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Goal 6. Ecosystem Health: Protect, Restore and Enhance Coastal Ecosystems
Coastal waters around the world represent less than 10 percent of the ocean’s surface, yet they account for 50 percent of its biological productivity. People make extensive use of coastal areas and their productivity. For example, a wide variety of commercially and recreationally valued species find shelter and food in healthy coastal habitats. Unfortunately, people’s activities can lower coastal productivity by degrading water quality and habitats. Altered inputs of freshwater and nutrients can degrade water quality leading to loss of habitats. Habitats can also be lost to direct destruction, whether it is accidental or for coastal development or other purposes.
In Florida, coastal waters are critical to the state’s beaches, estuaries and bays. Florida’s coastal habitats include beaches, salt marshes, mud flats, mangroves, sea grasses, open sand, bivalve and tubeworm reefs, hard bottom and coral reefs. The productivity and beauty of these coastal ecosystems create significant benefits for the state. Coastal waters and habitats provide support during a part of the life cycle for up to 90 percent of the fish and shellfish species that comprise commercial and recreational harvests. High-quality coastal waters and habitats represent a key reason that millions of boaters, divers and tourists visit the state each year. Coastal ecosystems attract people. They also help shield the state’s coastline from storm damage, so all Floridians have a stake in the quality of coastal waters and the health of coastal habitats. Since all of Florida sits within the coastal zone, activities anywhere in the state have the potential to affect coastal ecosystems.
In terms of water quality, Florida has reduced the amount of pollution coming from non-point sources and pollutants, but diffuse sources associated with storm water or atmospheric deposition remain prime concerns. For example, landscaping, agriculture, home maintenance and use of internal combustion engines affect coastal water quality by adding nutrients and pollutants to Florida’s watersheds and air sheds. In general, diffuse sources of pollution increase along with the annual increase in Florida’s population. In response to the cumulative stress generated by these diffuse sources, management of coastal water quality has shifted from a focus on permits for point sources to a focus on ambient conditions and total maximum daily loads. Management focused on ambient conditions and loads will benefit from stronger scientific analysis of Florida’s watersheds and “airsheds” and their responses to our actions.
Florida’s coastal habitats are also subject to a variety of stresses, including accidental destruction, loss due to development, pollution of coastal waters, reduced freshwater flow and introduction of non-native species. Habitat destruction and loss produce relatively obvious effects and management of these pressures is improving. Attention has turned to management of the more subtle effects of poor water quality, reduced freshwater flow and non-native species, which are more significantly influenced by natural, spatiotemporal variation. For example, minimum flows and levels are being set to maintain appropriate freshwater flow to coastal areas and early detection and rapid response plans are being developed to deal with invasions by non-native species.
Protecting, restoring and enhancing the quality of Florida’s coastal ecosystems remains a key goal for the Florida Sea Grant College Program. Important, long-term performance measures include reduced pollution loads; decreased degradation of water quality; less loss of habitat; successful restoration, mitigation, or enhancement of ecosystems; increased use of best practices; and increased citizen involvement in management.
Past efforts by Florida Sea Grant focused on two separate goals targeting water quality and habitat. Recent work addressing water quality primarily comprises outreach and education projects targeting watersheds, the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, the urban-wild land interface, volunteer water quality monitoring, monofilament recycling and coastal clean-ups. Research and outreach projects dealing with Florida’s habitats focused on plankton as invasive species in the Indian River Lagoon; general education on invasive species; assistance for 32 county artificial reef programs around the state; and assistance with efforts to restore dunes, beaches, mangroves and oyster reefs. The two goals have been combined in keeping with their interrelatedness and the shift to ecosystem management.
Due to the ubiquitous importance of coastal ecosystems, Florida Sea Grant targets many audiences. In particular, the program works with researchers, state and local management and regulatory agencies, coastal residents, extension faculty and formal and non-formal educators. The program delivers value by supporting the production of articles in scientific journals, more publicly accessible publications, a web site, training workshops and organizational meetings. Researchers, extension faculty and the communications staff generate these products and activities. Researchers receive direct funding supported from Florida Sea Grant and support during national competitions. Florida Sea Grant’s statewide specialists and county faculty provide support to education and outreach efforts.
