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The Florida Bay and Adjacent Marine Systems Science Conference allows researchers to exchange technical information, to share that information with resource managers and other interested conference attendees, and to establish collaborative partnerships. The conference provides scientists an opportunity to highlight their research through oral and poster presentations and open discussions. This year’s conference objective is to increase our understanding of the connectivity and relationships between Florida Bay and nearby coastal ecosystems and the managed upstream system with a focus on restoration. Recent model development, applications and improved definition of restoration targets will be highlighted as well. |
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The Everglades supplies freshwater, nutrients and contaminants to Florida Bay directly through the Taylor Slough/C-111 watershed and indirectly from the Shark River Slough watershed. Hydrodynamics, salinity and water quality in Florida Bay are affected by exchanges with the Southwest Florida Shelf and the Gulf of Mexico across the bay’s western boundary and by exchanges with the Atlantic Ocean through Keys’ passes. In turn, these exchanges also affect hydrodynamics and water quality in Hawk Channel and potentially in waters along the Florida Reef Tract. |
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The Program Management Committee (PMC) is the sponsor of this conference. The PMC’s primary role is to establish direction and priorities for science activities in Florida Bay and ensure close coordination of science activities with adjacent marine systems. The PMC consists of scientific program managers from:
* Current PMC Co-Chairs |
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Independent expert review is an integral component of the Florida Bay and Adjacent Marine Systems Science Program. This need is served by a Science Oversight Panel (SOP) which participates in the conference by leading question and answer sessions and providing subsequent technical and management review of the quality of research, modeling and monitoring activities in Florida Bay and the scientific inferences from these activities. The SOP consists of six senior scientists with significant experience in major estuarine restoration programs. Its current memberships includes:
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The PMC invites presentations that refine understanding and build predictive capability of critical linkages across the following conference themes: Physical Processes, Water Quality, Benthic Habitats, Higher Trophic Levels, the Mangrove-Estuarine Transition Zone, Applications and Restoration Targets, and Adjacent Systems.
Benthic Habitats. Seagrass and hardbottom habitats account for a large portion of primary production, provide food and/or shelter to many organisms, and are critical to the ecological function of Florida Bay. These habitats strongly influence water quality and have themselves been affected by freshwater inflow and water quality changes attributable to upstream water management practices. Research has yet to address critical metabolic and community responses to sediment characteristics, water temperature, salinity, and light levels. Higher Trophic Levels. Advances in understanding higher trophic level responses to restoration require an interdisciplinary approach with input from all the other science themes. For instance, the basic question of "how do changes in stressors affecting the bay affect pathways of higher trophic species’ movement within and between adjacent systems" requires information from physical processes, water quality, benthic habitats and the mangrove-estuarine transition zone. As many higher trophic level species initially settle in seagrass, hardbottom and mangrove communities, we cannot predict the impact of various stressors on their recruitment without understanding the impact of stressors on juvenile habitat. These nursery areas need to be delineated so that the potential effect of water management changes on salinity patterns, nutrient inputs, seagrass community structure and other conditions in these areas can be predicted. Linking the higher trophic level theme to the other themes will require complete GIS integration data layers as they become available including salinity, fresh-water flows, benthic communities, and habitat structure and appropriate species distribution and abundance patterns.
Applications and Restoration Targets. At this point in time researchers are being called upon not only to continue to improve and enhance understanding of Florida Bay and the coastal systems with which it is connected, but also to contribute to the adaptive assessment process adopted by the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Project (CERP). CERP is committed to a long-term, multi-decadal Monitoring and Assessment Plan (MAP), the regional component of which that is relevant to the Florida Bay and Adjacent Marine Systems Science (FBAMS) program is termed the Southern Estuaries. (Click here for PDF) A formalized assessment process has been developed by CERP’S Integrated Assessment Team. The CERP assessment process will be implemented on the same sub-regional basis. In the Southern Estuaries domain it will be grounded upon the scientific understanding developed under the aegis of the FBAMS program. The same understanding has contributed to the specification of restoration targets as well as to mandated water management decisions. That said, the research community will need to remain engaged and involved in the process of CERP implementation to assure that it remains “science-based” and the promise of adaptive management is in fact fulfilled.
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Florida Bay scientists not wishing to make oral presentations are strongly encouraged to prepare posters and submit an abstract. As with oral presentations, poster presentations provide a valuable opportunity for scientific interaction. Posters will be on display throughout the entire conference and a formal poster session and reception will be held Monday evening. Posters will be limited to a space of 4 feet high x 6 feet wide. If you wish to make an oral presentation or present a poster, please submit an abstract no later than September 9, 2005. Abstracts MUST be submitted electronically via the web site. Detailed submission instructions are provided below.
