Everglades National Park Freshwater Aquatics Monitoring
Jeff Kline
Everglades National Park
South Florida Natural Resources Center
• Preserve flora and fauna in a natural state. (1934 Everglades Establishment Act)
• Maintain natural abundance, diversity, and ecological integrity of native plants and animals.
(1989 Everglades National Park Expansion Act)
Invasive Species Programs
Everglades National Park’s
Mandates:
Invasive Species Programs
Timeline of introduced fishes entering ENP
Sta
ge
(ft
)
1
2
3
4
5
6 L-31W canal stage
Year
1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009
No
. o
f in
tro
du
ce
d s
pe
cie
s
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Water management
change begins
late 1999
Canal bank elevation
1960-1980Black acara
Walking catfish
Blue tilapia
Mayan cichlid
Peacock bass
Mozambique tilapia
Jaguar guapote & African jewelfish
Brown hoplo
Sailfin catfish
& Banded cichlid
Pike killifish
Oscar
Spotted tilapia
Spotfinned spinyeel
Canal overflow into marsh
Asian swamp eel
• Generally species lists
• 16 species of non-native fish
• Pomacea insularum and P. diffusa-2005
• Misc other aquatic invertebrates
Priority Animal Species
• Priority Animals
– The most recent introductions
– Most abundant
– And those not in ENP yet!
• Newly Detected Animal Species
– Vermiculated Sailfin Catfish (Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus)
Image by Windser Aguirre
Fiscal Year Treatments: Cold weather 2010
Monitoring • Fish monitoring
– Park-wide sample-Annually – Monthly Rocky Glades – Long-term monitoring – Other monitoring efforts-
Cooperators – Misc observations
• Non-native apple snail
– Pomacea insularum • Old Tamiami Canal survey
every 8-10 days • May 2005-April 2010 • May 2010-Once per month
– P. diffusa at Frog City – Annual survey of border canals
Monitoring: Misc observations
Monitoring: Temperature stations
Monitoring
Peacock bass-15 oC
Oscar-12.9 oC
Jaguar guapote-12.0 oC
Spotted tilapia-11.2 oC
Walking catfish-9.8 oC
Pike killifish-9.7 oC
African jewelfish-9.5 oC
Mayan cichlid-9.0 oC
Sailfin catfish-9.0 oC
Black acara-8.9 oC
Asian swamp eel-8.0 oC
Blue tilapia-6.2 oC
Brown hoplo-5.7 oC
Date
Wa
ter
tem
pera
ture
(oC
)
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
22
24 OT bottom
P35 Surface
P36 bottom
NP206 bottom
L31W bottom
1/1/
2010
1/2/
2010
1/3/
2010
1/4/
2010
1/5/
2010
1/6/
2010
1/7/
2010
1/8/
2010
1/9/
2010
1/10
/201
0
1/11
/201
0
1/12
/201
0
1/13
/201
0
1/14
/201
0
1/15
/201
0
Monitoring: Misc observations Rotala rotundifolia
“Uncertain if it will spread from the canal to other areas…but anywhere you see Bacopa, you could expect it to establish”
L-29 Canal
S-334
S-333
Monitoring
Island apple snail
Pomacea insularum
2008 L-29 Canal
S-334
S-333
Monitoring
2009 L-29 Canal
S-334
S-333
Island apple snail
Pomacea insularum
Monitoring
2010 L-29 Canal
S-334
S-333
2010 L-29 Canal
S-334
S-333
Island apple snail
Pomacea insularum
P.insularum egg masses
Marsh survey points (no eggs)
Canals
ENP boundary
L-29 Canal S-333 S-334
Needs & Gaps
• Prevention is key with fish and aquatic inverts!
• Non-native species must be considered when designing water management changes
– Non-native species are “bio-pollution”.
– Study alternative ways of delivering water without delivering non-native species.
– Restore unnatural habitats
• How do we work better with external management agencies with different mandates and objectives to meet our mandates?
Questions?
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