Explanation of Indicator
As development pressures increase in Florida’s coastal counties, habitat areas are rapidly disappearing or being degraded. These declining coastal wetland habitat areas are important to many species including shorebirds, brown pelicans, wood storks, egrets, herons, pelagics, shrimp, lobster, and crabs. Protecting strategic habitat areas by designating them as conservation lands is one way to preserve some components of coastal Florida’s wildlife, threatened species of plants, and rare plant communities.
Florida’s coastal counties are comprised of many different habitat types including wetland habitats, which are essential to the survival of indigenous plant and animal species. At the ecosystem level, wetlands moderate the effects of floods, improve water quality, and have aesthetic value. They are also believed to contribute to the stability of global levels of available atmospheric sulfur oxides, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrogen. For the purposes of this indicator, the wetland habitats discussed are salt marsh, cypress swamp, and mangrove swamp.
Coastal salt marshes are herbaceous and shrubby wetlands that occur statewide in brackish waters. In tropical climates, salt marshes may be interspersed within mangrove areas, as both habitats can exist in the intertidal zone. Salt marshes are highly productive areas that provide nursery grounds for juvenile benthic and pelagic species, and are a source of organic material for nearshore ecosystems. Wading and shore birds may also be found in these habitats.
Cypress swamps are regularly inundated wetlands that provide forested borders along water bodies or occur in depressions. Mangrove swamps occur in brackish waters along protected and low energy shorelines of the Gulf and Atlantic coasts of southern Florida. This community is composed of a freeze-sensitive tree species that is distributed south of a line from Cedar Key on the Gulf coast to St. Augustine on the Atlantic coast. The three major species of mangrove (black, red, and white) are mapped in a single class for the purposes of this indicator. Mangrove swamps are highly productive areas that provide nursery grounds for juvenile benthic and pelagic species and are a source of organic material for nearshore ecosystems. Wading and shore birds also may feed and nest in these habitats.
Data Characteristics
SOURCE
This information is from the report Closing the Gaps in Florida’s Wildlife Habitat Conservation System. A copy can be obtained by contacting Randy Kautz at the Office of Environmental Services, Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission, 620 South Meridian Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1600, or at (904) 488-6661.
ACQUISITION
The data can be obtained in hard copy format at no cost.
COLLECTION
This information is the result of the compilation of several years of data collected statewide. The Closing the Gaps report was published in 1994. It is expected that the report will be updated every three to five years.
Data Limitations
The Landsat satellite imagery data are reliable in that the information is collected very consistently. However, the interpretation of the data and manipulation of the data at different scales could result in inconsistencies. In addition, some data and maps were generated by other agencies; this could also reflect inconsistent data manipulation.
This is the first year that these data are available; therefore, the indicator should be used as a benchmark until further data become available.
Data Analysis
There are 1,989 square kilometers of coastal salt marsh habitat remaining in Florida. Of that area, 1,193 square kilometers (60%) are presently in conservation lands. Of the 3,468 square kilometers of cypress swamp habitat in coastal counties only 39% (1,344 square kilometers) is in conservation lands. Two thousand two hundred forty five square kilometers of mangrove swamp habitat presently exist in Florida's coastal counties, 79% of which (1,771 square kilometers) is in conservation lands.