Program: FRAGILE ENVIRONMENTS
Project Title: Ecosystem History of Biscayne Bay and the Southeast Coast
Location of Study Area: Biscayne Bay, South Florida
Project Start Date: October 1995
Project End Date: September 2000
Project Number:
Project Chief: Scott E. Ishman
Region/Division/Team/Section: Headquarters/Geologic
E-mail:sishman@usgs.gov
Phone: (703) 648-5316
Fax: (703) 648-5420
Mailing Address:
926A National Center
Reston, VA 20192
Program Element(s)/Task(s)
Element 2: Modeling and Support Studies for Southern Inland Coastal Systems of Eastern Dade County and Biscayne Bay.
Task 2.5: Ecosystem History of Biscayne Bay and the Southeast Coast.
Task 2.1: Ground-water Discharge to Biscayne Bay.
Panel:
Collaborators, Clients:
Surficial sediment sampling is conducted in collaboration with Metro-Dade Department of Environmental Resources Management (DERM) as part of their monthly BayRun water quality sampling program, and will continue on a seasonal basis (bi-annually) through December 1997. Logistical support in Biscayne Bay for the surficial sampling is provided and supported by Metro-Dade DERM. Logistical support on the bay for coring is provided by Gene Shinn, USGS, CCMG in St. Petersburg. Faunal and floral analyses is conducted at the USGS, Reston. Radiometric isotope dating is conducted by Chuck Holmes, USGS, WRD, St. Petersburg. Trace element analyses of calcareous organisms is conducted by Gary Dwyer at Duke University. Pore water and sediment geochemistry is conducted by Bill Orem USGS, Reston, VA. Data and information is being exchanged with: Gene Shinn. Vincente Quinones-Aponte and Richard Curry (Biscayne National Park) to determine the effects of groundwater seepage on the benthic ecosystem; and Bob Halley, USGS, CCMG, to relate faunal, floral and trace element historical records to stable isotopic records of change in the short cores. DERM requests information regarding the historical record of ecosystem change and burn frequency in and around Biscayne Bay in order to have a baseline from which they can make land and water use policy decisions. The Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) is interested in building a water supply model for Biscayne Bay: our data will determine variation in water quality and quantity over time. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is studying the effects of multiple stresses on the southern portion of the bay, and the amount of toxic substances in the surficial sediments. This project will provide a historical perspective on faunal, floral and geochemical (including trace metals) changes over the last 100- 150 years. Information provided by this project will assist the National Park Service in making management decisions for Biscayne National Park. Other cross-linkages with USGS, WRD and GD projects are expected to occur.

BACKGROUND NARRATIVES

Project Justification: This project will result in a reconstruction of the fresh water flow, salinity, nutrient and substrate (sea grass) histories of Biscayne Bay, as well as the vegetation and burn history of the coastal mangrove environment. These data will be useful for the tasks of setting restoration objectives, testing circulation models and modeling future outcomes of land and water management decisions, priorities established for the Fragile Environments Program. The success of this project will establish tried methodologies for application to restoration of other Fragile Environments within our Nation.

Project Objectives: The objectives of this project are: 1) to determine the spatial variability in the distribution of modern biota (foraminifera, ostracodes, molluscs, diatoms and palynomorphs) in Biscayne Bay, and how these distributions relate to the present environmental conditions (fresh water input, salinity, nutrient supply, sea grass and contaminants) in the Bay; 2) apply the modern biotic and environmental associations and geochemical data to biotic and geochemical data from downcore sediments to interpret the temporal variability in the measured environmental conditions; and 3) date the core using ²¹⁰Pb to determine the timing of environmental changes interpreted, and relate the changes to historical events of South Florida

Overall Strategy, Study Design, and Planned Major Products: This project uses faunal (foraminifera, ostracodes, and molluscs), floral (palynology and diatoms), and geochemical data to determine the ecosystem history of Biscayne Bay. Spatial reconstructions of environmental conditions for the last 150 to 200 years will be used to produce synop6c maps of salinity, nutrient and substrate conditions for Biscayne Bay. The data will be compiled and presented in a summary publication on the ecosystem history of Biscayne Bay.

WORK PLAN

Historical changes in the environment are assessed from duplicate sediment cores ranging from one to two meters long collected along two to three transects within Biscayne Bay. The cores are described, and dated using ²¹⁰Pb (Chuck Holmes, USGS, Coastal and Marine). Samples are collected at two centimeter intervals down the core for faunal, floral, and geochemical analyses. The faunal and floral data is compared to the results from the modern faunal and floral distribution analyses, and the modem trace element calibration equations are applied to downcore trace element data. These results are used to determine historical changes in the ecosystem and environmental conditions controlling these changes. Correlation between significant changes observed in the cores and historical records of change in South Florida will provide useful information on causal mechanisms, natural or human-induced, of ecosystem change in Biscayne Bay.

