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The composition of seed banks of areas on the drained Kissimmee River floodplain (Florida, USA) that are currently pasture and formerly had been wet prairie, broadleaf marsh, and wetland shrub communities was compared to that of seed banks of areas that have extant stands of these communities. The species composition of the seed banks of existing wet prairie and former wet prairie sites were the most similar, with a Jaccard index of similarity of 55. Existing and former broadleaf marsh and wetland shrub communities had Jaccard indices of 38 and 19, respectively. Although existing and former wet prairie seed banks had nearly the same species richness, species richness at former broadleaf marsh and wetland shrub sites was higher than at existing sites. Mean total seed densities were similar in existing and former wet prairies (700 to 800 seeds m2). However, seed densities in former broadleaf marsh and wetland shrub sites were significantly greater than in comparable existing communities (>4,900 seeds m2 at former sites versus 200 to 300 in existing communities). The higher seed densities in former broadleaf marsh and wetland shrub sites was due to over 4,000 seeds m2 of Juncus effusus in their seed banks. Half of the species that characterize wet prairies were found in the seed banks at former and existing wet prairie sites. At existing broadleaf marsh and wetland shrub sites, most of the characteristic species were found in their seed banks. However, only one characteristic broadleaf species was found in the seed banks of the former broadleaf marsh sites, and no characteristic wetland shrub species were found in the seed banks of the former wetland shrub sites. The seeds of only two non-indigenous species were found in the seed banks of former wetland communities at very low densities. For all three vegetation types, but particularly for the broadleaf marsh and wetland shrub sites, re-establishment of the former vegetation on the restored floodplain will require propagule dispersal from off-site sources.

This research examined the influence of hydrochory (seed dispersal via water), anemochory (seed dispersal via wind), and zoochory (seed dispersal by animals) on the re-establishment of the important floodplain vegetation communities of the Kissimmee River floodplain. Fifty-eight seed species were identified from 19,849 and 43, 894 seeds trapped in hydrochory traps in sites north and south of Oak Creek, respectively. Seeds trapped by anemochory were measurable but were found to be far less important than hydrochory, while results showed no evidence of zoochory .... A number of interafting factors, e.g. hydrology, lack of remnants, seed phenology, etc. are limiting the dispersal of broadleaf marsh species north of Oak Creek, delaying range, expansion, and further community restoration. / by Garren Mezza. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

This study created an ecological spatial model, using a geographic information system, to visualize the influence of hydrochory on restoration of the three dominant wetland communities of broadleaf marsh, wetland shrub, and wet prairie across the floodplain of the Kissimmee River. Primary parameters incorporated into the model included floodplain hydrology, seed characteristics of buoyancy and dispersal rates, and species flood tolerance. S²rensen's similarity index, comparing spatial agreement among model output and observed community data, resulted in values of BLM-BB = 0.10, BLM = 0.07, WS = 0.21, and WP = 0.36. The significant discrepancies between modeled and observed community spatial coverage indicated a need for incorporation of more stochastic variables of climatic disturbances, nutrient availability, and soil characteristics. More research on species flood tolerance across smaller spatial scales is also needed, and base data incorporated into the model should also be reliable and consistent if accuracy is to be achieved. / by Stevee Kennard. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

This is a research report that discusses some continuous and discrete modeling techniques. The report applies these techniques to the analysis of Canal 38 (Kissimmee River) part of Central and South Florida Flood Control District. The analysis is based on recorded data for defining the physical systems parameters. Established parameters are mathematically related to define a descriptive model for Canal 38. The modeling procedure of 'trial and error' is used to assemble the model with measures of merit, the integral square error, and root mean squared error. General simulation considerations are discussed for application of the mathematical model.

The Forgiveness Project includes a critical introduction that defines the author’s approach to the short-short form as well as an explanation of how historiographical metafiction can work to memorialize. The first section contains primarily short-short stories that address the themes of motherhood, small tyrannies, happy liars, caregiving and the clichés of grief. A collection of linked short stories follows, revolving around elusive forgiveness. On the night of July 17, 1977, Juanita Lee, a bridge tender in South Florida, was abducted by two men and executed in the Everglades to silence her opposition to the demolition of an Intracoastal Waterway bridge. Twenty-two years later her daughter, Jill, now a Washington D.C. lobbyist who views the world through the cynical lens of her life’s work, is confronted with a plea for forgiveness via an organization called “The Forgiveness Project,” representing one of her mother’s killers.