NW Region
Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve (ANERR)
CCVATCH/RAD Workshop
Recently ANERR stewardship staff members, Lexy and Bekah, attended the Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment Tool for Coastal Habitats (CCVATCH) workshop at Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. At the workshop, participants used a condensed version of CCVATCH to score a habitats current condition, sensitivity and exposure, and adaptive capacity. After scoring different parcels of land, participants used the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework to brainstorm strategies for responding to these ecological changes.
Interns to SVI
ANERR interns, Will and Jennie, went to St. Vincent Island for an intern swap to learn about the refuge and the work they do there! They used telemetry to locate the Red Wolves on the island and learned about their acclimation cages and how they work. Rainfall was measured at different sites to see how much accumulated on the island after the storm. They also learned about the history of the island, visiting Hatch Cemetery and seeing old pictures of the people who used to live there. It was a great experience to network and learn more about all the work that is done at the refuge. The St. Vincent Island intern, Caroline, got to join research for water quality monitoring learning more about the work that is done in Apalachicola Bay.
St. Joseph Bay State Buffer Preserve
Northwest Florida Aquatic Preserves
In the Spring of this year, students from Gulf Breeze High School partnered with Northwest Florida Aquatic Preserves to install saltmarsh habitat at a living shoreline site along Yellow River Marsh Aquatic Preserve. Since the previous fall, the students had been propagating and caring for similar plants at their school for a curriculum based, hands-on habitat restoration experience. One of the students was very interested in the oyster reef portion of the living shoreline project, and we started discussing if there was any way to apply her ‘Girl Scout Gold Star Project’ towards assisting a similar effort at a different site. Gold Star Projects, similar to Eagle Scout Projects must be planned and executed in large part by the applicant. The student worked with our staff to gain a full understanding of what would be needed as well as some of the preparation work that is required that doesn’t fit into the scope of her project. After that she organized volunteer labor and work days to assist our staff and Gulf Corps crew with a reef installation. In total, the scout will need to contribute 80 hours of total time (coordination included) for the project to be considered complete.
The living shoreline site that the scout is assisting with is unique in several ways. Being pinned between two hardened shorelines allowed the project to be designed to not extend waterward of the adjacent shorelines which qualified it for a Statewide Programmatic General Permit. Also, part of the reefs are being constructed out of an existing concrete berm placed by a former property owner. The ‘local’ material is being re-shaped into a form consisting with our reef design before being combined with shell and limestone to complete the reef. Eventually salt marsh plants will be installed to complete the project.
Lake Jackson Aquatic Preserve
Lake Jackson AP staff participated in the “2024 BLAST Welcome Back Teachers” night in downtown Tallahassee this past week. BLAST stands for “Big Bend/Leon Association for STEM Teaching.” The group puts this event on every year at the Challenger Learning Center for teachers to learn about relevant local organizations and educational resources in STEM. LJAP showed off some of the education products that have been created over the past few years as well as a new tabling microscope that lets visitors take a closer look at lake macroinvertebrates. In the past, teachers have loved the LJAP Field Guide to Flora and Fauna as an outdoor classroom tool for field trips. About 50 area teachers meandered around tables manned by nonprofits, universities, and local and state governments. LJAP aims to attend at least two “Science Nights” at schools annually to promote careers in environmental protection and natural resource management locally.
NE Region
Bigg Sam Slam
GTM Research Reserve staff and Friends of the GTM Reserve participated in a boat ramp cleanup event in Ponte Vedra Beach’s Palm Valley area. The event was hosted by Sol Margin Fishing Conservation Foundation as part of their Bigg Sam Slam Tournament Series.
Summer Internships
Three summer interns assisted the GTM Research Reserve resource management team complete several projects this summer. Christian Testorf is a junior at Florida Atlantic University, majoring in ecology and wildlife conservation. During this fall semester, Reagan Bushman will be a senior at Creekside High School and a member of the Environmental Science Academy. Alex Swann is a junior at Florida State University majoring in marine biology. The interns helped with reptile and amphibian surveys via drift fence trapping and dipnetting. This involves constructing and installing trap sites in different habitats around the reserve to survey for terrestrial herps, in addition to sampling the reserve wetlands with dipnets for aquatic amphibians. The interns also helped with the trail bird surveys, invasive plant removal, wetland restoration, aquarium upkeep and animal feedings in the visitor center.
IRLAP Summer Seagrass Surveys 2024
The Indian River Lagoon Aquatic Preserves (IRLAP) staff successfully completed all ten transects of their annual Summer Seagrass Surveys in July. IRLAP has monitored these sites for years, which are part of St. Johns River Water Management District’s (SJRWMD) multi-decade study monitoring/mapping seagrasses in the Indian River Lagoon (IRL). At each transect, numerous quadrat points are used to quantify parameters such as seagrass species present, percent cover by species, height and many other factors. This continued long-term data set is incredibly valuable for establishing baselines and comparisons for IRL seagrasses over the last several decades.
