Aquatic plants and submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) are some of the most wide-ranging species and create important habitat for fish and wildlife in many ecosystems, including highly variable coastal ecotones. Mechanistically understanding factors controlling current distributions of these species is critical to project future distribution and abundance under increasing variability and climate change. I used a population-based approach to quantify the effects of spatial and temporal variability on life history transitions of the SAV Ruppia maritima L. (widgeongrass) in the highly dynamic Everglades-Florida Bay ecotone as a model to (1) examine which life history stages were most constrained by these conditions and (2) determine how management can promote life history development to enhance its distribution, an Everglades restoration target. Ruppia maritima life history transitions were quantified in a series of laboratory and field experiments encompassing a ra nge of abiotic and biotic factors known to affect seagrass and SAV (salinity, salinity variability, temperature, light and nutrients and seed bank recruitment and competition). These studies revealed that R. maritima life history varied east to west across the Everglades ecotone, driven by multiple gradients in abiotic factors that constrained different life history transitions in distinct ways. Based on this examination, persistence of SAV populations from dynamic coastal environments is highly dependent on large reproductive events that produce high propagule densities for recruitment. Large productive meadows of SAV also depend on high rates of clonal reproduction where vegetation completely regenerates in a short amount of time. Therefore, in hydrologically variable systems, maintenance or increases in SAV reproduction is required for population persistence through recruitment. However, SAV communities that do not experience high rates of sexual reproduction are dependent on successful seed germination, seedling and adult survival and clonal reproduction for biomass production and maintenance. Seedling survival and to a lesser extent, adult survival, are bottlenecks that can limit life history transitions under highly variable hydrological conditions. To ensure long-term survival in these communities, management activities that increase survival and successful life history development through these critical stages will be beneficial. If not, SAV populations may become highly reduced and ephemeral, providing less productive habitat. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Fire occurrences in the Everglades have increased since hydrologic alterations began, yet the vulnerability of Everglades peat to combustion during wildfires has yet to be determined. Natural fire regimes help maintain ecosystem functions and services and disruptions of natural disturbance regimes can have detrimental impacts, jeopardizing ecosystem health. Severe peat combustion can destroy native vegetation, alter microtopography, and release large amounts of stored carbon into the atmosphere. To create a better understanding of the mechanistic controls on Everglades ground fires, the soil's physical properties within several sites of Water Conservation Area 3 and how changes in water table affect these physical characteristics were determined. Areas disturbed by hydrologic alterations contain higher mineral content and therefore require lower water content to combust when compared to preserved regions. Changes in water tables have a significant effect on soil moisture and lower water tables drastically increase the vulnerability of a region. / by James Johnson. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

This dissertation examined the impacts of multiple collaborative planning and implementation processes on ecosystem management of the Everglades wetlands of South Florida. In particular, the research focused on collaboration's role in (1) reducing phosphorus pollution in runoff from the Everglades Agricultural Area in the historic northern Everglades and (2) improving the water flow regime in Shark Slough of the southern Everglades. Restoration of the greater Everglades watershed is the largest such initiative in the world, and it may also be the most collaborative, with scores of these processes used at various scales since the mid-1960s. Ecosystem management is the most advanced approach to environmental governance, and its three tenets of integrative, adaptive, and ecologically protective governance provide a framework for evaluating environmental planning processes. Proponents of collaborative processes believe they are exceptionally suited to promoting the tenets of ecosystem management. Critics of collaboration, however, are concerned with the potential for cooptation of environmental interests, among other issues. Using qualitative case study methodology, the research found that collaborative processes improved ecosystem management, but not to the degree expected by collaboration proponents. Collaborative processes were integrative of values, information, activities, and political support across the ecosystem, yet integration had biases and limits as a result of groups' strategic behaviors and processes' emphasis on reaching agreement rather than fully exploring the issues. Cooptation of environmental interests was not a significant problem. Collaborative processes promoted adaptation and social learning in specific cases, but at a macro level helped to maintain the status quo of the dominant water management agencies and technocratic paradigms. Process outcomes were protective of ecological health in that they made steady, incremental progress towards ecological restoration. Progress had significant setbacks however, because collaboratively developed policies were subject to capture by economic interests. Despite the collaborative improvements in ecosystem management, ecological health remains a distant and uncertain prospect for the Everglades.

The purpose of this study was to provide a methodological framework for the first estimates of the total carbon storage and its economic valuation in the mangrove forests of Everglades National Park (ENP), Florida. The total carbon storage in the ENP mangroves is estimated to be 7,144 Mg C/ha, much higher than tropical, boreal and temperate forests. The final selection of carbon prices for the valuation was based on the social, economic and political milieu of the study site, the biological attributes influencing the quantity and quality of carbon storage, and the status of the ENP mangroves as a protected area. The carbon storage in ENP mangroves is estimated at $50,000/ha and $614,000/ha based on the U.S. market price and social cost of carbon, respectively. The study also estimates the change in the economic value of the carbon stock in ENP mangroves in response to different scenarios of sea level rise.

