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.
States L2 Landing Page Tabs
Spatial Ecology of the American Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) and American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) in the Greater Everglades
Satellite/GPS tags help USGS researchers understand the movements of American Alligators and American Crocodiles in the Greater Everglades.
Mosquito Control Pesticide Impacts to Butterflies: Implications for Imperiled Butterfly Conservation on a National Wildlife Refuge
USGS researchers evaluate the impact of a pesticide on two imperiled butterfly species in the Florida Keys.
Methylmercury Impacts to Reproduction in the Eastern Mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki)
USGS researchers investigate the effects of methylmercury contamination on reproduction of the Eastern mosquitofish, a common fish in South Florida.
Adaptive Habitat Conservation for Flatwoods Salamanders
USGS scientists investigate adaptive habitat conservation for Flatwoods salamanders.
Fish Slam 2015
November 3, 2015 – Five teams of fishery biologists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the National Park Service (NPS), and Florida International University (FIU) sampled for non-native fishes in canals, ponds and ditches in and around the Plantation/Davie area of Broward County, FL.
A Decision Support Tool for Repatriation of Aquatic Fauna: A Case Study Involving the Striped Newt (Notophthalmus perstriatus) at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, Florida
The Striped Newt is a small salamander found in xeric habitats (e.g., scrub, sandhill, dry flatwoods) of the lower coastal plain and northern peninsular Florida. Though once considered "common," they are currently a candidate species for federal listing.
Fish Slam 2014
On November 20, 2014, eight teams of fishery biologists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), U.S. National Park Service (NPS), and Florida International University (FIU) gathered for a one-day sampling event to collect non-native fishes from canals, ponds and ditches in Miami-Dade County, FL....
Adaptive Management for the Northern Bobwhite on the Babcock-Webb Wildlife Management Area
Based on field research conducted during 2002-2009, the bobwhite population on the Babcock-Webb Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Southwest Florida is incapable of supporting desired levels of sport harvest.
A Land of Flowers on a Latitude of Deserts: Aiding Conservation and Management of Florida's Biodiversity by using Predictions from Downscaled AOGCM Climate Scenarios in Combination with Ecological Modeling
The State of Florida, along with much of the southeast United States, lies along latitudes of deserts.
Use of Amphibian Communities as Indicators of Restoration Success in the Greater Everglades
Habitat alteration and climate, when combined, are serious threats to amphibians and other wildlife. Habitat suitability models are being used to predict the responses of an amphibian community to hydrological and habitat restoration in the Greater Everglades Ecosystem.
Webinar: Preliminary Results from “La Florida” - A Land of Flowers on a Latitude of Deserts
View this webinar to learn more about climate modeling techniques used by ecologists to predict the impacts of climate change on Floridian wildlife.
Integrative Studies of Florida Spring Ecosystems
Florida's springs are a source of cultural, recreational, and ecological importance. But land-use changes and increased demands for groundwater due to the state's growing population have led to widespread impairment of these unique ecosystems.
Wave runup during Tropical Storm Colin at Madeira Beach, Florida
This short video demonstrates wave runup and setup on a beach on a stormy day during Tropical Storm Colin. The camera, positioned in the surf zone, shows a multistory building in the background, while waves run up the shallow beach and wash sand from the eroded dune edge (scarp). The vegetation that normally protects the dune has dangling roots where the sand has been
Total Water Level and Coastal Change Forecast Viewer
Screenshot of Total Water Level and Coastal Change Forecast Viewer on June 4, 2016, two days before Tropical Storm Colin was expected to hit Florida’s Gulf of Mexico coast. This forecast is for Treasure Island (blue balloon on map) on the day of Colin’s arrival (June 6, 2016). Top
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Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease in Biscayne National Park
The Florida Keys reefs have been experiencing a severe disease outbreak from 2014 to present called Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD). Depicted here are two photographs of the same coral colony of symmetrical brain coral, Pseudodiploria strigosa, that was infected by the disease in April 2015 (left photo) and completely dead by April 2016 (right photo). One
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Bent Sea Rod Bleaching
A colony of the soft coral known as the "bent sea rod" stands bleached on a reef off of Islamorada, Florida. Hard and soft corals are presently bleaching- losing their symbiotic algae – all over the coral reefs of the Florida Keys due to unusually warm ocean temperatures this summer. Months with waters warmer than 85 F have become more frequent in the last several decades
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Magical Manatees
This video was shot in Three Sisters Springs at the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge, Florida. The footage was captured using a GoPro while conducting health check-ups and taking photography for population research on Jan. 30, 2014.
