Chapter 6: Ecological Effects of Hydrology on the Everglades Protection Area

SUMMARY The information in this chapter is designed to update the reader on the multidisciplinary approaches currently in place to better understand and manage the hydrologic patterns of the Everglades Protection Area (EPA). The South Florida Water Management District (District or SFWMD) has begun to shift resources away from the phosphorus (P) threshold research program and toward an ecological research program to assess the influence of hydrology. This program documents how soils, plants and animals have changed over time and attempts to relate those changes to operational trends and restoration goals. It is important to note that this report does not at this time quantify the hydrologic needs of the Everglades. Such quantification can only come with a better understanding of how the depth, source, hydroperiod and flow patterns control the spatial and temporal biogeochemical processes that influence biodiversity and produce landscape structure. Since it is not possible to study all aspects of Everglades ecology, each year the hydrologic problems are dissected into more manageable pieces, such as mangrove productivity, slough vegetation, decomposition, microtopography or crayfish. Though these may appear disconnected from one another, they are, in fact, linked by food-web dynamics, ecological feedbacks, and hydrological dependencies. As discussed in the initial Everglades Consolidated Report (ECR) in 1999, these studies are designed to focus on cause-and-effect relationships, because then human impacts can be separated from natural impacts, and water quality effects can be separated from water quantity effects.