Integrating best available science to manage floodplain wetlands in the Everglades

The remaining Everglades are impounded by an extensive canal and levee system.  In the northern Everglades, a 144,000-acre wetland is circumscribed by 100 km of canals with a direct overbank connection to the marsh, creating a floodplain wetland environment.  Historical monitoring established limited hydrology-ecology response relationships; however, the ability to draw explicit causal linkages between water management decisions and results from monitoring/research was limited.  Thus, to better manage this wetland, causal linkages between perimeter canal inflows and environmental conditions within the marsh need to be understood.  Over the past five years, an integrated monitoring, modeling, and research program at the A.R.M. Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge focused on increasing our understanding of the marsh’s response to water management.  A combination of water quality monitoring, water movement tracking, ecological-response research, and modeling programs has been geared for management purposes.  Integration of these components has increased scientific understanding of historical conditions, improved capability of to best manage real-time hydrological changes, and supported proactive planning efforts to minimize degradation of Refuge resources.