Unified Interior Regions
Florida
World class scientists working in Southeast Region Science Centers help our partners understand and manage complex issues including competition for limited water resources, coastal hazards, mineral and energy resource extraction, degraded ecosystems, vector-borne diseases, rapidly changing land use, and response to climate change.
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Impacts of Non-Native Fishes in the Florida Everglades
The Florida Everglades is the largest wetland ecosystem in the United States and supports a diverse flora and fauna, including many rare species.
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.
Collaborative Development of Ecological Forecasting Model and Data Manipulation Software: Everglades National Park, South Florida Natural Resources Center (SFNRC)
The goal of the Advanced Applications Team’s partnership with SFNRC is to facilitate the use of scientific research findings in restoration and land management decisions.
Mangroves vs. Salt Marshes: Mangrove Forest Range Expansion at the Expense of Salt Marshes
Winter climate change has the potential to have a large impact on coastal wetlands in the southeastern United States.
Baseline Aquatic Contamination and Endocrine Status in Resident Fish Populations of Biscayne National Park and in the Adjacent Coastal Environment
As part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, water managers are planning to use treated wastewater from the South District Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) to supplement the canal waters that will be used to rehydrate wetlands adjacent to the Biscayne National Park (Park).
Population Demography and Food Web Analysis of Large Aquatic Salamanders (Siren and Amphiuma) in North Florida
Understanding amphibian's life-histories can help predict how they may persist in aquatic habitats in the face of droughts and other climate change-associated events.
Socio-Ecological Conservation Targets for the Peninsular Florida Landscape Conservation Cooperative
Peninsular Florida has a high density of species and ecosystems of conservation concern, as well as many threats to the persistence of native species and their habitats. USGS worked closely with the Peninsular Florida Landscape Conservation Cooperative to define conservation targets to help meet conservation goals.
Peninsular Florida Landscape Conservation Cooperative (PFLCC) Climate Scenarios and Species Vulnerability Assessment
Peninsular Florida is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change in the United States. With complex socioeconomic and ecology dynamics and a large number of governing agencies involved in conservation planning, USGS worked to created an appropriate framework for landscape conservation cooperative-scale decision-making across current conservation planning agencies and jurisdictions...
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. ...
Mangrove Migration Network
At the poleward marsh-mangrove ecotone, mangrove abundance and coverage is winter temperature-sensitive in that it oscillates in response to the frequency, duration, and/or intensity of extreme winter temperatures. Future winter climate change is expected to facilitate poleward mangrove range expansion at the expense of salt marshes in Texas, Louisiana, and parts of Florida.
Life History Characterization and Host Fish Identification for Federally Listed and Imperiled Freshwater Mussel Species in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia and Florida
Freshwater mussels are considered the most imperiled group of animals in the United States. These animals provide valuable ecological services by filtering water, sequestering nutrients, and providing forage for migratory birds, small mammals, and turtles. They also have a unique and complex life cycle that makes them especially vulnerable to human disturbances. It includes a parasitic larval...
GIS and Custom Application Support for the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council
The scientists at the Wetland and Aquatic Science Center (WARC) have provided coastal restoration project managers and decision makers with GIS planning, database and custom application capacity since 1992. The scope and complexity of this support has increased over the years and has resulted in the development of a comprehensive geospatial and advanced application teams that provide decision...
Mangrove wood, mud in a core reveal Florida Bay changes
A slice of a piston core containing wood and plant material from Russell Key in Florida Bay, Everglades National Park, April 18, 2014. The large piece of wood is from a red mangrove. Photo: USGS
Mangroves form a protective berm on a Florida Bay island
The transition between a mud flat on the interior of Bob Allen Key (Florida Bay, Everglades National Park) and the mangroves that form the islands’ protective outer berm. These black mangroves have pneumatophores – parts of the root that function like snorkels, allowing the roots to “breathe” when water overlies the mud flat. Photo: Anna Wachnicka, FIU
Michelle Collier of the USGS holding a black and white Tegu
Invasive Species biological science technician Michelle Collier holds an invasive black and white Tegu lizard.
Aerial Photographs Collected from Key Largo, Florida
Baseline Coastal Oblique Aerial Photographs Collected from Key Largo, Florida, to the Florida/Georgia Border, September 5-6, 2014
Berm at Jim Foot Key, Florida (2014)
In Photo: View south/southeast along eastern shoreline in April 2014 shows a dense berm of mangrove trees. The bay is not visible.
Scientists from the Florence Bascom Geoscience Center first sampled four islands in Florida Bay, Everglades National Park, in April 2014 to collect cores to study sea level rise and storm history in the region. In September 2017,
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Florida Bay island sediments reveal past, may foretell future
Field crew on Bob Allen Key in Florida Bay, Everglades National Park, April 14, 2014, conferring on next steps near core sites marked with orange flags. The mangroves that form the islands’ perimeter are to the left and in the background. Photo: Anna Wachnicka, FIU [left to right: Lynn Wingard, Marci Marot, Christopher Bernhardt, Terry McCloskey, and James Murray,
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USGS diver taking a core of a 100-year-old coral in USVI
USGS diver taking a core of a 100-year-old coral to allow reconstruction of past ocean temperatures in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.
