Periphyton monitoring in Big Cypress National Preserve: Protocol narrative

Urgelles, Raul; Whelan, Kevin; Muxo, Robert; Shamblin, Robert; Patterson, Judd; Atkinson, Andrea

This document describes a protocol for monitoring periphyton communities within the Big Cypress National Preserve (BICY). Periphyton is identified as a vital sign in the South Florida/Caribbean Inventory and Monitoring Network’s (SFCN) monitoring plan because of its sensitivity to environmental change. Periphyton is a microbial mat community that forms the base of the aquatic food web in South Florida wetlands such as the marshes in Everglades National Park (EVER) and the Big Cypress National Preserve. It is a vital component of these wetlands, contributing to critical functions such as primary production, nutrient cycling, and soil production and stabilization. Periphyton is sensitive to slight changes in hydropattern (water quantity and duration) and water quality. Changes to these two ecosystem processes can quickly alter periphyton community structure (species composition and relative abundance), which in turn can create cascading effects on higher trophic levels. Thus, periphyton is an early and integrative indicator of local and regional changes to hydrology. Periphyton is being used to monitor the success of Everglades Restoration for the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Program (CERP). In Big Cypress National Preserve, upstream development and agricultural runoff are altering the quantity and quality of the water entering the northwest portion of the preserve. There is concern these hydrologic changes are adversely affecting the region’s flora and fauna. Higher than normal water-column total phosphorus levels have been consistently recorded from water-quality stations routinely sampled from April 1994 through November 2010 in the preserve’s northwest region. Numerous studies in the adjacent Everglades National Park have linked water management and increased nutrient loading with immediate changes to the periphyton community. Prior to our pilot monitoring effort, there was little periphyton research conducted in Big Cypress National Preserve, especially in the prairie and cypress-dome communities with a soft-water (low calcium or magnesium ions) source. The results from our periphyton pilot studies suggested that diatom assemblages and periphyton mat total phosphorous (TP) concentrations show statistically detectable changes relatable to water quality and therefore could be used as efficient response indicators of hydrology and water quality in the preserve. The South Florida/Caribbean Network is implementing monitoring of periphyton communities in the preserve to assess the impact of hydrologic and water quality changes on the diatom community structure and TP concentrations of the periphyton mat in northwestern Big Cypress National Preserve. The specific monitoring objectives are: • Identify any basins in the northwest section of Big Cypress National Preserve where periphyton community structure and periphyton TP content are different from an oligotrophic (low-nutrient) and unimpacted community signal. • Document any temporal and/or spatial changes in the periphyton community structure and periphyton TP content showing progression towards an oligotrophic, unimpacted condition or a eutrophic (high-nutrient), impacted condition. Due to financial limitations, the geographic scope of this protocol is limited to the northwest section of Big Cypress National Preserve, which had the greatest water quality concerns for resource management. This area was divided into seven basins, which were designated based upon flow patterns and natural or non-natural barriers. Basins were initially designated as either “impacted,” if previous water-quality data suggested nutrient loading; “unimpacted,” if believed to be in a natural state; or “unknown” if water column total phosphorus was higher than long-term preserve-wide background levels (above 15 parts per billion [ppb]; Miller et al. 2004).

Periphyton monitoring in Big Cypress National Preserve: Protocol narrative

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