Coastal Habitat Integrated Mapping and Monitoring Program report for the State of Florida

Abstract

Mangrove swamps and salt marshes provide valuable ecological services to coastal ecosystems in Florida. Coastal wetlands are an important nursery for many ecologically and commercially important fish and invertebrates. The vegetation stabilizes shorelines, protecting the coast from wave energy, storm surge, and erosion. Coastal wetlands are also able to filter surface water runoff, removing excess nutrients and many pollutants. Peat deposits sequester large amounts of carbon, making coastal wetlands a key sink in global carbon cycles.Mangroves and salt marshes, however, are vulnerable to both direct and indirect threats from human development. Current threats include continued habitat loss, hydrologic alteration of surface and groundwater, sea-level rise, and invasive vegetation. ... Coastal wetland monitoring programs are often short-lived and vary widely in methodology. Monitoring most commonly occurs on protected public lands or at wetland mitigation or restoration sites. These monitoring projects are rarely long-term due to a lack of funding; restoration sites are generally monitored for only a few years. Although long-term funding is difficult to secure, monitoring over long time scales is increasingly important due to regional uncertainties as to how coastal wetland vegetation and substrate accretion will respond to sea-level rise, altered freshwater hydrology, and other disturbances. While periodic land cover mapping programs can capture large-scale changes in habitat extent, smaller-scale species shifts among mangrove and salt marsh vegetation are best captured by on-the-ground monitoring.The chapters in this report summarize recent mapping and monitoring programs in each region of Florida. Content of each chapter includes a general introduction to the region, location-specific threats to salt marshes and mangroves, a summary of selected mapping and monitoring programs, and recommendations for protection, management, and monitoring. Land cover maps in this report generally use data from the most recent water management district land use/land cover (LULC) maps.