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As of 10/04/05
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The
geographic scope of the conference centers on Florida Bay and the adjacent
mangrove-dominated estuarine transition zone but includes interactions with the
Everglades, the Southwest Florida Shelf and Gulf of Mexico, the Florida Reef
Tract and Biscayne Bay. 
Miami-Dade
Department of Environmental Resources Management
Physical
Processes. To date, research and monitoring of physical
processes has encompassed all major physical driving forces (i.e., winds
and storms, precipitation, evaporation, surface water inflow, groundwater,
sea level and tides, and boundary currents) and the hydrodynamic character
of Florida Bay (i.e., varying salinity and circulation patterns, and
exchanges with adjacent waters). Although considerable data exist on each
of these processes, more work remains to fully characterize their relative
importance and variability, particularly in the case of groundwater inputs
and evaporation for which available estimates vary over a significant
range of values. The degree to which these processes need to be better
defined will be determined by the needs of the suite of hydrological and
hydrodynamic models used to predict bay salinity and circulation
patterns. The same can be said for improved measurements of such
hydrodynamic characteristics as bathymetry and flow across the extensive
mud banks that divide the inner portion of Florida Bay. The sufficiency of
the physical models will have to be assessed in light of the requirements
of the numeric and statistical water quality and ecological models and
improved or modified if necessary. Furthermore, to the degree that
predictions of rapid local sea level rise can be verified, the
relationship between sea level and bay flushing processes will need to be
better understood given the multi-decadal time span of the CERP
implementation.
Water
Quality. Water quality has been shown to have substantial
ecological consequence and be related to upstream water management and
human development. The foremost need regarding water quality is to
accurately predict the sensitivity of Florida Bay’s nutrient regime and
phytoplankton to changes in freshwater flow into the bay. For much of the
bay, any factor that increases phosphorus availability either by
increasing sources or decreasing removal would likely have substantial
effects. The effects of increased nitrogen, potentially introduced as
dissolved organic nitrogen from the Everglades, are uncertain. Alteration
of contaminant exposures is also possible with changes in the sources of
water introduced into the bay. In general, a more thorough understanding
of the bay’s nutrient cycles is critical to making predictions and
evaluating restoration alternatives. 
Mangrove-Estuarine
Transition Zone. The Florida Bay mangrove-estuarine
transition zone has many important ecological attributes, many of which
have been affected by altered freshwater inflow from upstream water
management practices. These sensitive attributes include plant and animal
communities, nutrient processing and retention, and soil accretion or
subsidence. Some of these will likely be affected by restoration
activities and respond more quickly than the same attributes within
Florida Bay.
All
scientists working in Florida Bay are strongly encouraged to submit
abstracts describing their research projects and current status. Special
consideration will be given to work that synthesizes across disciplines or
utilizes simulation techniques. Abstract submissions will be used to
select oral presentations, and ALL abstracts, both oral and poster, will
be published in the conference book of abstracts to be distributed at the
conference and posted on the conference web site. Because the number of
oral presentations will be limited, some oral presentation requests will
be asked to present a poster.|
5:00pm–7:00pm |
Registration Office Open |
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5:00pm–7:00pm |
Poster Presenters to Set up Displays |
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7:00pm–9:00pm |
Early Bird Social in Poster Display Area |
Monday, December 12, 2005
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
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7:30am–5:00pm |
Registration Office Open |
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7:30am–8:30am |
Early Morning Refreshments |
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7:30am–5:00pm |
Posters on Display |
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Session Moderator: David Rudnick – South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), West Palm Beach, FL |
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8:30am–8:40am |
Opening Remarks and Session Overview by Moderator |
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8:40am–9:00am |
Sediment Phosphate Flux and Benthic Microalgal Communities in Florida Bay, USA — Merrie Beth Neely1, 2 and Gabriel A. Vargo2; 1Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, St. Petersburg, FL; 2University of South Florida, College of Marine Science, St. Petersburg, FL |
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9:00am–9:20am |
Denitrification versus Dissimilatory Nitrate Reduction to Ammonium (DNRA) or Nitrite (DNRN) in Hypersaline Florida Bay Sediments in August 2004 and January 2005 — Wayne S. Gardner1 and Mark J. McCarthy1; 1The University of Texas at Austin Marine Science Institute, Port Aransas, TX |
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9:20am–9:40am |
Bioavailability of Dissolved Organic Nitrogen in Florida Bay — Joseph N. Boyer1, Susan K. Dailey1, Patrick Gibson1, Nagamitsu Maie1,2 and Rudolf Jaffé1,2; 1Southeast Environmental Research Center, 2Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida International University, Miami, FL |
