Ongoing Research and Monitoring A.R.M. Loxahatchee NWR

May 2005

Monitoring and Research by Staff Monitoring and Research through Cooperative Efforts Monitoring and Research via Special Use Permits Monitoring and Research by SFWMD

Monitoring and Research by Staff Outlined in Inventory, Monitoring and Research Plan 2004-2009 Outlines what should be done Yearly Work Plan Outlines what can get done with current staff and cooperative projects Enhanced Water Quality Monitoring and Research Plan Result of special appropriation A few efforts by staff Photo documentation of interior conditions First order fire effects Water quality Most efforts are cooperative efforts Alligators- Frank Mazzotti (UF), Ken Rice (USGS) Tree islands- Frank Mazzotti (UF), Ken Rice (USGS) Lygodium optimal control model- Don DeAngelis (USGS), Scott Duke-Sylvester (UT) Water quality- Paul McCormick (USGS-Priority Ecosystems Studies), Samaria Daroub (UF), Ehab Meselhe (UL)

Cooperative Efforts Through Refuge assistance with logistics USGS Stage Monitoring IRC Lygodium Study Grant agreements Apple snails (completed- UWF) Water quality and hydrodynamic model (UL) Exotics aerial monitoring, SRFs Cooperative Agreements through CESU Tree islands (UF) Graduate Students (Rapid Assessment, Ants) Post Doc (Hurricane Assessment) Lygodium spray experiments (UF) Water quality model review (Tennessee Tech) L-40 monitoring (UF) Science Support Project (USGS/FWS) Lygodium optimal control model

Monitoring and Research via Special Use Permits Will the project benefit the refuge? Does the project address an issue of direct management concern to the refuge? Does the project address an issue of concern for overall Everglades restoration? Can the research be conducted elsewhere? Is the activity compatible with the objectives of the refuge? Is the applicant qualified? Monitoring and Assessment Plan (MAP) Crayfish- John Volin, Mike Lott (FAU) Prey availability- Dale Gawlik (FAU) Aquatic fauna- Joel Trexler (FIU) Impoundments LILA prey vulnerability- Dale Gawlik (FAU) Wildlife surveys- Elise Pearlstine (UF) Tree Islands Soil cores- Debra Willard, Bill Orem (USGS) Water Water levels at 7 USGS stations- Mitch Murray (USGS) Sample for suspended particles- Judson Harvey (USGS) Apple Snails Collection for effects of Ca and pH- Nancy Glass (UWF) Lygodium Spore dispersal- Tom Philippi (FIU) Monitoring and release of moth- Keith Bradley (IRC) REMAP- Dan Scheidt (EPA), Jenny Richards, Joel Trexler (FIU) Wading Birds Colony surveys- Peter Frederick (UF) Great egret and white ibis physiological condition- Dale Gawlik (FAU) Mercury Monitoring Fish- Ted Lange (FWC)

Monitoring and Research by SFWMD Coordinated through SFWMD point of contact Refuge provided with project summary with dates and types of access Refuge notified before site visit Loxahatchee Impoundment Landscape Assessment (LILA)- Fred Sklar et al. Vegetation Mapping- Ken Rutchey Woodstork/White Ibis Colony Monitoring- Mark Cook/Erynn Call Transects and Mesocosms- Sue Newman Effects of Hard Water on Decomposition- Sue Newman Synoptic Surveys of Conductivity and Chloride Variation in Periphyton along a Hard-Soft Water Gradient- Scott Hagerthey

More Information is Available In the 2004 Science Workshop Summary Report Refuge Annual Narratives TOC and SOFIA websites for Enhanced Water Quality Monitoring and Research Plan