The hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) is the most endangered sea turtle in the Eastern Caribbean. The NPS` Buck Island Reef National Monument’s Sea Turtle Research and Monitoring Program has been conducting an intensive tagging program for sea turtles since 1988, focusing on the hawksbill since 1990. We will utilize capture histories of individual nesting females, both within and between years, to partition changes in numbers observed over time into component vital rates (survival, breeding probability, number of nests laid per female per year), and address hypotheses about changes in these parameters over time. Finally, we will use the saturation tagging data that has been collected at Buck Island Reef to assess the amount and type of effort needed for future monitoring of similar sea turtle populations, to achieve reasonable precision. MORE 
Everglades National Park contains a variety of coastal habitats used by a variety of fish species, making it a popular area for recreational fishing. It has been suggested that juvenile fish data could be used to improve stock assessments and management decisions. The project will quantitatively and systematically sample Tarpon Bay for juvenile snook and other sportfishes (gray snapper, red drum, mullet, etc). Data will be used to determine geomorphological and hydrological characteristics of critical nursery habitats, as well as snook abundance estimates, growth rates, and stock of origin. Protocols and findings from Tarpon Bay could serve as a template or a preliminary working model for a larger project that would be expanded to other embayments and low-salinity backwaters that characterize much of southwest coastal Everglades. MORE 
The South Florida pine rocklands are a globally endangered ecosystem and only less than ten percent of the original habitat remains. Controlling exotic plants, especially Schinus and reestablishing pine trees are critical for restoring pine rocklands. The proposed research will determine effects of pine trees (natives and replanted) and exotic plants on changes of soil properties.
In Everglades National Park (ENP), at least 12 species of non-indigenous (NI) fishes are presently established, but little is known about their potential impact on native biota. We also know little about how interactions among the NI species may affect their relative invasiveness and impact. The jewel cichlid (Hemichromis letourneauxi) is a highly aggressive omnivore, whose relative abundance and invaded range continues to increase since its first appearance in ENP in 2002. Data collected in this study will be used to assess the potential effects of H. letourneauxi throughout the greater Everglades ecosystem, and determine whether these effects may be influenced by the presence of previously established NI fishes. Insights from this study may have broad implications for the management of aquatic habitats faced with repeated introductions of NI fishes. MORE 
U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.fort.usgs.gov/brdscience/pobs1.aspx?region=Southeast
Page Contact Information: Paul_Geissler@usgs.gov