Surficial and downcore sediment sieved residues are housed in the Calcareous Laboratory, USGS, Reston, VA and available for additional analyses. The modern distribution data for the various biotic components analyses are documented in USGS Open-File Reports along with descriptions of cores collected for the project.

Timeline:

Activities

FY 98

FY 99

FY 00

1998

1999

2000

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

EQUIPMENT/SOFTWARE PURCHASE

x

x

DATA COLLECTION/FIELD WORK

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

SAMPLE PROCESSING

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

DATA ANALYSIS

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

INTERIM PRODUCTS/REPORTS

x

x

x

x

FINAL PRODUCTS PREPARATION/COMPLETION

x

x

x

x

x

MEETINGS WITH CLIENTS

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

Planned Deliverables/Products:

• Progress reports on the modern faunal and floral distributions in Biscayne Bay, and trace element calibration of calcareous organisms. Reports will be produced as U.S. Geological Survey Open- File Reports at the completion of each seasonal sampling cycle (annually).
• Initial reports on the faunal and floral distributions, and trace element record in the short cores. Reports will be produced as U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Reports at the completion of the downcore analyses of each short core.
• Updated Fact Sheets on the Ecosystem History of Biscayne Bay and the Southeast Coast.
• Map (hard and digital copies) describing the modern distributions of faunal and floral elements in Biscayne Bay.
• Maps (hard and digital copies) describing changes in the ecosystem through time.
• Digital database describing the modern distribution of plants and animals in the bay.
• Digital database of the downcore faunal, floral and trace element data.
• Synthesis document on the ecosystem history and evolution of Biscayne Bay.

Planned Outreach Activities: Contributions toward the production of posters, briefing boards and text for Congressional hearings. Information supplied for the Ecosystem Home Page. Visual materials supplied to managers for presentations on the Ecosystem History Projects. Planning and contribution of display for the Biscayne National Park Visitor's Center.

Prior Accomplishments in Proposed Area of Work:

New Directions, Expansion of Continuing Project (if applicable): The impact of groundwater on the Biscayne Bay ecosystem. Historical accounts indicate significant volumes of fresh water flow into Biscayne Bay and its surrounding regions through submarine "springs". Recent observations of these features indicate outflow has been reduced. In collaboration with Biscayne National Park personnel we will determine the volume, origin and flow path of the groundwaters entering Biscayne National Park using geochemical analyses of water collected from existing wells and several new wells drilled on the reef tract. These data will be compared with the historical environmental records interpreted for the bay to determine the importance of groundwater contribution to the ecosystem and the need for groundwater management in decision making for Biscayne Bay.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS, OUTCOMES, PRODUCTS, OUTREACH

• Three distinct faunal zonations are defined in the modern benthic community of Biscayne Bay that reflect characteristic environmental conditions. These data were used to identify critical coring sites for ecosystem history analyses.
• Six shallow (1-2 meter) sediment cores and 56 surficial sediment samples were collected for faunal, floral and geochemical analyses.
• Several meetings with Biscayne National Park personnel are leading to the contribution of a display for their new Visitor's Center. and collaborative research.
• Provided materials for the Ecosystem History of Biscayne Bay Web page.

Deliverables, Products Completed:

• Modern benthic foraminifer distributions in Biscayne Bay: Analogs for historical reconstructions. USGS Open-File Report 97-34, 23 pp.
• Ecosystem History of Biscayne Bay, U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet, FS-171-96.

NEEDS

FY98	FY99	FYOO
Foraminifera	Foraminifera	Foraminifera
Molluscs	Molluscs	Molluscs
Pollen	Pollen	Pollen
Ostracodes	Ostracodes	Ostracodes
Diatoms	Diatoms
Trace Element	Trace Element

Names of Key Project Staff:

FY98	FY99	FY00
Ishman	Ishman	Ishman
Brewster-Wingard	Brewster-Wingard	Brewster-Wingard
Willard	Willard	Willard
Brouwers	Brouwers	Brouwers
Graham	Graham	Graham
Seefelt	Seefelt	Seefelt
Dwyer	Dwyer
Pyle	Pyle

Major Equipment/Facility Needs:
Lab Microscopes (2)
Industrial Dishwasher

Back to Project Homepage