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Assessing the Impacts of an Active Water Schedule on Vegetation Structure in the Northern Everglades
Sergio C. Gonzalez

Southeastern Naturalist, Volume 17, Issue 2 (2018): 211–220

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Southeastern Naturalist 211 S.C. Gonzalez 22001188 SOUTHEASTERN NATURALIST 1V7o(2l.) :1271,1 N–2o2. 02 Assessing the Impacts of an Active Water Schedule on Vegetation Structure in the Northern Everglades Sergio C. Gonzalez* Abstract - As part of restoration efforts of Holey Land Wildlife Management Area (HWMA) in the northern Everglades, a pump station in the northwest corner began delivering water from the Miami Canal in 1991. In 2005, Hurricane Wilma damaged the pump, rendering it non-functional until September 2014. These events provided a unique opportunity to examine the impacts of an active water schedule on the vegetation structure of HWMA. Results of linear-regression models show a drastic increase in Typha domingensis (Southern Cattail) abundance during the period when the pump was active and a marked decrease of this species after pump failure. This change was attributable to increased nutrient inputs from canal water pumped into the area. Changes in Cladium jamaicense (Sawgrass) cover may have a lag response to fire activity. Introduction Areas of Typha domingensis Pers. (Southern Cattail, hereafter Cattail) marsh occur naturally throughout the Everglades landscape; however, the species can become invasive in disturbed, nutrient-rich environments and turn areas of Cladium jamaicense Crantz (Sawgrass) marsh into Cattail monocultures (Apfelbaum 1984; Childers et al. 2003; Grace and Harrison 1986; Keddy 1990; Newman et al. 1996, 1998; Toth 1987, 1988). Native vegetation in the Everglades is adapted to a lownutrient environment; thus, a major problem facing Everglades restoration has been reducing nutrient loading from agricultural areas that flow south into its ecosystem (Salt et al. 2008, Steward and Ornes 1983). Agricultural runoff flows into canals that carry the water southward into wetlands and cause a variety of problems, including increased phosphorus concentrations, that promote the expansion of Cattail populations (Childers et al. 2003, Crisman 2008, DeBusk et al. 1994, FWC 2002, Miller and Mettraw 1982, Salt et al. 2008). Beginning in the late 1880s, vast tracts of Everglades habitat were drained via the construction of ditches and canals (summarized in Grunwald 2006). Under the Central and South Florida Project of 1947, Congress tasked the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) with expanding flood-control efforts in South Florida. The results are the series of canals and water-control structures that fragment and impound the Everglades landscape today. In 1972, the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), along with the USACE, was given the responsibility of operating and maintaining this flood-control system (Salt et al. 2008). These drainage projects led to severe disturbance of the historical hydroperiod and natural fire regime that were integral in shaping the South Florida landscape. *Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Division of Habitat and Species Conservation, Sunrise Field Office, Sunrise, FL 33351; sergio.gonzalez@myfwc.com. Manuscript Editor: Julia Cherry Southeastern Naturalist S.C. Gonzalez 2018 Vol. 17, No. 2 212 In particular, overdrainage caused much of the topography across the Everglades to decrease as a result of oxidation and subsidence of organic peat soils. Prolonged dry periods also created conditions favorable for muck fires, which in turn contributed to lowered ground elevations and severely impacted tree islands (FWC 2002). These processes also may have played a role in promoting the establishment of new stands of Cattail (Wu et al. 2012). Environmental-restoration initiatives began in the 1980s with the passage of the Save Our Everglades program (1983), the Surface-Water Improvement and Management Act (1987), and the Everglades Forever Act (1988). Similar pieces of both state and federal legislation were passed in the 1990s that culminated in the congressionally authorized Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP; US Congress 2000), which was designed to coordinate dozens of federal and state agencies in the restoration of natural ecosystems while meeting the water needs of urban and agricultural areas. Here, I describe the effects of the implementation of active hydrological management on the macroscale vegetation structure in a portion of the northern Everglades. Compiling data from multiple agencies collected between 1992 and 2014 allows for a unique case study in wetland restoration. The dataset examined spans 13 y of active hydrological manipulation associated with restoration of a tract of northern Everglades, which began in 1992, followed by 9 years