The U.S. and Mexican LTER Networks are cooperating in the development of a new network of hurricane researchers. 

The MIRADA project was launched in the fall of 2007 to establish a Microbial Biodiversity Survey and Inventory across all 13 of the major aquatic (marine and freshwater) Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites in the NSF US LTER Program. The long-term objective of our study is to document and describe baseline diversity and relative abundance data for both common and rare members of microbial communities and to relate this diversity to the underlying physical and chemical environment.

A monthly and annual water budget has been created for the entire Shark River Slough (SRS) within the Everglades National Park (ENP) over 2002-2008. Inputs considered are surface water inflows (S12s and S333 canal structures) and rainfall, while outputs consist of discharge to the Gulf of Mexico (Lostman, Shark, Broad, Harney and North rivers) and evapotranspiration (ET).

Carbon isotopes are valuable tools for determining the overall ambient conditions under which trees incorporate seasonal growth, and can act as indicators of periods of environmental stress, including salt water intrusion and droughts. When coupled with traditional dendrochronological analyses, carbon isotopes can potentially relay a high-resolution history of localized hydrologic conditions, and highlight intervals of increased tropical cyclone activity and precipitation frequency as well as long-term trends in freshwater availability.

Freshwater wetlands of the Florida Everglades are oligotrophic (water total phosphorus < 10 ug/L in unenriched marsh), with published values for average aboveground net primary productivity of sawgrass ranging from 255-606 g C m^-2 yr-¹ and periphyton from 17-10,371 g C m^-2 yr^-1. High temporal and spatial variability in these estimates, derived primarily by harvesting and small-scale gas exchange techniques, have been attributed to the underlying geology and hydrology of the landscape and phenology of dominant species.

Research at the FCE-LTER builds on a substantial body of knowledge about oligotrophic estuaries. In particular, we study how changes in hydrology caused by human activities interact with natural disturbances and sea-level rise to affect dynamics in the estuarine ecotone of the Everglades. The greater Everglades ecosystem is the site of the world’s largest ecosystem restoration efforts, with aims to restore freshwater flow into this highly engineered landscape.

Surface/groundwater water interactions are defined as the exchange of water across the soil/sediment water interface. In the Everglades National Park (ENP), these interactions may be important not only for the transport of water, but also for the transport of nutrients and chemicals. The Everglades ecosystem is drained by two major water ways: Shark and Taylor Slough. Sloughs are depressions with slightly deeper water than in the adjacent marshes. Taylor Slough is located in the southeastern corner of ENP and regulates Florida Bay fresh water inflows.

The conversion of agricultural and rural lands for development purposes reflects one of the greatest threats to key ecosystem services in the United States. This poster addresses land use change dynamics in southern Florida, linking them to local governance-zoning institutions. Study of land use and zoning patterns informs broader questions of relevance to the LTER, including: “What is the pattern of land and water use change in urban and working systems: what are the temporal and spatial patterns of human activity and ecosystem dynamics in LTER regions?

A major goal of the Florida Coastal Everglades LTER research program is to investigate how changes in freshwater flow related to Everglades ecosystem restoration will impact ecosystem processes, specifically in the Shark River Slough/Gulf of Mexico and the Taylor Slough/Florida Bay ecotones of Everglades National Park. This research is as much a question about natural processes as it is social processes.

This study was conducted in Taylor River in the southern mangrove ecotone region of Taylor Slough in the Florida Everglades between two FCE-LTER water quality observation stations. This system is characterized by a series of interconnected creeks and ponds that make up the larger Taylor River. During wet season months from June to November, there is a distinct freshwater input to the mangrove estuary from the north, which essentially “flushes” most of the river and lowers salinity to less than 1 ppt.