, Rachel J.Economic vulnerability to sea-level rise along the northern U.S. Gulf Coast
The northern Gulf of Mexico coast of the United States has been identified as highly vulnerable to sea-level rise, based on a combination of physical and societal factors. Vulnerability of human populations and infrastructure to projected increases in sea level is a critical area of uncertainty for communities in the extremely low-lying and flat...
Thatcher, Cindy A.; Brock, John C.; Pendleton, Elizabeth A.Water withdrawals, wastewater discharge, and water consumption in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin, 2005, and water-use trends, 1970-2005
The Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River Basin covers about 20,500 square miles that drains parts of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. The basin extends from its headwaters northern Georgia to the Gulf of Mexico. Population in the basin was estimated to be 3.7 million in 2005, an increase of about 41 percent from the 1990 population of 2.6...
Marella, Richard L.; Fanning, Julia L.Berm at Jim Foot Key, Florida (2019)
In Photo: The red circle indicates the same position as shown in the April 2014 photo. The mature mangrove trees have not recovered from the storm.
Scientist from the Florence Bascom Geoscience Center first sampled four islands in Florida Bay, Everglades
...A sea turtle mosaic made from the field station's broken floor tiles
After Hurricane Michael obliterated Fish Inn, the sea turtle research team's field station, team members salvaged some of the building's floor tiles and made this sea turtle mosaic, which they plan to eventually install in a new field station.
Preparing for fieldwork in Florida Bay
Conducting field work after Hurricane Irma on Bob Allen Key in Florida Bay, Everglades National Park, January 29, 2018. Lynn Wingard (left) and Miriam Jones (right) consult field notes from 2014 to decide where to take samples. Photo: B. Stackhouse, USGS
Florida Bay at Sunset, 2018
After a long day collecting cores, the team of scientists watch the sun set over the Florida Bay.
Mangroves Surrounding a Playa, Florida Bay 2018
Mangroves grow along the outside of a playa, one of may in the Florida Bay area.
Collecting a core from a reef
Two divers work to collect a long core sample from a coral reef in Florida.
Cuban treefrog - Osteopilus septentrionalis
Can you hear the difference between the non-native Cuban treefrog and two common Louisiana native treefrogs? Cuban treefrogs’ call is distinctive. Biologist Paul Moler of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission recorded them in South Florida. Credit: Paul Moler, used with permission.
Green treefrog - Hyla cinerea
Green treefrogs call from their favorite habitat, rivers and lakes. They’re native to Louisiana and Florida, where these were recorded. Credit: Paul Moler, used with permission.
Squirrel treefrog - Hyla squirella (Marion)
Squirrel treefrogs are also native to Florida and Louisiana. Hear them calling from ditches, puddles and other ephemeral pools of water. Credit: Paul Moler, used with permission.
Mangroves Surrounding a Playa, Florida Bay 2018
Mangroves on the outside of a playa within Florida Bay.
Mangroves Surrounding a Playa, Florida Bay 2018
Mangroves on the outside of a playa within Florida Bay.
National Oil and Gas Assessment Provinces
This is a graphic from the USGS National Oil and Gas Assessment Explorer application, which allows user to drill into 70 oil and gas assessment provinces throughout the United States.

Ilsa Kuffner, Research Marine Biologist from St. Petersburg Coastal & Marine Science Center, is participating in a National Science Foundation Research Coordination Network to make experimental design recommendations to advance understanding of coral bleaching.

SPCMSC scientists Julie Bernier, Noreen Buster, Kara Doran, Karen Morgan, and Tim Nelson will present their research at the Coastal Sediments '19 conference, May 27–31, in St. Petersburg, Florida. Research Geologist Jennifer Miselis, co-author with Bernier and Buster, will also be attending.
Dr. Christina Kellogg (SPCMSC Research Microbiologist) will publish a paper in the journal Microbiome based on a meta-analysis of datasets from 7 species of deep-sea corals.

The Tampa Bay Climate Science Advisory Panel (a group of local scientists and resource managers; including Davina Passeri, Research Civil Engineer, SPCMSC) released a new report recommending a set of sea level rise projections for use throughout the Tampa Bay region.

Dr. Christina Kellogg (Research Microbiologist, SPCMSC) is a member of the judging panel that will award winners of the $7 million dollar Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE during the final award announcement at the Musée Océanographique de Monaco on May 31.

Scientists spent the last two weeks collecting sediment cores from Lake Enriquillo, a hypersaline lake in the Western Dominican Republic. The sediment cores will help scientists reconstruct the frequency of Caribbean drought and determine the controls on hydroclimate during the Holocene.

Dr. Christina Kellogg (SPCMSC Research Microbiologist) hosted the final 2-day Judges Summit at the USGS office in St. Petersburg during which the winners of the $7-million dollar Shell Ocean Discovery Xprize were chosen. Dr. Kellogg is one of the 7-member international judging panel that determined the top scoring teams.

On May 6, 2019, Congressman Charlie Crist (13th district, FL) and Operations and Outreach Director Mr. Kendrick Lewis will visit the St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (SPCMSC). Congressman Crist requested this visit because he is interested to learn more about the Center and to discuss needs/priorities that we may have.

A news feature published last week in Science Magazine highlights research by SPCMSC scientists into the problem of reef erosion in the Florida Keys.

A team of four scientists from St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center and collaborators from NOAA and Florida Institute of Technology published a paper in the journal Limnology and Oceanography. The research was conducted in the Florida Keys including sites in Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Dry Tortugas National Park, and Biscayne National Park.
Seven months after their home base in the Florida Panhandle was demolished by Hurricane Michael, U.S. Geological Survey sea turtle researchers are headed back into the field on May 1, the start of nesting season for Florida's sea turtles.
Mapping Landscape Connectivity in Florida