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6/07/2017  |   10:00 AM - 10:15 AM   |  NOVEL TECHNIQUES FOR SUBMERGED AQUATIC VEGETATION RESTORATION IN FLORIDA SPRING SYSTEMS   |  302A

NOVEL TECHNIQUES FOR SUBMERGED AQUATIC VEGETATION RESTORATION IN FLORIDA SPRING SYSTEMS

Florida spring systems are experiencing substantial ecological changes that tend to favor a plant community shift from submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) to filamentous algae dominance. A pilot restoration project was initiated to assess causes of plant community shifts and to test several novel techniques for re-establishment of SAV in Florida springs. Three 1000 m2 restoration plots were established within the Crystal River/Kings Bay system in the fall of 2015. Custom-designed herbivory exclusion fences were installed around each plot to evaluate the effect of herbivory by Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris). Multiple SAV planting techniques were tested, including experimental eelgrass (Vallisneria americana) “sod” mats that were cultivated offsite and transplanted into the plots. Eelgrass abundance increased and displaced filamentous algae over the first growing season; however the invasive SAV species hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata) also colonized the plots and outcompeted eelgrass in some areas. Towards the end of the growing season, a surge of high salinity water from a tropical storm caused significant loss of SAV and recovery has been variable. In 2018, exclusion fences will be removed to determine if the established SAV community can persist with the return of herbivory.

  • C36 Water Resource Management
  • C19 Causal Assessment
  • C08 Urban Ecology & C16 Restoration Ecology

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Presenters/Authors

Sean King (), Southwest Florida Water Management District, sean.king@swfwmd.state.fl.us;


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Nonfinancial -