Sea Level Rise Threatening Fragile Everglades Ecosystems

Sea level rise and water management practices are causing major disruptions in the fragile Everglades ecosystem, a study published in the journal Wetlands shows.

Led by researchers from the University of Miami, the report examined satellite imagery of the southeastern Everglades from 2001 to 2010. The images reveal long term trends of mangrove expansion and sawgrass habitat loss near the shore.

"I was very surprised at how well the results matched our understanding of [long term] trends and field data," Douglas Fuller, principal investigator of the study, said of the study. "Normally, we don't see such clear patterns."

According to Fuller, "Less salt-tolerant plants like the sawgrass, spike rush, and tropical hardwood hammocks are retreating. At the same time, salt-loving mangroves continue to extend inland,"

Plant communities that depend on freshwater flowing south from Lake Okeechobee, the scientists warn, are critical to the survival of an array of species that call them home -- homes that could be lost as salt water continues to invade.

In order to preserve the region, Fuller and co-author Yu Wang, a former master's student, pointed to changes in water management such as the implementation of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan as a possible lifeline.

"However, restoration may not suffice if sea-level rise accelerates in the coming decades," Fuller said.

According to the scientist, the study represents a new approach to an old problem, complementing current data.

"These methods allowed us to perform a spatially comprehensive assessment of the trends, unlike research that has been limited to plot-level studies, in which careful measurements of plant cover and composition have been made over the past dozen years," Fuller explained. "These field studies, which provide confirmation of the satellite-based results, involved clipping and weighing plants found in sawgrass prairies and are part of a long-term effort to understand the dynamics of the ecosystems in the Everglades."