S4. STA Technology and Everglades Restoration:
Organized by Paul J. DuBowy (US Army Corps of Engineers)
The Everglades, Florida’s "River of Grass,"
extends from Lake Okeechobee southward to Florida Bay. This
low-nutrient system is characterized by sawgrass wetlands, tree
islands, marl prairie, mangroves and coastal estuaries. Restoration
of the Greater Everglades ecosystem, a 50+-year project, involves
"getting the water right" in terms of quantity, quality, timing and
distribution. Although most interest and effort in restoration of
the Greater Everglades ecosystem involves recreation of more-natural
hydrology and hydrodynamics, another important aspect is water
quality. Unlike most wetland systems, the Everglades is
characterized by extremely low phosphorus concentrations (typically
below 10 ppb) which have resulted in a distinct native flora.
Phosphorus inputs, due to agriculture and urbanization, have lead to
phosphorus concentrations in Everglades water and sediment well over
an order of magnitude higher than historical levels, leading to
extensive stands of invasive cattails (Typha).
The 1991 Settlement Agreement ended the Everglades
lawsuit and was entered into by the federal government, the State of
Florida and the South Florida Water Management District. The
subsequent Consent Decree, as modified in 1995, specified that
interim and long-term phosphorus concentration levels for Arthur R.
Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge and Everglades
National Park must be met. The Agreement calls for the construction
of Stormwater Treatment Areas (STAs) to meet the long-term
phosphorus limits and for establishment of a regulatory program,
with agricultural Best Management Practices as a key component. A
five-agency Technical Oversight Committee meets quarterly to review
applied research, monitoring and compliance conducted pursuant to
the terms of the Settlement Agreement.
S5. Hurricane Hugo: Impacts on Natural Ecosystems and
Their Subsequent Recovery: Organized by Mike Duever (South
Florida Water Management District)
Extremely severe Hurricane Hugo made landfall near
Charleston, South Carolina in September 1989. A number of studies
have been conducted on the initial effects of the storm and
subsequent recovery from it. Primary study sites included Clemson
University’s Baruch Institute along the coast near Georgetown, about
50 miles north of Charleston; National Audubon Society’s Francis
Beidler Forest Sanctuary, about 30 miles inland from Charleston; and
National Park Service’s Congaree Swamp, about 75 miles inland from
Charleston. The latter two sites were located along the track of the
storm center, and were affected primarily by high winds. The
Georgetown site was somewhat north of the storm center, and affected
by the storm surge and high winds. Presentations in this symposium
will address the initial and delayed affects of the storm and
subsequent recovery of the natural plant communities. Short and long
term affects on animal populations will also be presented.
S6. Everglades Ecology and Restoration:
Organized by Steve Gilbert (US Fish and Wildlife Service) and Jana
Newman (South Florida Water Management District)
This symposium focuses on the multi-billion dollar
Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan and the associated
adaptive management program. Fundamental to effecting beneficial and
ecologically meaningful changes to the system, is a better
understanding of the current and pre-drainage ecology. The symposium
offered a number of papers which explain the key role of
conceptual ecological models in this process and discuss
investigations which have been performed, or models which have been
developed, to aid in understanding the ecology of this complex
ecosystem; hence, fostering the restoration and adaptive management
effort.
S8. The Human Dimensions of Regional Watershed
Assessments: Research, Integration, and Measurements of Success:
Organized by Marjorie Holland (The University of Mississippi),
Elizabeth Blood (National Science Foundation), and Charles Cooper
(USDA Agricultural Research Service)
The human dimension is critical to achieving
sustainable freshwater resources. Oftentimes, there is a mismatch
between "Public" goals and perceptions and "scientific" capabilities
and products. While watersheds encompass rivulets, streams,
wetlands, and associated channels of surface river systems, the
reality is that watersheds cross political boundaries, that surface
waters interface with groundwater systems, and that water users are
many times unaware of the long term impacts of freshwater use. This
session presented examples where an integrated process has been
developed and utilized to incorporate the human dimensions into
regional watershed assessments. These examples suggest that only by
undergoing process-development, experimenting with innovative
policies, and occasionally failing, can adaptable and comprehensive
plans be developed for managing and sustaining freshwater resources
in perpetuity.
S9. The Ecology of Tidal Freshwater Swamps:
Organized by Ken W. Krauss (US Geological Survey), Thomas W. Doyle
(US Geological Survey), and William H. Conner (Baruch Institute of
Coastal Ecology and Forest Science)
Tidal freshwater swamps comprise a unique forested
wetland condition because of their physiographic position of
occupying low lying coastal areas where they are subjected to both
upland runoff, tidal flooding, and/or aperiodic salt pulses. While
these systems have received rather nominal scientific attention,
they are among the most sensitive ecosystems from sea-level rise and
increased drought or flood frequency. Tidal freshwater wetlands are
readily impacted by acute and chronic exposure to even low levels of
salinity. The combined stress of flooding and salinity may compound
the threat in some systems, such that the margin for survival and
compensation to changing climate is much less than for other coastal
and upland habitats. In this session, we will bring together a group
of investigators whose principal research focus targets hydrological
processes, community organization, or stress physiology of
freshwater land-margin ecosystems, mostly along the southeastern
United States. The session began with a description of
hydrological regimes incident to these systems, then discussed aspects
of community and describe the physiological processes dictating much
of this change. Lastly, specific research programs that target
ecological effects of physical and biotic stressors on
salt-influenced freshwater forested wetlands were be described. This
session was helpful to coastal zone resource managers and
ecologists interested in understanding a unique system.
