Monitoring Freshwater Fish and Macroinvertebrates in the Florida Everglades to Establish CEPP Baseline Conditions

The Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2000 authorized the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) as a framework for modifications and operational changes to the Central and Southern Florida Project needed to restore the south Florida ecosystem. Provisions within WRDA 2000 provided for specific authorization for an adaptive assessment and monitoring program. The CEPP is a CERP project expected to provide an additional 370,000 acre-feet of freshwater to the Everglades annually. Freshwater fishes and invertebrates play a critical role at the base of the food chain within Everglades marshes, providing food to iconic apex predators like wading birds and alligators. Changes in water quantity and quality that influence freshwater fish and invertebrate assemblage structure directly influences wading bird ecology and ecosystem integrity of Everglades marshes. Monitoring of fishes and large invertebrates is necessary to track changes in water management associated with restoration projects both within Everglades National Park and upstream within the Water Conservation Areas. Long-term monitoring data are required to support assessment of the changes in water management. This project will conduct field sample collection, process samples, and data analyses and evaluate the long-term data set with regards to natural resource condition assessments. The CEPP Adaptive Management and Ecological Monitoring Plans identify the freshwater fish and macroinvertebrate communities as essential attributes of the ecosystem that need to be monitored to assess the influence of the CEPP and to confirm additional freshwater is improving the production and availability of aquatic fauna (fish and macroinvertebrates) to support higher tropic levels. This monitoring of aquatic fauna will inform CEPP Adaptive Management actions associated with CEPP performance in conjunction with other CERP projects and non-CERP operations. Program Description/Objective: (brief description of the anticipated work) The purpose of this research is to leverage a long-term dataset to monitor the status and trends of freshwater fish and macroinvertebrate populations at established sites within Water Conservation Area 3 (WCA3) in order to determine pre-CEPP implementation baseline conditions for aquatic fauna to inform CEPP Adaptive Management and Ecological Monitoring Plans The project objectives include: Objective 1: Collect samples to monitor status and trends of large (>8cm) and small (<8cm) freshwater fish and macroinvertebrate populations at 10-12 established sites in WCA3 up to 5 times intra-annually. Objective 2: Establish and report the baseline condition of aquatic faunal abundances and biomasses for future use in a Before, After, Control, Impact (BACI) assessment of CEPP project implementation. Objective 3: Demonstrate progress and present results in the form of quarterly status reports, annual reports, and a final report. Public Benefit This project will play a critical role in determining the effect of the CEPP on the aquatic fauna community in WCA3 and continue to build upon the knowledge base for understanding the ecology of the freshwater trophic community in the Greater Everglades ecosystem. Data collected will be used to inform the successful implementation of the CEPP and support the CERP in reaching its restoration goals and objectives. Understanding aquatic faunal dynamics within WCA3 is critical to assess and the effects of hydrologic changes associated with CEPP implementation, ecosystem restoration, and climate change which have potential impacts on the economy of South Florida, including tourism, recreational opportunities, and water management.