Publication Date:
2021-07-05
Description:
The South Florida Ecosystem encompasses an area of approximately 28,000 km2 comprising at least 11major physiographic provinces, including the Kissimmee River Valley, Lake Okeechobee, the Immokalee Rise, theBig Cypress, the Everglades, Florida Bay, the Atlantic Coastal Ridge, Biscayne Bay, the Florida Keys, the FloridaReef Tract, and nearshore coastal waters. South Florida is a heterogeneous system of wetlands, uplands, coastalareas, and marine areas, dominated by the watersheds of the Kissimmee River, Lake Okeechobee, and theEverglades.Prior to drainage, wetlands dominated the ecosystem, covering most of central and southern Florida. Thelandscapes included swamp forests; sawgrass plains; mosaics of sawgrass, tree islands, and ponds; marl-formingprairies dominated by periphyton; wet prairies dominated by Eleocharis and Nymphaea; freshwater marshes;saltwater marshes; cypress strands; and a vast lake-river system draining into Lake Okeechobee. Elevated areasthat did not flood supported pine flatwoods, pine rocklands, scrub, tropical hardwood hammocks, and xerichammocks dominated by oaks. The natural seascapes of South Florida consisted of riverine and fringe mangroveforests; beaches and dunes; seagrass beds; intertidal flats; mud banks; hardbottom communities; coral reefs; andopen, inshore shallows. All these habitats were interconnected on an extremely low topographic gradient (2.8cm/km) with elevations ranging from about 6 m at Lake Okeechobee to below sea level at Florida Bay.The Science SUb-Group (1993) described the defining characteristics of the South Florida Ecosystem and the problems that resulted from hydrologic alterations and other anthropogenic changes.Restoration objectives were proposed for each sub-regionand the region as a whole.The overall goal of the restoration effort is to restore a sustainable South Florida Ecosystem that preservesthe valued properties of South Florida's natural systems and supports productive agriculture-, fishery-, and tourist.based economies and a high quality of urban life. Sustainability means high natural productivity, human andecosystem health, and resiliency to climatic extremes and catastrophic events. It also means accommodation ofneeds of human systems-flood control, irrigation, and drinking water supply.SCOPEThis section addresses the entire ecosystem, cutting across the artificial boundaries of designatedsubregions, as well as geopolitical and geomorphological boundaries, to present the broader issues of deVelopingan interagency and interdisciplinary ecosystem-based science program to support South Florida restoration. Herewe discuss the general premise and the general approach, with brief discussions on monitoring, modeling, andspecial studies. The latter two topics are covered in greater detail in other sections. (PDF contains 119 pages)
Description:
Research Work Order no. 139
Description:
Science sub-meeting, September 27, 1994
Keywords:
Management
;
Limnology
;
Planning
;
South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Initiative
;
objectives
Repository Name:
AquaDocs
Type:
monograph
Format:
application/pdf
Format:
application/pdf
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