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Eric CrawfordSr. ScientistField Operations and Land Management Division
16th Annual Public Meeting on the Long-Term Plan for Achieving Water Quality
Goals for Everglades Protection Area Tributary Basins
February 25, 2019
STA Vegetation Management and
Enhancement
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Highly Stressed EAV
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Objective
▪Vegetation Enhancement
▪ Establish/maintain appropriate vegetation communities
▪ Improve stability and functional redundancy
▪Selective Management
▪ Increase desirable species
▪ Control Invasive/Undesirable species
▪ Control exotic populations
Maintain sustainable vegetation-based phosphorus uptake processes
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Vegetation Function
▪Emergent Aquatic Vegetation▪ Re-establish stable soils
▪ Re-direct flow
▪ Nutrient uptake
▪ SAV stabilization
▪ Increase diversity/decrease clonal populations
▪Submerged Aquatic Vegetation▪ Water column nutrient uptake
▪ Replenish seasonal die-off
▪ Replenish loss due to predation
▪ Repair man-made damage
▪ Establish new SAV bed
▪ Increase species diversity
Emergent plantings after cattail failure
SAV Inoculation in new SAV cell
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Adaptive Management Process
▪Monitor vegetation health
▪Coordinate with water management
▪ Stage, flow rates (cfs), redirecting flow
▪Proactively manage vegetation
▪ Increase cover and health of desired species at a
specific location
▪ Control growth of undesirable species
▪Repair and restore
▪ Emergent vegetation enhancements where
vegetation is damaged or undesirable
STA 1W Cell 5B: SAV decline
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Adaptive Management Process
▪Monitor vegetation health
▪Coordinate with water management
▪ Stage, flow rates (cfs), redirecting flow
▪Proactively manage vegetation
▪ Increase cover and health of desired species at a
specific location
▪ Control growth of undesirable species
▪Repair and restore
▪ Emergent vegetation enhancements where
vegetation is damaged or undesirable
Restricting Flow for
Short Circuit Repair
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Adaptive Management Process
▪Monitor vegetation health
▪Coordinate with water management
▪ stage, flow rates (cfs), redirecting flow
▪Proactively manage vegetation
▪ Increase cover and health of desired species at a
specific location
▪ Control growth of undesirable species
▪Repair and restore
▪ Emergent vegetation enhancements where
vegetation is damaged or undesirable
Invasive FAV Treatment
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Adaptive Management Process
▪Monitor vegetation health
▪Coordinate with water management
▪ stage, flow rates (cfs), redirecting flow
▪Proactively manage vegetation
▪ Increase cover and health of desired species at a
specific location
▪ Control growth of undesirable species
▪Repair and restore
▪ Emergent vegetation enhancements where
vegetation is damaged or undesirable
STA 1W Cell 1A: EAV decline and
restoration plantings
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Rehabilitation: STA-1W Cell 1A
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Rehabilitation: STA-1W Cell 1A2008
▪ New cattail
growth
▪ Limited control
of inflow results
in chronic high
water
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▪ As cattail expands
short circuits
develop
▪ Weak emergent
expansion at bottom
of cell
Rehabilitation: STA-1W Cell 1A2011
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▪ Cattail failing
▪ Delaminated soil
▪ Increased
undesirable FAV
▪ SW short circuit
repaired with
plantings
Rehabilitation: STA-1W Cell 1A2014
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▪ Cattail failed
▪ Physically “re-
worked” floating soils
▪ Inflow pattern
changed
▪ Undesirable FAV
treated
▪ Large-scale plantings
started
Rehabilitation: STA-1W Cell 1A2106
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▪ Cattail recolonizing
▪ Delaminated soil
back on the bottom
▪ Large scale
plantings maturing
Rehabilitation: STA-1W Cell 1A2017
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Rehabilitation: STA-1W Cell 1A
2014
Facing NW
2015
Facing NW2016
Facing north
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Questions
Eric Crawford
[email protected]