Predicting Effects of Hydrologic Restoration on Manatees along the Southwest Coast of Florida

Project Investigator: James P. Reid Project Personnel: Brad Stith, Susan Butler Project Start Date: 2000 End Date: 2005 Recent Funding: (FY05) USGS GE PES Work Plans Project Summaries Metadata Publications

Summary

The major objectives of the study are to determine distribution, movements, and habitat use of manatees associated with coastal waters and rivers, and to develop a population-level model to predict manatee response to changes in hydrology.

The U.S. Geological Survey initiated a study on the impacts of hydrological restoration on manatees in the Ten Thousand Islands region in June 2000. The major objectives of the study are to determine distribution, movements, and habitat use of manatees associated with coastal waters and rivers, and to develop a population-level model to predict manatee response to changes in hydrology achieved by the Southern Gold Gate Estates (SGGE) project specifically, and more broadly by the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. This project obtains results via: strip-transect aerial surveys, satellite telemetry, and tracking of individuals using a specially-designed Global Positioning System (GPS) tag.

Work Plans

• 2003
• 2004
• 2005

Project Summaries

• 2002
• 2003
• 2004
• 2005

Metadata

• Predicting effects of hydrologic restoration on manatees along the southwest coast of Florida (project metadata)

Publications

Abstracts

• Modeling Manatee Response to Restoration in the Everglades and Ten Thousand Islands (from the GEER Conference, April 2003)
• Movements and Habitat Requirements of Radio Tagged Manatees in Southwest Florida--Implications for Restoration Assessment (from the GEER Conference, April 2003)
• Using Strip-Transect Aerial Surveys to Estimate Manatee Abundance and Population Trend in the Ten Thousand Islands Region of Southwest Florida (from the GEER Conference, April 2003)

Fact Sheets

• Predicting the Effects of Hydrologic Restoration on Manatees along the Southwest Coast of Florida (FS-2004-3137, available from the U.S. Geological Survey website)

Flyers

• Sirenia Project: Manatee Ecology and Population Biology (available from the Center for Aquatic Resource Studies website. Please note that this is a (0.2 Mb) PDF file and requires the FREE Adobe Acrobat Reader® to be read)

Posters

• A New Aerial Survey Method to Monitor the Response of Manatees to Restoration of the Florida Everglades (presented at the 2004 First National Conference on Ecosystem Restoration)
• Are Manatee Over-Wintering Strategies and Restoration Efforts Compatible in the Northwestern Everglades Region? (presented at the 2004 First National Conference on Ecosystem Restoration)
• Modeling manatee movements to predict and assess the impact of hydrologic change in estuaries of southwestern Florida (available from the Center for Aquatic Resource Studies website)
• Modeling Manatee Response to Restoration in the Ten Thousand Islands and Everglades National Park (presented at the 2004 First National Conference on Ecosystem Restoration)
• Movements and Habitat Requirements of Radio Tagged Manatees in Southwest Florida; Implications for Restoration Assessment (presented at the 2003 GEER conference)
• Radio Tracking Manatees to Assess the Impact of Hydrologic Changes in Southwest Florida (available from the Center for Aquatic Resource Studies website)
• Structure and Parameterization of an Agent-based Manatee Model for Southwestern Florida (available from the Center for Aquatic Resource Studies website)
• Using Strip-transect Aerial Surveys to Estimate Manatee Abundance in the Ten Thousand Islands Region of Southwest Florida (presented at the 2003 GEER conference)
• Using Strip-transect Aerial Surveys to Estimate Manatee Abundance in the Ten Thousand Islands Region of Southwest Florida (2001, available from the Center for Aquatic Resource Studies website)