of almost no manipulation as a result of infrastructural damage that occurred in 2005. The implementation of actively managed water levels was accompanied by an unwanted increase in Cattail cover. I investigated whether this increase in Cattail cover was a result of wetter conditions on the ground, nutrient contamination, or fire activity. A quantitative model to explain driving forces behind the observed changes in the plant community might inform new hydrological schedules and other habitat-restoration activities. I predicted that the unwanted changes in macro-scale vegetation structure (i.e., Cattail expansion) after the initiation of such activities were caused by excessive nutrient concentrations in the water introduced to the area. Study Area Holey Land Wildlife Management Area (HWMA), encompassing 14,306 ha (35,350 ac), is part of the Everglades Complex of Wildlife Management Areas (ECWMA) and has been managed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) (formerly the Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission) since 1968. The area comprises one of the northern extents of the Everglades Sawgrass marsh ecosystem north of Water Conservation Area 3 and south of the Everglades Agricultural Area, which extends to Lake Okeechobee (Fig. 1). The area is completely impounded by canals, levees, and ditches used to control water-flow. The western and southern boundaries of HWMA follow the L-23 (Miami Canal) and the L-5 levees, respectively, which separate the area from its associated canals. The northern and eastern boundaries are bordered by a levee along which is a seepage canal that helps move water from the northwest corner to the southeast corner. Water management is coordinated with the SFWMD (FWC 2002). Southeastern Naturalist 213 S.C. Gonzalez 2018 Vol. 17, No. 2 As part of the hydrological restoration of HWMA, a pump station (G200A) was constructed in the northwest corner of the area in 1991 to deliver water from the Miami Canal. The initial operating plan specified that water stages in HWMA should vary between 3.50 m (11.5 ft) MSL on 16 May and 4.11 m (13.5 ft) on 1 November each year. In order to meet these objectives, the plan called for water to be pumped in when rainfall was insufficient. However, since the onset of hydrological restoration, Cattail has expanded to cover significant portions of the area, forming large monocultures, and has become a major management concern (FWC 2002, FDEP 2004). Concern over the effects of the new hydrology and water quality prompted Cattail monitoring activities. Once Cattail coverage exceeded 809 ha (2000 ac), managers placed flashboards in the 3 outflow culverts located on the southern border of HWMA, which helped retain rainwater and reduce the amount of untreated water that needed to be pumped into the area from the Miami Canal. A revision of elevation in the area prompted the original schedule to be lowered by 1.27 cm (0.5 in) in 1993. Due to explosive expansion of Cattail and yearly high-water stress on the deer herd, a water schedule of 3.2–3.81 m (10.5–12.5 ft) MSL was adopted as of 1995 (FWC 2002). The hydroperiod of the area was managed in this way until 2005, when Hurricane Wilma damaged the G200A pump and rendered it mostly non-functional and Figure 1. Map of Holey Land Wildlife Management Area. Southeastern Naturalist S.C. Gonzalez 2018 Vol. 17, No. 2 214 the area’s hydrology was primarily rainfall-driven. Managers repaired the pump in September 2014, and the station began operating again in October 2014. Methods Aerial vegetation surveys have been conducted in HWMA since 1992 to track changes in Cattail coverage. These surveys consist of point transects that cover the entire area and are flown as east–west transects by helicopter with 2 biologists recording the vegetation type at each point. A total of 372 points form a grid over the area with longitudinal distances of 625 m and a latitudinal distance of 700 m between transects (totaling 17 transects). Between 1992 and 2003, surveyors recorded only Cattail presence at each point. In 2004, they incorporated other vegetation types into the surveys, including Sawgrass, Morella cerifera L. (Wax Myrtle), Salix carolinensis Berry (Carolina Willow), and Acer rubrum L. (Red Maple). I compiled data from aerial surveys, as well as records of all known prescribed and wildfire events in the area. I extracted stage level (water-table level above MSL) and waterquality data from the SFWMD DBHYDRO online database. I performed a 2-sample t-test to evaluate whether average monthly phosphate concentrations in the water were significantly different before and after the pump failure. To identify factors influencing Cattail coverage, I conducted a multilinearregression analysis in R (R ver. 3.1.1; www.r-project.org). Model parameters that I explored included area burned in the 12 months preceding the surveys, mean annual