Catherine A. Langtimm¹, James P. Reid¹, Daniel H. Slone¹, Bradley M. Stith¹, Eric D. Swain², Terry J. Doyle³, R. Snow⁴ and Susan Butler^1
1USGS, Florida Integrated Science Center, Gainesville, FL, USA
²USGS, Florida Integrated Science Center, Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
³USFWS, Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge, Naples, FL, USA
⁴NPS, Everglades National Park, Homestead, FL, USA

Restoration of the Everglades requires the implementation of dozens of separate construction components staggered over time and across the landscape; thus effects to habitat and species will be realized on different time and spatial scales. Predicting and monitoring effects to Florida manatees, with home ranges extending across the entire region, will be ineffectual, if modeling and monitoring are limited to the smaller areas defined by the various restoration components. Our efforts thus far have focused on the area of the Ten Thousand Islands (TTI) and the Acceler- 8 Picayune Strand restoration slated to begin next year. In 2006 we began a new regional, longterm approach to extend the hydrology models west into TTI, to extend the manatee model east into Everglades National Park (ENP), and to integrate hydrology and manatee data, models and monitoring across the TTI and ENP.

The research consists of three components: (1) Linking the manatee individual-based model with the Everglades TIME model and a new TTI hydrology model. (2) Modeling salinity and thermal properties of rivers, canals and basins used by manatees for fresh water and as winter refuges. This modeling effort will provide important information on the availability of fresh water, and thermal refugia critical to manatees and other cold-intolerant species, such as invasive, exotic fish species, and how hydrologic conditions may change with the restoration. (3) Developing and implementing a regional aerial survey monitoring design for pre- and post-restoration assessments that integrates TTI with ENP. Robust aerial surveys and analysis will provide the means to monitor impact as the restoration proceeds and provide independent data for validation of the model. Additionally, this monitoring program will provide the means to assess impact and recovery after natural disturbances, such as hurricanes or drought, and provide estimates of abundance and trend for the TTI/ENP region, the last major manatee habitat with minimal information on manatee population status.

Contact Information: Catherine A. Langtimm, U.S. Geological Survey, Florida Integrated Science Center, 2201 NW 40th Terrace, Gainesville, FL 32605, Phone: 352-372-2571, Fax: 352-374-8080, Email: clangtimm@usgs.gov

(This abstract is from the 2006 Greater Everglades Ecosystem Restoration Conference.)

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