Peatlands act as carbon sinks while representing major sources of biogenic gases such as methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2), two potent greenhouse gases. Gas production and release in these peats soils are also influenced by overall warm temperatures and water table fluctuations due to the naturally shallow water table in the Florida Everglades. Releases of biogenic gases from Florida Everglades peat soils are not well understood and the temporal distribution and dynamics are uncertain. The general objective of this work was geared towards a methodological approach which aimed to examine the feasibility of capacitance moisture probes to investigate biogenic gas dynamics in various Florida Everglades peat soils at high temporal resolution. This work has implications for establishing capacitance moisture probes as a method to monitor gas dynamics in peat soils at high temporal resolution and better understanding patterns of gas build-up and release from peat soils in the Everglades. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Anthropogenic impacts, such as habitat destruction and spread of exotic species, are contributing to the sixth major extinction event in Earth’s history. To develop effective management and conservation plans, it is important to understand the ecological drivers of at-risk populations, assess the ability of a population to adapt to environmental change, and develop research methods for long-term ecosystem monitoring. I used wading birds nesting in the Florida Everglades, USA as a model system to address the challenges of managing and monitoring populations within an ecosystem greatly impacted by anthropogenic activities. Specifically, my project investigated 1) the prey selection of wading bird species, and the role of prey and foraging habitat availability on annual nesting numbers, 2) the ability of using diet change to predict species adaptability to a rapidly changing environment, and 3) the use of sensory data to provide low-cost, long-term monitoring of dynamic wetlands. I found that tricolored herons, snowy egrets, and little blue herons consumed marsh fish larger than those generally available across the landscape. Additionally, number of nests initiated by tricolored herons, snowy egrets, and little blue herons was strongly correlated with the annual densities of large fish available within the Everglades landscape. Conversely, number of nests initiated by wood storks, great egrets, and white ibises was more correlated with the amount of foraging habitat availability across the nesting season. Wood stork diets changed considerably since the 1960’s, consisting of mainly sunfish and exotic fish as opposed to marsh fishes dominant in historical diet studies. Storks also consumed more exotic fish species than they did historically. This diet plasticity and the species’ ability to exploit anthropogenic habitats may be conducive to maintaining population viability as storks experience widespread human-induced changes to their habitat. Sensory-only data models generated complementary results to models that used site-specific field data. Additionally, sensory-only models were able to detect different responses between size classes of fish to the processes that increase their concentrations in drying pools. However, the degree to which sensory variables were able to fit species data was dependent upon the ability of sensors to measure species-specific population drivers and the scale at which sensors can measure environmental change. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Fire plays a key role in the ecology of the Everglades and is a ubiquitous tool for managing the structure, function, and ecosystem services of the Greater Everglades watershed. Decades of hydrologic modifications have led to the alteration of plant community composition and fire regime in much of the Everglades. To create a better understanding of post-fire recovery in sawgrass (Cladium jamaicense) communities, sawgrass marshes in the northern Everglades were studied along a chronosequence of time since fire and along a nutrient gradient. Areas closer to a water nutrient source and with fewer mean days dry contained greater total and dead aboveground graminoid biomass whereas live graminoid biomass was greater in areas with less time since fire and with fewer days dry. Post-fire characteristics of sawgrass marshes can provide insight on the effectiveness of fire management practices in the maintenance and restoration of quality habitat in the northern Everglades. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2002. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 88-91). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Everglades National Park is a hydro-ecologically significant wetland experiencing salinity ingress over the years. This motivated our study to map water salinity using a spatially weighted optimization model (SWOM); and soil salinity using land cover classes and EC thresholds. SWOM was calibrated and validated at 3-km grids with actual salinity for 1998–2001, and yielded acceptable R2 (0.89-0.92) and RMSE (1.73-1.92 ppt). Afterwards, seasonal water salinity mapping for 1996–97, 2004–05, and 2016 was carried out. For soil salinity mapping, supervised land cover classification was firstly carried out for 1996, 2000, 2006, 2010 and 2015; with the first four providing average accuracies of 82%-94% against existing NLCD classifications. The land cover classes and EC thresholds helped mapping four soil salinity classes namely, the non saline (EC = 0~2 dS/m), low saline (EC = 2~4 dS/m), moderate saline (EC = 4~8 dS/m) and high saline (EC >8 dS/m) areas. