Adopt-A-Wetland

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Wetland Watcher As a "wetland watcher," part of monitoring your adopted site is to be aware of natural and unnatural changes to the wetland. When observing, take notes and look for browning, thinning, or die off of marsh grasses or mangroves. Non-seasonal changes may indicate signs of stress. Other important problems to be aware of and able to identify include pollution, such as oil or sewage, marine debris, invasive species, and wildlife offenders. Dead or Dying Vegetation If your adopted wetland begins to show signs of stress, be sure to document them with photos and increase your monitoring frequency. If the wetland continues to degrade, contact your local Sea Grant extension agent. Wetland condition and appearance are important; over time and after many visits to your adopted wetland site, you will become accustomed to its appearance and its condition in a healthy state. Over time, if your data have any unusual changes or the visual appearance of your site changes, you will notice. There are many factors that may affect your estuary such as weather, insects, disease, nutrients, pollution, predation, and climate. Salt marsh grasses tend to turn brown in the winter—this is a natural seasonal change. If the browning continues through the spring and summer, there may be a reason to be concerned. Watch for die off of marsh grass that leads to open muddy patches in the marsh. If the muddy patches continue to grow in size there may be a problem that will need to be identified. Mangroves also respond to stress, however changes related to stress are chemical and are generally not visible. Temperatures below freezing for extended periods of time can kill mangroves. This is mainly expected to be seen along the ecotone at which mangrove swamp transitions to salt marsh in northern Florida. When exposed to freezing temperatures, mangrove leaves will turn black and fall from the tree. The leaves of some mangrove species turn yellow and then are shed from the tree. This is a natural process and should not raise concern. 82 DRAFT AUGUST 2015
If your wetland shows signs of die-off be sure to contact your local Adopt-A-Wetland coordinator so that further testing at the site can be done and the appropriate agencies notified. Pollution Pollution can be a main contributor to wetland die-off. Pollution is any substance introduced to the environment that has harmful effects. Pollutants enter estuaries by different sources and are called point source pollution and nonpoint source pollution. Point source pollution comes from a specific source that can be identified such as a pipe, channel, or other obvious discharge point from a single location. Examples of point source pollution are industrial discharge or wastewater from a treatment plant. Currently, the 1972 Clean Water Act regulates point source pollution. Nonpoint source pollution is much harder to regulate because it comes from a variety of discharge areas rather than a single identifiable source. Examples of nonpoint sources include storm water runoff from urban areas, marinas, agriculture, forestry, construction, leaky septic tanks, vehicles, and lawns. Leaky septic tanks and pet waste that is not picked up pollute waterways with harmful bacteria and excess nutrients that pose major health concerns. Sediment in runoff from construction sites, agricultural activities, forestry operations, and dredging can carry harmful environmental pollutants and increase turbidity. The sediments transported by the runoff can cover and kill critical benthic habitats and also carry dangerous heavy metals and other pollutants with them. If you identify a problem while monitoring, go to your contact list and choose an appropriate person/agency to call. Marine Debris The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration defines marine debris as "any persistent solid material that is manufactured or processed and directly or indirectly, intentionally, or unintentionally, disposed of or abandoned into the marine environment or the Great Lakes." Marine debris poses a potential threat to human health, endangers wildlife, and degrades habitat. 83 DRAFT AUGUST 2015
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COASTAL FLORIDA Adopt-A-Wetland TRA
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Coastal Florida Adopt‐A‐Wetland
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Table of Contents Acknowledgements
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Mangrove Diameter and Height Measur
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Chapter One Introduction How to Get
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Many of the plants and animals that
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• Never wade in swift or rapidly