Successful efforts produce short-term to medium-term outcomes and long-term impacts. Key performance measures for outcomes include proof of concept for management practices and increased awareness and knowledge among managers, regulators and citizens. Long-term impacts stem from uptake and application of best practices by managers, regulators and citizens.
A. Improve tools and techniques to measure non-point source pollution
- Improve tools and techniques to identify sources and measure loads to coastal waters from non-point sources, with recognition of natural, spatiotemporal variation in loadings.
- Improve tools and techniques to reduce non-point source pollution, including proof of concept for best practices to be implemented by citizens, businesses and agencies.
B. Increase the knowledge base that causes the protection, restoration and enhancement of coastal systems
- Increase knowledge and predict changes in coastal habitats arising from changes in freshwater flow to the coast, especially by elucidating cause and effect linkages.
- Increase knowledge and predict changes arising from restoration, mitigation, or enhancement of coastal habitats, especially changes related to the deployment of artificial reefs.
- Raise awareness and knowledge of key issues related to coastal ecosystems, including non-point source pollution, watersheds, invasive species, restoration and ecosystem function.
- Promote citizen and affected business involvement in the protection, restoration and enhancement of coastal ecosystems, including volunteer monitoring, clean-ups and use of best practices.
Florida Sea Grant will continue to pursue this goal until management of coastal ecosystems is effective. Effective management will be adaptive, with a strong base in scientific understanding, rigorous monitoring and in-depth reporting to all concerned parties. In addition, effective management will involve citizens as active participants. The program will help state and local managers and regulators, as well as citizens and businesses. Florida Sea Grant’s focus on basic research linked strongly to management and public education distinguishes it from other organizations pursuing a similar goal. In an effort to promote differentiation in research funding, the program will not fund studies that focus on identifying new influences on water quality or new indicators of ambient water quality without evaluating them in relation to existing influences and measures. Such studies provide little help to stakeholders who must prioritize influences and indicators in order to deliver effective and efficient management. In addition, Florida Sea Grant will not fund baseline sampling to establish loads or long-term monitoring of water quality because such efforts fall in the purview of agencies. Research on water quality will not be funded unless it takes place at sites with existing management in order to leverage resources more fully. Florida Sea Grant also will not fund studies examining the effects of direct habitat loss or how habitats support fisheries because such studies fall in the purview of agencies. The program also will not fund studies that focus on invasive species because support is available through national competitions for aquatic nuisance species from the National Sea Grant College Program.
Florida Sea Grant has the potential to be in the top 5 percent of all Sea Grant programs addressing coastal ecosystems. It has access to many qualified scientists and outreach personnel. In addition, Florida is moving to address non-point source pollution through Phase II of the National Pollution Discharge Elimination Scheme and use of total maximum daily loads. In the near future, minimum flows and levels will be set for many of the state’s waters. Florida Sea Grant can contribute by funding rigorous small-scale and short-term studies that provide managers, regulators, businesses and citizens with improved understanding of causal links driving changes in coastal ecosystems and science-based tools and techniques that have been proven in concept.
Most of the priorities associated with this goal carry moderate to high risks. Non-point sources of pollution are awkward to identify and manage. These risks should be faced because non-point source pollution represents the major reason that over 40 percent of the rivers, lakes and estuaries in the United States do not support swimming, fishing and other basic uses. Efforts to understand changes in coastal habitats must address the uncertainties introduced by natural, spatiotemporal variation. These risks should be faced because coastal habitats play such critical roles in the economy and environment of Florida. Risks become smaller if projects have strong and viable links to existing management of coastal ecosystems and outreach efforts that form part of coherent, long-term programs building from basic, generic concepts to specifics tailored to the state’s coastal counties.
Florida Sea Grant has a statewide specialist that works in the area of coastal ecosystems education. Thus, adding resources to this goal area is not the highest need at this time. State and federal agencies also are investing millions of dollars annually to support research in this area, thus Sea Grant can complement this activity through extension-based public education.
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