Project Work Plan

Research activities include: 1) the CESI sponsored long-term study entitled "Temporal and spatial variation in seagrass associated fish and invertebrates in Johnson Key Basin, western Florida Bay, with emphasis on the pink shrimp, Farfantepenaeus duorarum"; 2) with Joan Browder the SFWMD sponsored study entitled "Biscayne Bay Coastal and Nearshore Community Baseline Study to Develop Biological Performance Measures" and 3) with Joan Browder, Maria Criales and Clinton Hittle the NOAA sponsored study entitled "Immigration pathways of pink shrimp postlarvae into and within Florida Bay". Respectively, the research objectives can be summarized as: 1) to document long-term responses of the seagrass associated shrimp and fish community in Johnson Key Basin to environmental conditions (e.g. salinity) and changes in seagrass habitat; 2) to develop performance measures relating the fish and crustacean communities of southern Biscayne Bay to salinity and habitat and 3) to evaluate postlarval immigration (seasonal timing and abundance) to and into Florida Bay in relation to environmental conditions and habitat. The pink shrimp is a species of special interest in each of the above studies because it has been chosen as an indicator species for use in restoration of south Florida estuaries. Empirical and experimental data developed in these studies will be used to support the development of a pink shrimp landscape simulation model and restoration performance measures.