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Coastal Wetland Habitats Welcome to
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metamorphose, they settle and attac
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The silts and soils eventually fall
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In Florida there are three species
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tall, but individual trees can reac
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Black mangroves are the least susce
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Buttonwood tree showing the fruit t
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Dune formation is a process depende
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The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conse
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Coastal Florida Adopt-A-Wetland Reg
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COASTAL FLORIDA ADOPT-A-WETLAND Wat
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Leisure Activities Golf course Mari
Page 39 and 40: How to Determine Your Latitude and
Page 41 and 42: Visual Monitoring Visual monitoring
Page 43 and 44: Coastal Florida Adopt-A-Wetland Vis
Page 45 and 46: Chapter Four Biological Monitoring
Page 47 and 48: A high diversity would mean that th
Page 49 and 50: Density-Dependent versus Density-In
Page 51 and 52: cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) i
Page 53 and 54: Distribution and numbers vary accor
Page 55 and 56: Monitoring Protocol 1. Estuarine Bi
Page 57 and 58: iv.) Identify the different kinds o
Page 59 and 60: B. Seine Survey (every 3 months) Se
Page 61 and 62: COASTAL FLORIDA ADOPT-A-WETLAND BIO
Page 63 and 64: GROUP NAME: SITE NAME: DATE: Coasta
Page 65 and 66: Cordgrass (Spartina) Height Data Sh
Page 67 and 68: AAW Group Name: Date: Location/GPS:
Page 69 and 70: Physical/Chemical Monitoring Physic
Page 71 and 72: pH Example 0.5 Battery Acid 2.0 5.9
Page 73 and 74: light source, photosynthesis stops
Page 75 and 76: closest to the freshwater input, to
Page 77 and 78: Physical/Chemical Monitoring Protoc
Page 79 and 80: 9. Pour mixture from bottle into th
Page 81 and 82: important that the disk travels ver
Page 83 and 84: 13. Measure and Record. From the la
Page 85 and 86: Longshore Current Measurement Longs
Page 87 and 88: LONGSHORE CURRENT DATA SHEET GROUP
Page 89: Chapter Six Problems in Your Adopte
Page 93 and 94: fisheries are closed by FWC for a s
Page 95 and 96: species from an improperly cleaned
Page 97 and 98: Who To Call List: Florida Fish and
Page 99 and 100: Make an Aquascope to Explore Tide P
Page 101 and 102: Making a Quadrat Quadrats are relat
Page 103 and 104: How to Make a Hester‐Dendy Sample
Page 105 and 106: hole in the toe end of the nylons a
Page 107 and 108: Sediment/wrack samples soaking (lef
Page 109 and 110: Plastics on filters (grid size of f
Page 111 and 112: Bibliography Coulombe, D. 1992. The
Page 113 and 114: Key to Macroinvertebrates Found in
Page 115 and 116: Body is not soft or not in thick. h
Page 117 and 118: Phylum Mollusca Class Gastropoda Ol
Page 119 and 120: Class Bivalvia Continued Eared Ark
Page 121 and 122: Phylum Arthropoda Subphylum Crustac
Page 123 and 124: Phylum Porifera Finger Sponge Halic
Page 125 and 126: Phylum Echinodermata Class Ophiuroi
Page 127 and 128: Phylum Ctenophora Class Tentaculata
Page 129 and 130: Low Marsh Zone Vegetation Smooth Co
Page 131 and 132: Marsh Border Marsh Aster Aster tenu
Page 133 and 134: Upper Beach Zone Vegetation Orach A
Page 135 and 136: Primary Dunes Continued Fiddle-Leaf
Page 137 and 138: Mangrove Swamp Red mangrove Rhizoph
Page 139 and 140: PIGFISH Orthopristis chrysoptera GR
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BLACK DRUM Pogonias cromis RED DRUM
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STRIPED MULLET Mugil cephalus ATLAN
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SOUTHERN FLOUNDER Paralichthys squa
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Phylum: MOLLUSCA Class: GASTROPODA
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Mytilidae Ischadium recurvum (Rafin
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Phylum: ANNELIDA Class: POLYCHAETA
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Common Fishes of Florida Phylum: CH
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Larimus fasciatus Pogonias cromis M
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Useful Websites Visit these website
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Useful Books on Coastal Wetlands Aj
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A fishery biologist with the U.S. E
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