stage-level, minimum and maximum monthly average stage-levels, and annual mean of total-phosphate levels (mg/L) measured on the outflow side (HWMA side) of the G200A. I used stepwise regression procedures to generate 6 optimized models to predict percent Cattail cover, yearly change in percent Cattail cover, and percent Sawgrass cover. Model selection was based on the variable combination that resulted in the lowest Akaike information criterion values. I further explored the effects of fire by generating and incorporating fire variables that might reflect a lag in vegetation response to wildfire (12-month total area burned 4 y prior to the survey, total area burned over the 3 y prior to the survey, and total area burned over 5 y prior to the survey). I then replaced the total area burned in the preceding 12 months with each new variable and re-ran the analysis each time. Results The yearly Cattail cover estimates since 1990 show a parabolic trend that drops off after the failure of the pump station and is also synchronous with a drop in total phosphate concentrations (Fig. 2). Cattail percent cover estimated by aerial surveys was less than 5% in 1992 and peaked at 31.7% in 2000. There was a data gap from 2001–2003, during which no surveys were conducted. The data from 2005 onward shows a decline in Cattail cover for each subsequent year with the lowest coverage of 10.4% in 2010. The 2014 vegetation survey estimated Cattail coverage to be 21.1%. Southeastern Naturalist 215 S.C. Gonzalez 2018 Vol. 17, No. 2 Yearly average total phosphate concentrations varied from 11 ppb in 2008 to 69 ppb in 2005, with a mean of over 40 ppb for the entire data set. The maximum phosphate concentration measured was 118 ppb in December 2004. Overall, average monthly phosphate concentrations exceeded 45 ppb. During the period when the G200A pump was operational, monthly phosphate concentrations averaged 51 ppb. That value dropped to a monthly average of 23 ppb for the period after the pump station broke down. The two-sample t-test demonstrated a significant difference between the two means (t = 7.14, df = 92, P < 0.001). The stepwise regression produced a model to predict Cattail cover that only included minimum monthly average stage-level and annual mean total phosphate concentrations (Table 1). Both factors were significant predictors of percent Cattail Figure 2. Percent Cattail cover, yearly average dissolved phosphate concentration, and monthly average stage-level over the study period. Table 1. Results of multi-linear regression analysis. An asterisk (*) indicates that the model includes a time-lag effect of fire. Response Predictive variables β SE P-value R2 Percent Cattail cover Minimum monthly stage-level -0.077 0.022 0.003 0.52 Mean annual P-concentration 2.307 0.647 0.002 Yearly change in percent Cattail cover Minimum monthly stage-level -0.061 0.025 0.026 0.38 Mean annual stage level 0.105 0.035 0.001 Percent Sawgrass cover Mean annual stage-level -0.273 0.066 0.004 0.76 Maximum monthly stage-level -0.113 0.091 0.256 Area burned in last 12 months 4.24E-06 2.70E-06 0.160 Percent Sawgrass cover* Mean annual stage-level 0.146 4.40E-06 0.011 0.80 12-month area burned 4 y prior 4.70E-06 2.08E-06 0.054 Southeastern Naturalist S.C. Gonzalez 2018 Vol. 17, No. 2 216 cover. Increases in minimum monthly average stage-level were associated with a decrease in percent Cattail cover. Total phosphate concentrations had a strong positive effect on percent Cattail cover. Yearly change in percent Cattail was best predicted by minimum monthly average stage-level and mean monthly average stage-level (Table 1). The optimized model for percent Sawgrass cover included maximum and mean monthly average stage-level and 12-month total area burned. Only the mean annual stage-level was a significant predictor of Sawgrass cover (T able 1). When replacing the 12-month total area burned with any one of the 3 time-lag variables, each of these new fire variables had significant effects on the abundance of Sawgrass (P < 0.1 in all cases). The model that best fit the data included the 12-month total area burned 4 y prior as a predictor and mean annual stage level (Table 1). Further exploration of the intricacies of the relationship between fire and Sawgrass were beyond the scope of this analysis; however, I surmise that the full effects of fire (direct and indirect) on Sawgrass are likely additive and fully realized over the course of several years. Discussion This assessment quantitatively demonstrates some of the measurable effects of restoration efforts in this northern Everglades marsh community on the macroscale vegetation structure. The operation of the G200A pump resulted in dramatic changes in HWMA’s vegetation composition. Not only was hydroperiod affected, but the results of this study suggest that the inflow of nutrient-contaminated water promoted the rapid expansion of Cattail in the