Linking Land, Air and Water Management in the Southern Everglades and Coastal Zone to Water Quality and Ecosystem Restoration: Task 1, Mercury Cycling, Fate and Bioaccumulation

Project Investigators: William H. Orem, David P. Krabbenhoft, George Aiken Project Personnel: Mark L. Olson, John F. DeWild, Shane D. Olund, J. Ogreck, Thomas Sabin Project Start Date: 2001 End Date: 2009 Recent Funding: (FY08) USGS GE PES, USGS Wisconsin Water Sciece Center, NAWQA, (FY07) USGS GE PES, FDEP, USGS Wisconsin Water Sciece Center, NAWQA, (FY06) USGS GE PES, (FY05) USGS GE PES Proposals Work Plans Project Summaries Data Metadata Publications

Summary

The overall question we are addressing with this effort is, "Near term changes to the Everglades are certain, but what will be the ecosystem-level result of these changes and over what time scales can we expect these changes to occur?"

Please note: This project is part of the larger USGS project "Integrated Geochemical Studies in the Everglades"

We propose to carry out work in the following areas: (1) Water quality studies, (2) Field-scale and laboratory-scale experimental studies; and (3) Coordinating input of geochemical results into ecosystem models and risk assessment studies being conducted by others. Our work tasks in these areas will be framed within the context of the Everglades restoration effort, and needs of ecosystem land and water managers to understand how the restoration may affect water chemistry, biology, and contaminant toxicity. The overall question we are addressing with this effort is, "Near term changes to the Everglades are certain, but what will be the ecosystem-level result of these changes and over what time scales can we expect these changes to occur?"

Our previous work (Phase I studies) has answered many key questions regarding mercury, sulfur, and nutrient cycling in the Everglades, and redefined several previously existing paradigms about the general environmental chemistry of mercury. At the same time, however, our work has revealed several critical information gaps that we propose to address with this study (Phase II studies). The proposed work will employ a variety of investigative approaches to achieve these objectives, including: field studies, controlled experiments (both field and lab scale), and modeling. Contaminants of concern will include nutrients, sulfur, mercury, organic compounds, and other metals. Protocols for the collection of samples and chemical analysis developed during Phase I studies will be employed in these Phase II efforts. Integration of the individual tasks within the project will be achieved by co-location of field sampling sites, and cooperative planning and contemporaneous execution of laboratory and field-enclosure experiments. Results from all tasks within the project will be archived within a single database, which will be made available through a Decision Support System (Web enabled) in a GIS framework to facilitate its use by ecosystem managers.

Proposals

• 2001

Work Plans

• 2003
• 2004
• 2005
• 2006
• 2007
• 2008

Project Summaries

• 2001
• 2002
• 2003
• 2004
• 2005
• 2006

Data

• Geochemistry of Sulfur in the Florida Everglades: 1994 through 1999 (solid phase sulfur tables 1-5 in OFR 01-007)
• Geochemistry of Sulfur in the Florida Everglades: 1994 through 1999 (dissolved sulfate see tables 6-8 in OFR 01-007)
• Surface/Pore Water Chemistry (see tables 3 and 4 in OFR 97-454)

Metadata

• Integrated Biogeochemical Studies of Contaminants in the Everglades: Task 1 -Nutrients, Sulfur, and Organic Matter (project metadata)

Publications

Abstracts

• Nutrient and Sulfur Contamination in the South Florida Ecosystem: Synopsis of Phase I Studies and Plans for Phase II Studies (from the GEER Conference, December, 2000)
• Sulfur Contamination and Geochemistry of the Everglades (from the GEER Conference, April 2003)
• Sulfur Contamination in the Everglades and Its Relation to Mercury Methylation (from the South Florida Restoration Science Forum, May 1999)
• Sulfur Contamination of the Everglades: Why Land and Water Managers Should be Concerned (from the GEER Conference, June 2006)
• Sulfur, a Key Water Quality Issue in the Everglades (from the 2002 Spring AGU Meeting)

Articles

• 2004 Article describing collaboration on sulfur toxicity mesocosms (from Louisiana State University)

Fact Sheets

• Impacts of Sulfate Contamination on the Florida Everglades Ecosystem (FS-109-03, available from the U.S. Geological Survey website)

Open File Reports

• Geochemistry of Sulfur in the Florida Everglades: 1994 through 1999 (OFR-01-007)
• Geochemistry of Surface and Pore Water at USGS Coring Sites in Wetlands of South Florida: 1994 and 1995 (OFR-97-454)

Papers

• Binding of Mercury(II) to Dissolved Organic Matter: The Role of the Mercury-to-DOM Concentration Ratio
• Fertilizer-Derived Uranium and Sulfur in Rangeland Soil and Runoff: A Case Study in Central Florida
• Tracing Sources of Sulfur in the Florida Everglades