Florida Atlantic University (FAU) has secured a pivotal five-year grant totaling $1,427,679 from the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to investigate the critical ecological dynamics underpinning the Florida Everglades, one of the most emblematic and ecologically vital wetlands worldwide. This project, titled “Dry Season Prey Concentrations in the Florida Everglades,” is spearheaded by Dr. Michelle L. Petersen, an assistant research professor in FAU’s Department of Biological Sciences and director of the Environmental Science Program within the School of Environmental, Coastal and Ocean Sustainability.
This groundbreaking initiative is designed to address fundamental gaps in our understanding of how aquatic prey populations fluctuate during the critical dry season and how these dynamics directly influence the reproductive success of wading birds, a cornerstone species group within the Everglades ecosystem. By meticulously quantifying prey abundance and distribution patterns in freshwater habitats, the research team aims to unravel the complex ecological relationships that govern the resilience and productivity of these iconic bird populations.
A central challenge confronted by restoration ecologists is deciphering the intricate linkage between hydrologic regimes, prey availability, and avian nesting outcomes. While wet-season prey abundance has traditionally been scrutinized, recent insights point to the pivotal role of dense prey concentrations forming in shrinking wetland pools during the dry season. These ephemeral hotspots of aquatic prey — primarily small fish and invertebrates — serve as vital feeding grounds enabling wading birds to sustain their demanding energetic requirements during nesting and chick rearing periods.
Dr. Petersen’s team plans to employ a robust probabilistic, multi-stage sampling framework tailored to capture maximum prey densities across diverse Everglades habitats. This methodological innovation overcomes previous research limitations that abruptly halted sampling when water receded beyond boat-accessible depths. The approach integrates contemporary remote sensing data, microtopographic mapping, and standardized field sampling protocols, enabling the investigation of prey aggregation with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution.
The spatial scope of the study encompasses the entire freshwater Everglades landscape, including Everglades National Park, the Water Conservation Areas, and the hydrologically intricate C-111 Basin. In doing so, the research will generate a comprehensive, long-term dataset delineating variability in prey concentrations in relation to hydrologic fluctuations from season to season and year to year, effectively capturing the breadth of drought and flood conditions that typify this subtropical wetland system.
Understanding these prey dynamics is essential to advancing the objectives of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), a mammoth, multi-decadal endeavor authorized by the Water Resources Development Act of 2000. CERP seeks to recalibrate water management in southern Florida to restore ecosystem function compromised by a century of drainage, urban development, and altered hydrology. The Monitoring and Assessment Plan (MAP), an integral element of CERP, relies on empirical data such as that generated by Dr. Petersen’s project to inform adaptive management and gauge ecological recovery.
The project’s focus on the dry season is especially crucial because prior studies have shown that the timing and location of prey concentration events during this period are critical determinants of whether wading birds can form large, viable breeding colonies. It is hypothesized that when prey is insufficiently aggregated, birds are forced to expend greater energy foraging over expansive areas, leading to lower reproductive success and prompting population declines observed in recent decades.
Furthermore, this research aims to clarify perplexing phenomena such as the capacity of wading bird nesting success to remain robust following drought periods, even when overall fish populations are measurably depressed. The formation of localized prey patches may provide critical refuges that buffer bird populations against broader ecosystem stressors, an insight that may recalibrate conservation and restoration targets.
Technical aspects of the project include examining how microtopographic features—the small-scale variations in land elevation—interact with hydrology to influence the formation of drying pools and resultant prey aggregations. Additionally, the research will elucidate how regional prey population dynamics, modulated by factors such as fish recruitment and mortality, feed back into ecosystem-level processes affecting predator-prey interactions.
Beyond contributing vital empirical knowledge, the project exemplifies the synergy between academic research and federal agency mandates, underscoring the indispensable role that university-led science plays in shaping effective environmental policy. The data generated will support USACE’s long-term adaptive management strategies, enabling iterative adjustments to restoration actions informed by rigorous scientific evidence, thus optimizing ecological outcomes for the Everglades.
Fieldwork during the dry seasons will adopt a stratified sampling design to ensure representative coverage of varied habitat types, notably targeting shallow sloughs prone to seasonal drying where prey are expected to concentrate most intensely. Standardized sampling techniques, including netting, trapping, and visual surveys, will afford comparability across spatial replicates and years, fostering robust temporal trend analyses.
In synthesizing hydrologic data with biological metrics, the project anticipates generating predictive models capable of forecasting prey availability and wading bird responses under diverse future water management and climate scenarios. Such models are critical for practitioners aiming to reconcile conservation priorities with human water use demands in the Everglades basin amid escalating climate variability.
With this award, FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science asserts its leadership in environmental research, advancing scientific frontiers while training the next generation of ecologists, hydrologists, and conservation biologists. As Dr. Petersen emphasizes, the insights gained will not only enhance restoration efficacy but will fortify the ecosystem’s resilience, helping safeguard the Everglades—a globally significant wetland—from escalating anthropogenic pressures and environmental change.
Ultimately, this research fortifies the scientific foundation for ecosystem-based management—integrating hydrology, ecology, and wildlife biology—to sustain one of the planet’s most distinctive and imperiled freshwater systems. Through innovative approaches and strategic partnerships, it sets a benchmark for how fundamental research can catalyze impactful conservation in complex landscapes.
Subject of Research: Dry Season Aquatic Prey Concentrations and Wading Bird Nesting Success in the Florida Everglades
Article Title: Florida Atlantic University Researchers Investigate Dry Season Prey Dynamics to Support Everglades Restoration
News Publication Date: Not specified in the article
Web References:
- Florida Atlantic University: www.fau.edu
- Charles E. Schmidt College of Science: https://www.fau.edu/science/
- Department of Biological Sciences, FAU: https://biology.fau.edu
Image Credits: Alex Dolce, Florida Atlantic University
Keywords: Wildlife management, Aquatic ecosystems, Wetlands, Marine ecology, Environmental sciences, Ecology, Aquatic ecology, Environmental impact assessments, Conservation ecology, Ecosystem management, Birds, Wild birds, Fish, Climate variability, Climate change adaptation
