Loaxahatchee Impoundment Landscape Assessment (LILA): Tree Island Experiments and Management; May 1, 2005 to September 4, 2009: Final Report
Hydrologic modifications have negatively impacted the Florida Everglades in numerous
significant ways. The compartmentalization of the once continuously flowing system into the
Water Conservation Areas (WCAs) caused disruption of the slow natural flow of water south
from Lake Okeechobee through the Everglades to Florida Bay. The ponding of water in the
WCAs, the linking of water flow to controlled water levels, and the management of water levels
for anthropogenic vs. ecological well-being has caused a reduction in the spatial heterogeneity of
the Everglades leading to greater uniformity in topography and vegetation. These effects are
noticeable as the degradation in structure of the Everglades Ridge and Slough environment and
associated Tree Islands. Information gained
through this project will help to reduce the uncertainty of predicting the tree island and ridge and
slough ecosystem response to changes in hydrologic conditions. Additionally, we have
developed the LILA site as a visual example of Everglades restoration programs in action.
2009-08-17
Everglades Ridge, Slough, and Tree Island Mosaics: Year 2 Annual Report
The Florida Everglades is a large subtropical wetland with diverse hydrologic, edaphic, and vegetative characteristics. Historically, a significant portion of this system was a slow moving river originating from the Kissimmee River floodplain, flowing into the vast but shallow Lake Okeechobee, and draining south-southwest over extensive peatlands into Florida Bay (McVoy 2011). Human-induced alterations to the hydrologic regime, including reduction, stabilization, and impoundment of water flow through diversion and compartmentalization of
water via canals and levees have degraded pre-drainage vegetation patterns and microtopographic structure (Davis and Ogden 1994, Ogden 2005, McVoy 2011).
2010
Monitoring of Tree Island Condition in the Southern Everglades: Annual Report 2011
Changes in hydrologic regimes at both local and landscape scale are likely to affect the internal water economy of the islands, which in turn will influence plant community structure and function. To strengthen our ability to assess the “performance” of tree island ecosystems and predict how these hydrologic alterations would translate into ecosystem response, an improved understanding of reference conditions of vegetation structure and function, and their responses to major stressors is important. In this regard, a study of vegetation structure and composition and associated biological processes was initiated in FY2005 with initial funding from Everglades National Park and South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), and has been continued through FY2011 with funding from US Army Corps of Engineers (USACOE).
2012-03-23
Hydrologic measurements and implications for tree island formation within Everglades National Park
(Citation/Reference) Bazante, J., G. Jacobi, H. Solo-Gabriele, D.R. Reed, S. Mitchell-Bruker, D.L. Childers, L. Leonard, M.S. Ross. 2006. Hydrologic measurements and implications for tree island formation within Everglades National Park. Journal of Hydrology 329(3-4): 606-619.
2006
Vegetation Analysis in the C-111/Taylor Slough Basin (Final Report)
(Preferred Citation) Meeder, John F.; Ross, Michael S. ; Telesnicki, Guy; Ruiz, Pablo L.; and Sah, Jay P., "Vegetation Analysis in the C-111/Taylor Slough
Basin (Final Report)" (1996). SERC Research Reports. Paper 6.
http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/sercrp/6
1996-11-06
Monitoring of Tree Island Condition in the Southern Everglades: Hydrologic Driven Decadal Changes in Tree Island Woody Vegetation Structure and Composition: 2012 Annual Report
This report examines the interaction between hydrology and vegetation over a 10-year period, between 2001/02 and 2012 within six permanent tree island plots located on three tree islands, two plots each per tree island, established in 2001/02, along a hydrologic and productivity gradient. We hypothesize that: (H1) hydrologic differences within plots between census dates will result in marked differences in a) tree and sapling densities, b) tree basal area, and c) forest structure, i.e., canopy volume and height, and (H2) tree island growth, development, and succession is dependent on hydrologic fluxes, particularly during periods of prolonged droughts or below average hydroperiods. The results reported herein reinforce the concept that tree islands are dynamic successional communities that expand and contract over time in response to variation in hydroperiod.
