The Florida Everglades developed from the interplay of sea level and climate. The subtle balance of these two factors over the last two millennia is important to understanding restoration strategies. During the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age, the Everglades show a general drying trend. The Medieval Warm Period trend is due to a significant decrease in annual precipitation while sea level was rising. The Little Ice Age trend is due to the combined effect of reduced precipitation and the slowing in the relative rate of sea level rise, failing to keep base level with Everglades sediment and peat accumulation, yielding shorter hydroperiods and dryer conditions. Sea level has been steadily rising over the last century and should be considered in water flow modeling. Land use and water management practices over the last century have greatly partitioned the Everglades compounding its ability to respond ecosystem-wide in predictable ways to climate and sea level change.

Salinity in Florida Bay is affected by marine circulation, climate (rainfall) and runoff. Marine circulation was reduced in the early 20th century by intense construction connecting the Keys. Rainfall and runoff appeared coupled until the late 1960’s. A restoration goal should be to couple rainfall and runoff again. Salinity in central, western and southern (Atlantic transitional) zones of the Bay is influenced by direct rainfall; salinity in the northern (northern transitional) and eastern zones is influenced to a large extent by runoff. These latter zones need to be monitored to ascertain that rainfall and runoff are indeed coupled to the degree that they have been in the past.

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(This abstract was taken from the Greater Everglades Ecosystem Restoration (GEER) Open File Report (PDF, 8.7 MB))

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