Quantitative Threats Analysis for the Florida Manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris)

Publisher: USGS | Science Center: Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (PWRC, Laurel) | Format: URL

www.pwrc.usgs.gov — This report assesses and forecasts the status of the Florida manatee population over 50 to 150 years, and examines the relative roles that different threats play in determining the status of these marine mammals, in cooperation with scientists at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWC). More... This report assesses and forecasts the status of the Florida manatee population over 50 to 150 years, and examines the relative roles that different threats play in determining the status of these marine mammals, in cooperation with scientists at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWC). This research provides results over a wide range of time frames, thresholds at which the population would be unlikely to recover, threat scenarios to give decision-makers useful information for assessing the status of the Florida manatee population. In its analysis, USGS considered the role of five threats, one-at-a-time and in combination: watercraft-related mortality, loss of warm-water refuges in winter, mortality in water-control structures, entanglement, and red tide. The two greatest threats to the future status of manatees are, in order, watercraft-related mortality and loss of warm-water winter habitat. Less...