S10. Biogeochemical Transformations in Floodplain
Wetlands: Organized by Gregory Noe and Cliff Hupp (US
Geological Survey)
Floodplains are potentially important
biogeochemical hotspots for reducing nutrient loading from rivers to
coastal waterbodies. Large floodplain-river ecosystems are
particularly important in the Atlantic Coastal Plain of the
southeastern US. This symposium presented recent research on
nutrient cycling in river-floodplain ecosystems. The speakers will
focus on the biotic, hydrologic, geomorphic, climatic, and
geochemical controls on carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus
transformations in floodplains. Research on nutrient biogeochemistry
in floodplains can help identify 1) the role of floodplains in
altering downstream nutrient loading, and 2) potential management
actions that can increase nutrient retention by floodplain wetlands.
S11. Wetlands of the Chesapeake Bay and Tributary
Watershed: Organized by James Perry (Virginia Institute of
Marine Science)
Draining 166,000 square kilometers of the
mid-Atlantic region of the United States, the Chesapeake Bay is one
of the largest tidal estuaries in the world. There are approximately
5,000 square kilometers of wetlands in the watershed that serve a
number of important functions that are attributed high values by
humans, including nutrient recycling, fin and shellfish habitat, and
sediment trapping. As well, over three-quarters of the population of
the mid-Atlantic region live in the watershed. This population
pressure has caused severe impacts to the Chesapeake Bay wetlands to
the extent that we have suffered a loss of over ˝ of the original
total. The losses were mainly from dredging, filling, urban
development, and relative sea level rise. The purpose of this
symposium was to explore the past, present, and future of the wetland
of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributary watersheds. Presenters discussed the pre-history, human impacts, current research, and future
management goals and plans for both the tidal and non-tidal wetlands
of the region.
S12. Treatment Wetlands: Applications and
Long-Term Management: Organized by Richard Reaves (CH2M Hill)
Speakers discussed the status and future of
applications of treatment wetlands. Case studies focusing on the
southeastern United States examined the management issues
associated with long-term operation of treatment wetlands. Two
roundtable discussions were included where speakers participated in open discussions that addressed technology and design
issues at the close of the morning session and management issues at
the close of the afternoon session.
S13. Coastal Wetland Impoundment Ecology and
Management: the Southeast, the Great Lakes, and Beyond:
Organized by Daniel Tufford (University of South Carolina), Wiley
Kitchens (University of Florida), and Kurt Kowalski (US Geological
Survey)
Impounded and formerly impounded wetlands are
prominent ecological and economic features in some coastal areas.
Political and economic pressure from coastal population growth also
presents significant policy and management challenges to the status
and condition of these wetlands. Certain aspects of these wetland
ecosystems have been studied to the point that the science community
can provide substantial input to resource managers. Other aspects,
however, are in need of further research, especially to cover the
large variability in anthropogenic and natural stressors. Coastal
impoundments share the common hydrologic history of being subject to
frequent water level fluctuations (tides, seiches) prior to
impoundment and the common morphologic feature that they were diked
for water level control to achieve specific management objectives.
In some settings, the original reason(s) for impounding no longer
exist, and many are again open to more natural hydrology because the
dikes were intentionally or naturally breached. This symposium focused on the ecology and management of coastal wetland impoundments
along the Southeast coast (GA/SC), most of which were originally diked to support rice cultivation in the 18th and 19th
centuries. It will also include significant discussion of similar
systems in the Great Lakes and along the Pacific coast. The premise
is that the resource management and ecosystem integrity challenges
relating to coastal impoundments share similar themes regardless of
location. This symposium provided a unique opportunity for
scientists focused on impounded coastal wetlands to share
information and learn about similar issues and research efforts
across the nation.
S14. Wetlands of Coastal Watersheds:
Organized by Susan-Marie Stedman (National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration)
The term "coastal wetland" is often mis-construed
as encompassing only estuarine wetlands or only tidal wetlands. NOAA
has been leading an effort to look at coastal wetlands as all
wetlands - estuarine or fresh, tidal or non-tidal - that occur in a
coastal watershed. We have defined coastal watersheds based on USGS
8-digit HUCs. Some work by the FWS has concluded that in some
coastal watersheds the majority of the wetlands are freshwater
non-tidal. Data collected by the USDA's NRI points out that these
coastal freshwater non-tidal wetlands are the most heavily affected
by development pressure. This symposium featured papers about
all types of coastal wetlands, how they interact in coastal
watersheds, how they are affected by coastal development, and how
they can be responsibly managed. This symposium was of great
interest to anyone working in coastal areas, particularly since many
of us are moving toward a watershed approach to wetland management.
