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Description:
Project Manager:
Lew Gramer
Project Years:
2015
2016
Project Summary:
Background: South Florida is host to the third largest coral reef ecosystem in the world, as well as more than five million inhabitants (2010 US Census) and approximately 30 million overnight visitors per annum (Sun-Sentinel, May 09, 2012). Need: A critical question raised in policy discussions and public meetings regarding LBSP management in this region is the contribution of nonpoint sources, and in particular oceanic upwelling, relative to other sources of LBSP.Objective: We are quantifying the long-term relative contribution of oceanic upwelling by sub-region within southeast Florida, to a mass balance budget that Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection (FDEP) will use to address nutrients, carbon, and other pollutants of concern. The need for such information has been directly identified in both the Florida Local Action Strategy (LAS) and FDEP CRCP strategic management plan (20112016). Approach: Previous studies suggested that upwelling may contribute more to SE Florida reef nutrient dynamics than other identifiable sources, yet existing estimates of this contribution were too uncertain to support informed management decisions. Years 1 and 2 of the study analyzed multiple years of already gathered oceanographic data from NOAA and academic partners, including ocean currents, sea temperature, and direct nutrient measurements, to constrain the impact of upwelling on south Florida coastal nutrient budgets. Direct measurements of nutrient concentrations before, during, and after previously-observed upwelling events, were then combined with the much more extensive record of sea-temperature and ocean-currents measurements using documented in situ relationships between sea temperature, coastal ocean dynamics, and nutrient loads.Classes (physical mechanisms) of upwelling are being identified from these data, and the relative frequency and nutrient and thermal impact of each class of upwelling will be estimated. This will leverage approx. $1.5 million of past investment by NOAA and non-NOAA sources to gather these data. Preliminary results are being discussed with researchers, and await discussion with management partners at the end of Year 2, to provide assistance in identifying management options for the region. The project has already provided guidance to NOAA and other partners in targeting field observations (both those funded under the proposed project, and those currently planned by partners) during Years 1, 2, and 3. Year 2 expanded and Year 3 will continue to expand the project to include direct measurement of nutrients and sea-temperature during and after coastal upwelling events, to further constrain the annual impact of upwelling. The direct goal is to inform both short- and long-term management decisions aimed at mitigating LBSP sources, including wastewater outfalls, inlets, channels, and groundwater-discharge. As an advantageous byproduct, the long-term thermal impact of upwelling (through cold stress, and mitigation of warm stress) on south Florida coral-reef ecosystems is being estimated by sub-region. Also in Year 3, a report with summary maps and tables quantifying the relative contribution of upwelling by sub-region, as well as detailed analysis of all data, will be prepared for CoRIS, State, and local jurisdictional partners; all team members will discuss implications of these results for identifying management options in southeast Florida.
Expected Outcome:
The project will provide quantitative estimates of the contribution of coastal oceanic upwelling by a variety of physical mechanisms, including wind-driven upwelling, Florida Current meanders and cross-Straits seiches, and internal-wave breaking, to the nutrient flux and sea temperature variability on SE Florida's shallow-water reefs. Upwelling contributions to the mass-balance budget of the northern portion of the Florida reef tract will be characterized both in toto, and at the level of differing depths within the reef system, and different sub-watershed regions within individual counties of the tract. Sub-watershed regions have been defined working in collaboration with management partners, and cognizant of the results from a prior project of Gregg and Ferguson, to map basin contributing areas (watersheds) for each of nine tidal inlets within the SEFCRI southeast Florida region, and to characterize and assess the status of LBSP management in each basin (sub-watershed unit). This information is being made available to inform management decisions regarding future protection of marine resources in SE Florida, and assist in planning and prioritizing efforts to mitigate sources of LBSP to SE Florida reefs.
Project Locations:
Jursdiction Priority Sites:
Project Category:
Land-based Sources of Pollution (LBSP)
Project Type:
Ongoing
Project Status:
Funding Ended
Associated Products:
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