area. This finding supports my hypothesis and is consistent with the findings of David (1996) and Childers et al. (2003) that also suggest that phosphorus-enriched water has encouraged Cattail encroachment in other parts of the Everglades. Total-phosphate levels most accurately predicted percent Cattail cover overall, while hydrological parameters most closely predicted annual change in Cattail cover. The slight negative relationship between Cattail cover and minimum monthly average stage-level was surprising and appears to suggest that a drier dry period has a less-negative effect on Cattail abundance than less-extreme dry period condition. However, this situation could result from several factors. Monthly phosphate concentrations are somewhat cyclical in the data, with lower phosphate concentrations generally seen in the drier half of the year, when less water is available to be moved into the system; this pattern would account for an overall negative coefficient for a “dryness” parameter. Secondly, dry-downs can enhance Cattail seed germination (consistent with “lower minimum water = less-negative effect”; Johnson et al. 2007, Sojda and Solberg 1993). Alternatively, this relationship might reflect an indirect correlation between Cattail and other effects of drought, such as more frequent or larger fires. Yearly change in percent Cattail cover was significantly affected by hydrological parameters, but not by total phosphate concentrations. Superficially, this outcome seems at odds with the results of the model predicting total Cattail cover in the area. Southeastern Naturalist 217 S.C. Gonzalez 2018 Vol. 17, No. 2 However, when considering differences in how the variables in the model affect the response variable (yearly change in Cattail cover) throughout the data set, it is clear that hydrological variables would be better predictive variables than total dissolved phosphate concentrations in the water. Although phosphate concentrations were not direct predictors of yearly change in percent Cattail cover, maintaining higher mean stage-levels requires more water to be pumped in, thereby increasing the total phosphate flowing into HWMA. Conditions in the area after the 2005 pump failure were consistently much drier, thus both reduced phosphorus inputs and drier conditions likely worked synergistically to reduce Cattail cover in the area. Further, after 2005, without artificially high nutrient inputs into the system, rainfall-driven wet and dry conditions would most directly affect the annual rate of retreat of Cattail. Percent Sawgrass cover was driven by both hydrology and fire, and it should be noted that the effects of maximum stage-level and area burned in the 12 months prior to a survey were in opposite directions. Thus, the results suggest that extreme wet seasons may negatively affect Sawgrass abundance and that fire is positively correlated with Sawgrass abundance. Considering that the results show that yearly change in Cattail cover is predicted by hydrological variables, it is likely that the negative effect of extreme high water on relative Sawgrass coverage is both direct and indirect (i.e., via concurrent increases in Cattail). In similar Sawgrass marsh communities, fire can promote the spread of Cattail because its greater phosphorus-uptake capacity allows it to grow more rapidly after a fire-associated nutrient release (Lorenzen et al. 2001, Miao et al. 2010, Newman 1998, Wu et al. 2012). Although a phosphate release by fire may cause a localized increase in Cattail abundance in a nutrient-restricted system, this result is not apparent in this dataset. Any such effect in this area is overshadowed by the much Figure 3. Changes in vegetation structure since 2004 plotted with acreage burned in the preceding 12 months. Southeastern Naturalist S.C. Gonzalez 2018 Vol. 17, No. 2 218 stronger effect of high nutrient loadings in water that has been pumped into the area. Recent fire before the survey may similarly make surviving overstory species, such as Carolina Willow and Wax Myrtle, less detectable to observers on aerial surveys because it takes longer for these species to resprout than Sawgrass in the understory (S.C. Gonzalez, pers. observ.). By this mechanism, data could suggest spikes in Sawgrass and decreases in woody species that might hide a relative increase in Cattail that was attributable to fire (such as in 2007; Fig. 3). Newman et al. (1998) concluded that because they could find no phosphate limitations between Sawgrass and Cattail stands in HWMA, either an increase in water depth or duration of flooding stimulated Cattail growth in combination with some effect of fire. In an environment with no nutrient limitations (specifically phosphorus), the remaining spatial niche differentiator between Cattail and Sawgrass is hydroperiod. Thus, in a temporally static survey in such an environment (i.e., HWMA in 1998), one would