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Submitted by Jos? Henrique Henrique (jose.neves@ufvjm.edu.br) on 2018-09-17T21:02:51Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) aremita_aparecida_vieira_reis.pdf: 2418281 bytes, checksum: 67deea14d94e0a30cc247899cc0b1807 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Rodrigo Martins Cruz (rodrigo.cruz@ufvjm.edu.br) on 2018-10-01T18:59:10Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) aremita_aparecida_vieira_reis.pdf: 2418281 bytes, checksum: 67deea14d94e0a30cc247899cc0b1807 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-10-01T18:59:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) aremita_aparecida_vieira_reis.pdf: 2418281 bytes, checksum: 67deea14d94e0a30cc247899cc0b1807 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018 / A pesquisa trata de reflex?es qualitativas de campo que t?m a Psicologia S?cio Hist?rica como eixo epistemol?gico norteador e que tem como objetivo geral: levantar, analisar e desvelar os sentidos e significados (significa??es) que as comunidades tradicionais atribuem ao processo sa?de-doen?a e ? implanta??o do Parque Nacional das Sempre-vivas. Como objetivos espec?ficos: verificar, analisar e desvelar qual a concep??o que os povos tradicionais que residem na ?rea de abrang?ncia do Parque Nacional das Sempre-vivas t?m acerca do processo sa?de-doen?a; verificar, analisar e desvelar se os povos tradicionais que residem na ?rea de abrang?ncia do Parque Nacional das Sempre-vivas correlacionam o processo de sa?de-doen?a com a implanta??o do Parque Nacional das Sempre-vivas; verificar, analisar e desvelar, quais os sentidos e significados atribu?dos ? implanta??o do Parque Nacional das Sempre-vivas pelos povos tradicionais que residem na ?rea de abrang?ncia do mesmo. A pesquisa foi realizada na ?rea de abrang?ncia do Parque Nacional das Sempre-vivas localizado na regi?o nordeste do estado de Minas Gerais. Para a constru??o desse estudo, tr?s mulheres representantes de distintas comunidades foram entrevistadas. A entrevista semiestruturada centralizada e recorrente foi a t?cnica de obten??o das informa??es. ? an?lise de N?cleos de Significa??es e a an?lise dos N?cleos Tem?ticos foram as estrat?gias anal?ticas utilizadas. Todos os preceitos ?ticos da Resolu??o 466/12 foram acatados e garantidos. Ao buscar desvelar a rela??o entre o Parque Nacional das Sempre-vivas e o processo de adoecimento dos povos afetados foi necess?rio entender de onde vinham os conhecimentos e as pr?ticas relacionados aos cuidados de sa?de, qual a concep??o de sa?de-doen?a adotada por esses povos, essa busca nos conduziu ?s av?s, bisav?s, tatarav?s detentoras dos conhecimentos e praticas relacionado aos cuidados da sa?de, nas quais resguardam um patrim?nio social carregado de significa??es atribu?das pelos povos nativos destas terras. Constatamos que a sobreposi??o do Parque Nacional das Sempre-vivas em terras tradicionalmente ocupadas provocou sofrimento ps?quico desencadeado pelo medo e aos atos de viol?ncia a que foram submetidos, al?m disso, a repress?o das atividades das popula??es habitantes representa o rompimento com o existir desses povos e como consequ?ncia, leva ao adoecimento. / Disserta??o (Mestrado Profissional) ? Programa de P?s-Gradua??o em Sa?de, Sociedade e Ambiente, Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri, 2018. / The research deals with qualitative field reflections that have Historical Partner Psychology as a guiding epistemological axis and whose general objective is: to raise, analyze and reveal the meanings and meanings (meaning) that traditional communities attribute to the health-disease process and the implantation of the Evergreens National Park. As specific objectives: to verify, analyze and unveil the conception that the traditional peoples that reside in the area of coverage of the Everglades National Park have about the health-disease process; verify, analyze and reveal if the traditional peoples who live in the area covered by the Everglades National Park correlate the health-disease process with the implementation of the Evergreen National Park; verify, analyze and reveal the meanings and meanings attributed to the implantation of the Evergreen National Park by the traditional peoples residing in the area covered by it. The research was carried out in the area covered by the Evergreen National Park located in the northeastern region of the state of Minas Gerais. For the construction of this study, three women representatives from different communities were interviewed. The centralized and recurrent semi-structured interview was the technique of obtaining the information. The analysis of Nuclei of Meanings and the analysis of the Thematic Nuclei were the analytical strategies used. All the ethical precepts of Resolution 466/12 were adhered to and guaranteed. In seeking to unveil the relationship between Evergreens National Park and the disease process of affected peoples, it was necessary to understand where the knowledge and practices related to health care came from, what the concept of health-disease adopted by these peoples, this search led us to the grandparents, great-grandparents, great-grandparents holding the knowledge and practices related to health care, in which they safeguard a social patrimony loaded with meanings attributed by the native peoples of these lands. We find that the overlapping of the Evergreen National Park in traditionally occupied lands caused psychic suffering triggered by the fear and acts of violence to which they were subjected. In addition, the repression of the activities of the inhabitants represents the rupture with the existence of these peoples and as a consequence, leads to illness.