USGS Researcher with Manatee
USGS researcher collects data on manatee in Florida spring.
Photo of Sunset Beach, Florida, during tropical storm Colin, June 2016
Photo of Sunset Beach, Florida, during tropical storm Colin in June 2016. The storm resulted in large waves and elevated water levels that caused erosion in this area, as can be seen in the scarp forming at the vegetation line. CMHRP researchers surveyed the elevation of the beach before and after the storm to quantify the storm's impacts.
Diver with a Massive Starlet coral, Dry Tortugas National Park
A USGS diver beside a Massive Starlet (Siderastrea siderea) coral colony in Dry Tortugas National Park. Scientists used a core from this coral to reconstruct ocean temperatures going back to 1837. Photo: USGS, May 2012
Massive Starlet coral at Dry Tortugas National Park
Scientists used a core from this Massive Starlet (Siderastrea siderea) coral colony in Dry Tortugas National Park to reconstruct ocean temperatures going back to 1837. Photo: USGS
Sandy beaches and barrier islands along the northern Gulf of Mexico are highly vulnerable to beach and dune erosion as Hurricane Isaac makes landfall this week, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey assessment. The projections also show which coastal areas may see storm-surge topping sand dunes and beaches.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Seventy-eight percent of Florida's west central coast and 23 percent of the Panhandle are very likely to face beach and dune erosion as Tropical Storm Isaac moves into the area early next week, according to an assessment released by the U.S. Geological Survey on Friday. These numbers are likely to increase if the storm reaches hurricane strength as predicted.
While many Florida residents breathed a collective sigh of relief Wednesday after Tropical Storm Debby made its way across the state and into the Atlantic, officials caution that flooding may continue in some locations for a number of days.
TAMPA, Fla. -- The Tampa office of U.S. Geological Survey Florida Water Science Center will relocate from its current location near the University of South Florida to an industrial park in Lutz in August.
For the first time, scientists have measured the amount of dissolved organic carbon and mercury moving from a southwest Florida mangrove swamp via tides to coastal waters. The scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey discovered that a large amount of mercury and methylmercury–the form of mercury that is most toxic and the form that accumulates in fish–flows from mangroves into...
Study Offers Clues to Loggerheads' Elusive Habits at Sea
Three non-native fish species have been spotted in Florida waters again this past year after not being seen for as many as 19 years. The fishes -- a panther grouper, spotted scat, and yellow tang -- were found off West Palm, Stuart and Pompano Beach.
Streamflow and groundwater conditions in southwestern Georgia and adjacent parts of Florida and Alabama continued to worsen during July. Waterways in many of the regions rivers are setting new record lows with gauges on the Flint, Suwannee, Ochlocknee, Alapaha, and Apalachicola rivers recording the lowest water levels in their history due to lower than normal rainfall.
A manatee spotted this week in Calvert County, Maryland is the same one that first made waves 17 years ago when he appeared in Chesapeake Bay just before the onset of winter and later had to be rescued.
Harvesting the bountiful and renewable energy of the Florida sun, a new solar heating system that will reduce carbon dioxide emissions and save on energy costs is being installed at the U.S. Geological Survey facility in St. Petersburg, Fla. Evacuated-tube solar collectors will supplement the current natural-gas boiler to provide heat in the winter and reheat conditioned air in the summer.
Approximately 13 million metric tons of rare earth elements (REE) exist within known deposits in the United States, according to the first-ever nationwide estimate of these elements by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Gainesville, FL. -- The first genetic study to compare nuclear DNA of endangered Antillean manatees in Belize with Florida manatees confirmed their designation as separate subspecies. Belize’s manatees, however, were found to have extremely low genetic diversity, raising questions about their long-term genetic viability.
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Locations
Wetland and Aquatic Research Center - Gainesville, FL
Phone: 352-378-8181
Fax: 352-378-4956
Caribbean-Florida Water Science Center - Florida Office
Phone: (813) 498-5000
Fax: (813) 498-5002
St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
Phone: (727) 502-8000
Fax: (727) 502-8181
USGS-St. Petersburg Carbon Analytical Laboratory
USGS Everglades Research Offices
Phone: 305-242-7834
Caribbean-Florida Water Science Center - Fort Myers office
Phone: (239) 275-8448
Fax: (239) 275-6820
Caribbean Florida Water Science Center - Tallahassee Field office
Phone: (850) 553-3640
Fax: (805) 553-3641
Caribbean-Florida Water Science Center - Orlando Office
Phone: (407) 803-5500
Fax: (407) 803-5501
Caribbean-Florida Water Science Center Davie office
Phone: (954) 377-5900
Fax: (954) 377-5901