Special Thanks
Dr. Bob Bonde, USGS and the dozens of volunteers who conduct annual manatee health
Coral bleaching in the Fl. Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Oct. 2015
Two colonies of the mustard hill coral, Porites astreoides, one apparently healthy (left) and one visibly bleached (right) during a coral-bleaching event at Hen and Chickens Sanctuary Preservation Area, Plantation Key, FL, USA. When ocean temperatures were unusually warm in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary in October 2015, coral bleaching resulted from
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Undercut Coral in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
Photo of undercut coral taken at Hen and Chickens Reef Sanctuary Preservation Area, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
Bleached mountainous star coral at Hen and Chickens Sanctuary
A diver peeks from behind a badly bleached coral in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary in October 2015. Coral bleaching events caused by abnormally warm ocean temperatures continue to regularly claim the lives of coral populations around the globe.
Acoustic Doppler current profiler, Manatee Strings, Florida
An acoustic Doppler current profiler is being used to measure discharge at Manatee Springs, Florida.
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
Science that Weathers the Storm...USGS Scientists in the Field Preparing for Hurricane Ike (archive)
US Geological Survey (USGS) scientists will be installing storm-surge sensors to prepare for Hurricane Ike.
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists will be installing rapidly-deployable mobile gages and storm-surge sensors to prepare for Tropical Storm Gustav.
From New Findings on Contaminant Threats in African Dust to the Future of Coral Reefs to Coral Chemical Defenses
Listen online to a Federal News Radio interview with invasive snake specialist and USGS scientist Dr. Gordon Rodda.
Newly Discovered Fossil Sponges Share Scientific Secrets About Ancient Marine Environments (archive)
The urban bedrock of a low-relief landscape beneath a crowded city seems like an unusual place for a significant fossil discovery. However, four distinct fossil sites found along the walls of canals in metropolitan Miami, Florida, indicate these locations were once a unique marine habitat.
Water levels at nearly two thirds of the 36 near real-time network sites operated by U.S.Geological Survey (USGS) in southern Florida have already reached the lowest levels ever recorded for this time of the year. The USGS projects additional record-breaking lows in parts of these aquifers if water levels continue to decline at present rates.
A U.S. Geological Survey report released today projects that if current threats to Florida manatees remain at their present level, the statewide population of manatees is expected to remain stable or increase slightly over the next 10 to 15 years, and then decline as natural and industrial warm-water sources are reduced or lost.
Have you ever thought about being a scientist or wondered what they do? The U.S. Geological Survey invites you to find out during their Open House on Nov. 29, 3:00 to 6:00 p.m., at 600 4th St. S., in St. Petersburg, FL. This is a free, family-friendly event. Please come!
Have you ever thought about being a scientist or wondered what they do? The U.S. Geological Survey invites you to find out during their Open House on Nov. 29, 3:00 to 6:00 p.m., at 600 4th St. S., in St. Petersburg, FL. This is a free, family-friendly event. Please come!
If you were surprised by the strong magnitude 6.0 earthquake that shook offshore Florida yesterday morning you're not alone.
If you were surprised by the strong magnitude 6.0 earthquake that shook offshore Florida yesterday morning you're not alone.
This event was centered far offshore -- about 250 miles south-southwest of Apalachicola, Fla.
A West Indian manatee has been sighted in various waters of the northeastern United States in the last 5-6 weeks. It took in the sights along the Hudson River traveling up into Harlem, visited Cape Cod, Mass., and was most recently sighted in Warwick, Rhode Island, in Greenwich Bay.
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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 - Lutz, FL 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, FL Field Office
Phone: (239) 275-8448
Fax: (239) 275-6820
Caribbean Florida Water Science Center - Tallahassee, FL Field Office
Phone: (850) 553-3640
Fax: (805) 553-3641
Caribbean-Florida Water Science Center - Orlando, FL Field Office
Phone: (407) 803-5500
Fax: (407) 803-5501
Caribbean-Florida Water Science Center - Davie, FL Field Office
Phone: (954) 377-5900
Fax: (954) 377-5901