expect water depth to best predict the occurrence of Cattail or Sawgrass at a site. Although Cattail cover would have undoubtedly increased in some areas with the implementation of a longer hydroperiod, this study demonstrates that there was indeed a release from nutrient limitation in HWMA which drove the explosive increase in Cattail abundance that began in the early 1990s. The return to functioning status of the G200A will most certainly have noticeable effects on the vegetation communities and, by extension, wildlife communities in HWMA. An increase in Cattail abundance will likely be noticeable within the next 2 y as a consequence of higher water levels and increased nutrient inputs. Fortunately, water pumped into HWMA will now have first been treated through the adjacent stormwater treatment areas (STAs) instead of being pumped directly from the Miami Canal. The STAs were designed and constructed to reduce nutrient loading via vegetation uptake and sedimentary filtration of water flowing from the Everglades Agricultural Area before continuing into the Everglades natural areas. Any negative impacts of poor water-quality that were observed previously should be less severe because they are expected to be closer to the 10-ppb limit that the state adopted for the areas south of HWMA in 2005 (FDEP 2004). Acknowledgments I thank M. Anderson, T. Doonan, E. Stevenson, and M. Ward with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for reviews and logistical support; and Dr. V.S. Briggs- Gonzalez at the University of Florida for comments and logistical support. Literature Cited Apfelbaum, S.I. 1984. Cattail (Typha spp.) management. Natural Areas Journal 5(3):9–17. Childers, D.L., R.F. Doren, R. Jones, G.B. Noe, M. Rugge, and L.J. Scinto. 2003. Decadal change in vegetation and soil-phosphorus pattern across the Everglades landscape. Journal of Environmental Quality 32:344–362. Crisman, T.L. 2008. Everglades ecology. Pp. 34–43, In M. Doyle and C.A. Drew (Eds.). Large-scale Ecosystem Restoration. Island Press, Washington, DC. 340 pp. Southeastern Naturalist 219 S.C. Gonzalez 2018 Vol. 17, No. 2 David, P.G. 1996. Changes in plant communities relative to hydrologic conditions in the Florida Everglades. Wetlands 16(1):15–23. DeBusk, W.F., K.R. Reddy, M.S. Koch, and Y. Wang. 1994. Spatial distribution of soil nutrients in a northern Everglades marsh: Water conservation area 2A. Soil Science Society of America Journal 58:543–552. Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). 2004. Water-quality standards for phosphorus within the Everglades Protection Area. Appendix 2C-1 in 2004 Everglades Consolidated Report. Tallahassee, FL. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). 2002. Conceptual management plan for the Everglades complex of wildlife management areas. Internal report. Tallahassee, FL. Grace, J.B., and J.S. Harrison. 1986. The biology of Canadian weeds: 73. Typha latifolia L., Typha angustifolia L., and Typha glauca Godr. Canadian Journal of Plant Science 66:361–379. Grunwald, M. 2006. The Swamp. Simon and Schuster Paperback, New York, NY. 480 pp. Johnson, K.G., M.S. Allen, and K.E. Havens. 2007. A review of littoral vegetation, fisheries, and wildlife responses to hydrologic variations at Lake Okeechobee. Wetlands 27(1):110–126. Keddy, P.A. 1990. Competitive hierarchies and centrifugal organization in plant communities. Pp. 265–290, In J.B. Grace and D. Tilman (Eds.). Perspectives on Plant Competition. Academic Press, New York, NY. 484 pp. Lorenzen, B., H. Brix, I.A. Mendelssohn, K.L. McKee, and S.L. Miao. 2001. 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The challenges of restoring the everglades ecosystem. Pp. 5–33 in M. Doyle and C.A. Drew (Eds.). Large-scale Ecosystem Restoration. Island Press, Washington, DC. 340 pp. Sojda, R.S., and K.L. Solberg. 1993. Waterfowl management handbook 33: Management and control of cattails. US Fish and Wildlife Service leaflet 13.4.13. 33. Washington, DC. Steward, K.K., and H. Ornes. 1983. Mineral nutrition of Sawgrass (Cladium jamaicense Crantz) in relation to nutrient supply. Aquatic Botany 16:349–359. Toth, L.A. 1987. Effects of hydrologic regimes on lifetime production and nutrient dynamics of Sawgrass. Technical Publication 87-6. South Florida Water Management District, West Palm Beach, FL. Toth, L.A. 1988. Effects of hydrologic regimes on lifetime productions and nutrient dynamics of cattail. Technical Publication 88-6. South Florida Water Management District, West Palm Beach, FL. Southeastern Naturalist S.C. Gonzalez 2018 Vol. 17, No. 2 220 US Congress. 2000. Water Resources Development Act of 2000. Title VI - Comprehensive Everglades Restoration. Washington, DC. Wu, Y., K. Rutchey, S. Newman, S. Miao, N. Wang, F.H. Sklar, and W.H. Orem. 2012. Impacts of fire and phosphate on Sawgrass and cattails in an altered landscape of the Florida Everglades. Ecological Processes 1(8).