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9:40am–10:00am |
Effects of Post-Hurricane Freshwater Imports from the Everglades on Bacterial Community Composition, Ectoenzyme Activities, and Nitrogen Cycling in Northern Florida Bay — Frank J. Jochem1 and Clayton J. Williams1; 1 Marine Biology Program, Florida International University, North Miami, FL |
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10:00am–10:30am |
Refreshment Break and Networking in Poster Display Area |
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SESSION IV – Water Quality (continued) Session Moderator: David Rudnick – South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), West Palm Beach, FL |
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10:30am–10:50am |
Organic and Inorganic Nutrients, Rates of Phytoplankton
Nutrient Uptake, and Their Relationship with Phytoplankton
Community Composition in Florida Bay and in a Comparative
Subtropical Ecosystem in Australia — P. M. Glibert1,
C.A. Heil2, 3, J. Alexander1, M. Revilla1,
S. Murasko2, A. Hoare2, J. O’Neil1,
W.C. Dennison1 and |
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10:50am–11:10am |
Nutrient Quality Drives Phytoplankton Community Composition on the Southwestern Florida Shelf Region, including Florida Bay — Cynthia A. Heil1, M. Revilla2, P. M. Glibert2, J. Alexander2, S. Murasko3, D. Hollander3, and Ana Hoare3; 1Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, St. Petersburg, FL; 2 University of Maryland Center for Environmental Research, Horn Point Laboratory, Cambridge, MD; 3College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, FL |
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11:10am–11:30am |
Aquatic Ecological Risk Assessment: Florida Bay and South Biscayne Bay — G.M. Rand1, P.R. Gardinali1, W.B. Perry2, J.F. Carriger1, M. Tompkins1, and A Fernandez1; 1Southeast Environmental Research Center, Florida International University, Miami, FL; 2Everglades National Park, Homestead, FL |
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11:30am–12 noon |
Session Recap and GROUP DISCUSSION |
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12 noon–1:30pm
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Group Luncheon in Poster Display Area |
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SESSION V – Physical Processes Session Moderator: Patrick Pitt – US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), Vero Beach, FL |
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1:30pm–1:40pm |
Opening Remarks and Session Overview by Moderator |
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1:40pm–2:00pm |
Sedimentation and Circulation Changes in Florida Bay as a Response to Climate Change — Charles W. Holmes, Center for Coastal and Wetland Studies, U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg, FL |
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2:00pm–2:20pm |
Estimating Evaporation Rates in Time and Space across Florida Bay — René M. Price1, William K. Nuttle2, Bernard J. Cosby3, Peter K. Swart4; 1Department of Earth Sciences and the Southeast Environmental Research Center, Florida International University, Miami, FL; 2Eco-Hydrology, Ottawa, Canada; 3Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA; 4Marine Geology and Geophysics, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Miami, Miami, FL |
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2:20pm–2:40pm |
Atmospheric-Aqueous Exchange of Carbon Dioxide in Florida Bay
— Wade R McGillis1,2, Peter A.
Raymond3, Susan K. Dailey4, and |
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2:40pm–3:00pm |
On Florida Bay Hypersalinity and Water Exchange — Thomas N. Lee1, Elizabeth Johns2, Nelson Melo3, Ryan Smith2, Peter Ortner2, Dewitt Smith4, and Ned Smith5; 1Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL; 2NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Miami, FL; 3Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies, University of Miami, Miami, FL; 4ENP, Homestead, FL; 5Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Ft Pierce, FL |
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3:00pm–3:30pm |
Refreshment Break & Networking in Poster Display Area |
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SESSION V – Physical Processes (continued) Session Moderator: Patrick Pitt – US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), Vero Beach, FL |
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3:30pm–3:50pm |
Flows and Stages in the Southern Everglades and Along the Coastal Boundaries of Florida Bay – Calibration and Scenario Applications of the Time Model — John D. Wang1, Eric D. Swain2, Melinda A. Wolfert2, Christian D. Langevin2, Dawn James2; 1Applied Marine Physics, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL; 2U.S. Geological Survey Florida Integrated Science Center, Water and Restoration Studies, Fort Lauderdale, FL |
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3:50pm–4:10pm |
The South Florida Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model: An
Integrated Approach for Florida Bay Modeling — Villy
Kourafalou and |
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4:10pm–4:30pm |
Status of the Florida Bay Hydrodynamic Model — J. M. Hamrick1, M. Z. Moustafa2, and D. Worth2; 1Tetra Tech, Inc., Fairfax, VA; 2South Florida Water Management District, West Palm Beach, FL; |
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4:30pm–5:00pm |
Session Recap and GROUP DISCUSSION |
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6:00pm–9:00pm |
Poolside Networking Reception |