2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH
5/24/2021 | 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM | THE CONSEQUENCES OF RANGE EXPANSION OF AN AQUATIC MEGAHERBIVORE: ASSESING THE ECOSYSTEM EFFECTS OF FLORIDA MANATEES ON SPRING-FED ECOSYSTEMS | Virtual Platform
THE CONSEQUENCES OF RANGE EXPANSION OF AN AQUATIC MEGAHERBIVORE: ASSESING THE ECOSYSTEM EFFECTS OF FLORIDA MANATEES ON SPRING-FED ECOSYSTEMS
Once restricted to south Florida due to water temperatures, Florida manatees have expanded their range northward as anthropogenic temperature changes (e.g., climate change, power plant discharges) expand suitable habitat. Manatees primarily inhabit marine ecosystems, feeding on sea grasses, but seek thermal refuge near power plant discharges or spring-fed freshwater ecosystems when coastal temperatures drop in the winter. When manatees aggregate in freshwater habitats, they graze entire beds of macrophytes, recycle nutrients via excretion and egestion, and bioturbate sediments, which increases suspended solids and decreases light availability. We seek to understand how migrating manatees affect nutrient cycling and food webs in Kings Bay, FL, a complex of 41 inland springs that form the headwaters of the Crystal River flowing 11 km into the Gulf of Mexico. Nutrient diffusing substrata indicate that biofilms are autotrophic when manatees are absent, but switch to heterotrophy when manatees are present, likely due to sedimentation and reduced light availability. Urea-N can reduce biofilm nutrient limitation, but manatee-induced bioturbation effects likely limit biofilm production more than nutrients. Our studies suggest that manatees are ecosystem engineers that have significant impacts on Florida springs.
- Ecosystem Dynamics
- Nutrient cycling
- Biogeochemistry
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Presenters/Authors
Adam Siders
(), University of Florida, asiders@ufl.edu;
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Alexander Reisinger
(), University of Florida, reisingera@ufl.edu;
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Matt Whiles
(), University of Florida, mwhiles@ufl.edu;
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