2013-03-01
Tree island response to fire and flooding in the short-hydroperiod marl prairie grasslands of the Florida Everglades, USA
(Citation/Reference) Ruiz, P.L., J.P. Sah, M.S. Ross, and A.A. Spitzig. 2013. Tree island response to fire and flooding in the short-hydroperiod marl prairie grasslands of the Florida Everglades, USA. Fire Ecology 9(1): 38-54. doi: 10.4996/fireecology.0901038
2013
A Geospatial Database of Tree Islands within the Mustang Corner Fire Incident of 2008
The general loss of tree islands in some parts of the Everglades due to flooding is well documented and understood (Patterson and Finck 1999; Avineon 2002; Hofmockel et al. 2003; Sklar et al. 2004). However, the loss of tree islands due to fires within the marl prairies of the Everglades has yet to be properly documented or studied. Anecdotal evidence suggests that tree islands within this pyrogenic landscape usually recover from a fire after several years. However, little is known about the successional sequence of tree islands following an intense fire and how that relates to the general distribution of woody species within this landscape and individual islands. At the same time, a paucity of information exists on how fires affect tree island biogenesis, if it occurs at all under current environmental conditions. To properly address these ecological questions, now or in the future, a comprehensive inventory of tree islands within this landscape is fundamentally necessary.
2010-03-15
Tree Islands in Everglades Landscapes: Current Status, Historical Changes, and Hydrologic Impacts on Population Dynamics and Moisture Relations, First Annual Report
Tree islands are a prominent feature in the Ridge and Slough landscape of the
Everglades, where they have undergone extensive damage from drought, fire and extreme
flooding. They are also prevalent in the short-hydroperiod prairies, where they have been
adversely impacted by fire and encroaching exotic plants. Changes in water management
associated with hydrologic restoration will result in changes in the internal water
economy of tree islands, as well as their risk of fire, which in turn will lead to changes in
plant function and species composition. It is therefore important to understand how
restoration translates into impacts in these unique ecosystems.
2005-12-30
The Monitoring and Assessment Plan (MAP) Greater Everglades Wetlands Module- Landscape Pattern- Ridge, Slough, and Tree Island Mosaics: Year 1 Annual Report
This monitoring project seeks to provide information necessary for the evaluation of efficacy of
the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Program (CERP), as delineated in the Water
Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2000. The work described provides indices of systemwide
applicability of performance measures related to the response of the ridge-slough mosaic,
tree islands, and other landscape features of the central Everglades to the restoration of historic
hydrologic conditions, with the goal of informing the adaptive management of Everglades
restoration as outlined in the CERP Monitoring and Assessment Plan (RECOVER 2004).
2009-10-21
Monitoring of Tree Island Conditions in the Southern Everglades: The Effects of Hurricanes and Hydrology on the Status and Population Dynamics of Sixteen Tropical Hardwood Hammock Tree Islands
Assessing the “performance” of these forested ecosystems, i.e., tropical hardwood hammocks,
requires a better understanding of their reference condition, functioning, and ability to respond to
and recover from periodic stresses (e.g., fire, windstorms, flooding, and/or drought), as well as
their response to landscape level hydrologic modifications and management decisions. With this
as the backdrop, we set forth on a multi-year intensive monitoring and assessment study of
tropical hardwood hammocks within two distinct hydrologic regions in the southern Everglades.
2011-01-18
Survival and growth responses of eight Everglades tree species along an experimental hydrological gradient on two tree island types
(Citation/Reference) Stoffella, S., M.S. Ross, J.P. Sah, R.M. Price, P. Sullivan, E. Cline, L.J. Scinto. 2010. Survival and growth responses of eight Everglades tree species along an experimental hydrological gradient on two tree island types. Applied Vegetation Science 13(4): 439-449.
2010
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