SW Region
Sea Turtle Nests Still Hatching at Rookery Bay Research Reserve
Although Tropical Storm Debbie caused major flooding on the islands and beaches where Sea Turtles nest within Rookery Bay Research Reserve, there is still a tiny silver lining and some hope. A few days ago, Rookery Bay’s Sea Turtle team (including summer interns Derek and Tyler) spotted two nests that had hatched since the storm and saw signs of baby turtle hatchlings making their way to the Gulf of Mexico. Another positive is the fact that Sea Turtles often nests more than once per season. So, there is still time for another go at new nests. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed for more nests and hatchlings from these very resilient and persistent animals. Follow along in real time on Rookery Bay’s Sea Turtle online portal for number of nests and hatchlings each day! https://bit.ly/rbturtle
Friends of Rookery Bay and Volunteers Celebrate Back to School with Local Families and Partners
The Friends of Rookery Bay and volunteers kicked off the school year at Neapolitan Family’s 2024-2025 Back to School Expo in Collier County. Raquel Herrera, Outreach Coordinator for the Friends and some helpful volunteers met with hundreds of local families to spread the word about Rookery Bay Research Reserve and the work, research and conservation occurring within the Reserve’s 110,000 acres of land and water. Adults and kids alike had the chance to spin the wheel of coastal questions to win memberships and free entry to Rookery Bay’s upcoming 2024 - 2025 Lunch and Learn series focusing on research and wildlife of the Reserve. It was a great opportunity to connect with families and network with more than 50 other community organizations!
Estero Bay AP and Charlotte Harbor AP Conduct Post-Storm Beaches Surveys
This past week staff from both CHAP and EBAP conducted beach windshield surveys in Charlotte, Lee and Collier counties along the Gulf shorelines of Little Gasparilla, Ft.Myers Beach, Bonita Springs and Barefoot Beach. Called “windshield surveys” these assessments happen immediately after a natural disaster and are an important way to document any storm damage to the beach and infrastructure. No major damage was noted, but there was beach erosion on Ft. Myers Beach. Many shells were washed up on the shore as well as some sea turtle eggs.
Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserve Begins Annual Seagrass Monitoring
CHAP recently started their yearly fixed transect seagrass monitoring program. This occurs every year in August to capture qualitative and quantitative data at 50 transects throughout the five estuaries. Seagrass extent, abundance, species and deep edge is documented at each station along the transect. Also included is sediment type, epiphytes, blade lengths and macroalgae abundance. This data has been recorded at the same sites since 1999 and provides a long-term look at seagrass health in each of the estuaries. The program data is uploaded into the Statewide Ecosystem Assessment of Coastal and Aquatic Resources (SEACAR) as well as WaterAtlas, a program from the University of South Florida that provides water resource information and trends over time to the public, scientists, partners and researchers. Seagrass - CHNEP.WaterAtlas.org (usf.edu)
.
SE Region
Evaluate Coral Outplant Density
In FY23-24, the Coral Protection and Restoration Program funded a project led by Dr. Diego Lirman collaborating with partners from Nova Southeastern University, Mote Marine Laboratory, Biscayne National Park (BNP), NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center, and The Florida Aquarium to evaluate the role of coral outplant density on the survivorship and growth of corals with branching (Acropora palmata) and massive (Colpophyllia natans, Diploria labyrinthiformis, and Orbicella faveolata) colony morphologies.
Ultimately, there were clear differences in coral species and density treatments that impacted susceptibility to fish predation. D. labyrinthiformis experienced minimal mortality over the duration of the outplant project, with 97.5% survivorship after 1 year, while O. faveolata at BNP and C. natans (63% and ~40% respectively) at the Miami and Broward sites experienced more predation, suggesting these corals may require more protection to mitigate predation pressure in order to enhance long term survivorship. Regardless of coral species, outplant location, and outplant density treatment, fish predation was most severe during the first week following outplanting. This suggests that it may be helpful to use temporary, mitigative measures to deter fish predation during the first weeks following outplanting to increase outplant survivorship. Among C. natans corals at the Miami and Broward sites, those outplanted in the high-density treatment appeared to be less susceptible to fish predation compared to those in the low-density treatment.
Staff Spotlight
FKAPWQ Cleans Curry Hammock State Park!
The Florida Keys Aquatic Preserve’s Water Quality team was in the area of Curry Hammock State Park retrieving some monitoring equipment when the team noticed a large trawling net entangled in the mangroves. Acknowledging the serious entrapment hazard to wildlife the team got to work unraveling the thick cumbersome netting from the shallows. Entangled in driftwood and stinking from the dead seagrass and sargassum that washed in with it, the net proved to be a time consuming but successful removal effort. The team was able to bring the net onshore near a kayak launch at Curry Hammock where a truck was used to remove the debris from the beach.