Importance of Water Flow to Landscape Structure and Sediment Transport
Childers D, Ross M, Leonard L. 2005. Importance of Water Flow to Landscape Structure and Sediment Transport. Critical Ecosystems Studies Initiative. MOD01-5. Everglades National Park/South Florida Natural Resources Center
Final Report series. Water flow in the Everglades is considered to be one of the physical drivers that form the characteristic sawgrass-dominated ridge and slough landscape. The small and delicate particulate sediment carried in the water, also known as floc, is believed to also have a distinctive role that is reflective of the oligotrophic ecosystem. This project found that floc is produced where sawgrass is growing in a low nutrient, slow flowing environment along with a mix of utricularia, eleocharis, and periphyton. This is in contrast to larger sediment particles produced where sawgrass is in nutrient-enriched water; these areas also tend to have a different sawgrass plant community. This project tested the theory that the presence of floc over more visible suspended sediment is an indicator of the presence of the complex interactions between water flow, water quality, and the structure and composition of the vegetative community that form the ridge and slough landscape. This project addressed the restoration goal to "get the water right" by highlighting one defining characteristic of the system, the sediment transport of floc, when the water is "just right." Childers, Daniel. 2005. Documenting the Importance of Water Flow to Everglades Landscape Structure and Sediment Transport in Everglades National Park. Final Report to National Park Service (NPS) and Critical Ecosystems Studies Initiative. Everglades National Park, Homestead, Florida. Lynn, Leonard, Alexander Croft, Daniel Childers, Sherry Mitchell-Bruker, Helena Solo-Gabriele, and Michael Ross. 2006. Characteristics of surface-water flows in the ridge and slough landscape of Everglades National Park: implications for particulate transport. Hydrobiologia. 569:5-22. Laas, Michael L. 2007. Investigation of Water Flow Characteristics in Florida’s Everglades National Park. Masters Thesis. University of Miami, Coral Gables, Miami.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Childers, Daniel; Ross, Michael; Leonard, Lynn
- Date of Issue
- 2005-07
- Units
- EVER
- Keywords
- CESI, everglades, Floc, Modeling, Peat, Ridge and Slough, Sawgrass
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Geomorphology | Stream/River Channel Characteristics , Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Soil Quality | Soil Function and Dynamics