210
learned from our studies, a hundred years ago freshwater flow into the mangrove
coastal zone was two to four times greater than at the end of the twentieth century
and the effects of freshwater flow were seen in the outer reaches of Florida Bay.
Salinity in the mangrove zone has increased by 44% over the last century. This
reduction in freshwater flow through the Everglades only hastens the process of
saltwater encroachment due to sea-level rise. Within the wilderness areas, the mangrove coastline may have room to retreat, and some research indicates that restoration of more natural freshwater flow through the Everglades will help buffer the
coastal zone from some of the effects of relative sea-level rise.
But where will the people go as sea level rises and available land shrinks? Are
they ready for a rapid retreat? There are still many questions to be answered and
solutions to be found. To paraphrase the closing lines of the chapter on barrier island
breakdown, something happened along the mangrove coast of south Florida about
3500 years ago. Will the coastal population of Florida, the tourist-based economy,
and the resource managers be ready when it happens again? Let’s hope so.
Acknowledgements The research described in this chapter was funded by the U.S. Geological
Survey Greater Everglades Priority Ecosystems Science (GEPES) Program and cores and samples
were collected as part of the National Park Service (NPS) Study number EVER-00141. The number of people who have helped with the field work over the years is too long to list, but I would
especially like to thank Bethany Stackhouse, USGS, for keeping our lab running, our field work
coordinated, and staying on top of everything! I would also like to acknowledge Dr. Miriam Jones,
USGS, for her crucial analyses of the 2014 cores and Sarah Bergstresser, USGS, for her GIS analyses and for providing satellite imagery to illustrate our findings. Dr. Frank Marshall, Cetacean
Logic Foundation, Marci Marot, USGS, Dr. Anna Wachnicka, SFWMD, Andre Daniels, USGS,
Jim Murray, USGS retired, Dr. Jeffrey Stone, Indiana State University, and Dr. Joel Hudley,
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill have all contributed significantly to different aspects of
the work described here. I appreciate the comments and early reviews of this manuscript by Dr.
Lucy Edwards and John Keith, USGS emeriti. Finally, I would like to thank Mac Stone, photographer, for generously allowing me to use his beautiful underwater image of mangroves (Fig. 12.7).
If You Would Like More Information
Castañeda-Moya E, Twilley RR, Rivera-Monroy VH, Zhang K et al (2010) Sediment and nutrient
deposition associated with hurricane Wilma in mangroves of the Florida Coastal Everglades.
Estuar Coasts 33:45–58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-009-9242-0
Douglas MS (1947) The Everglades: river of grass. Pineapple Press, Sarasota
Jones MC, Wingard GL, Stackhouse B, Keller K et al (2019) Rapid inundation of Southern Florida
coastline despite low relative sea-level rise rates during the late-Holocene. Nat Commun
10(33231):1–13. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11138-4
Kruczynski WL, Fletcher PJ (2012) Tropical connections: South Florida’s marine environment.
IAN Press, University of MD Center for Environmental Science, Cambridge
Lodge E (2010) The Everglades handbook: understanding the ecosystem, 3rd edn. CRC Press,
Boca Raton
Shinn EA, Lidz BH (2018) Geology of the Florida keys. University Press of Florida, Gainesville
G. L. Wingard
learned from our studies, a hundred years ago freshwater flow into the mangrove
coastal zone was two to four times greater than at the end of the twentieth century
and the effects of freshwater flow were seen in the outer reaches of Florida Bay.
Salinity in the mangrove zone has increased by 44% over the last century. This
reduction in freshwater flow through the Everglades only hastens the process of
saltwater encroachment due to sea-level rise. Within the wilderness areas, the mangrove coastline may have room to retreat, and some research indicates that restoration of more natural freshwater flow through the Everglades will help buffer the
coastal zone from some of the effects of relative sea-level rise.
But where will the people go as sea level rises and available land shrinks? Are
they ready for a rapid retreat? There are still many questions to be answered and
solutions to be found. To paraphrase the closing lines of the chapter on barrier island
breakdown, something happened along the mangrove coast of south Florida about
3500 years ago. Will the coastal population of Florida, the tourist-based economy,
and the resource managers be ready when it happens again? Let’s hope so.
Acknowledgements The research described in this chapter was funded by the U.S. Geological
Survey Greater Everglades Priority Ecosystems Science (GEPES) Program and cores and samples
were collected as part of the National Park Service (NPS) Study number EVER-00141. The number of people who have helped with the field work over the years is too long to list, but I would
especially like to thank Bethany Stackhouse, USGS, for keeping our lab running, our field work
coordinated, and staying on top of everything! I would also like to acknowledge Dr. Miriam Jones,
USGS, for her crucial analyses of the 2014 cores and Sarah Bergstresser, USGS, for her GIS analyses and for providing satellite imagery to illustrate our findings. Dr. Frank Marshall, Cetacean
Logic Foundation, Marci Marot, USGS, Dr. Anna Wachnicka, SFWMD, Andre Daniels, USGS,
Jim Murray, USGS retired, Dr. Jeffrey Stone, Indiana State University, and Dr. Joel Hudley,
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill have all contributed significantly to different aspects of
the work described here. I appreciate the comments and early reviews of this manuscript by Dr.
Lucy Edwards and John Keith, USGS emeriti. Finally, I would like to thank Mac Stone, photographer, for generously allowing me to use his beautiful underwater image of mangroves (Fig. 12.7).
If You Would Like More Information
Castañeda-Moya E, Twilley RR, Rivera-Monroy VH, Zhang K et al (2010) Sediment and nutrient
deposition associated with hurricane Wilma in mangroves of the Florida Coastal Everglades.
Estuar Coasts 33:45–58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-009-9242-0
Douglas MS (1947) The Everglades: river of grass. Pineapple Press, Sarasota
Jones MC, Wingard GL, Stackhouse B, Keller K et al (2019) Rapid inundation of Southern Florida
coastline despite low relative sea-level rise rates during the late-Holocene. Nat Commun
10(33231):1–13. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11138-4
Kruczynski WL, Fletcher PJ (2012) Tropical connections: South Florida’s marine environment.
IAN Press, University of MD Center for Environmental Science, Cambridge
Lodge E (2010) The Everglades handbook: understanding the ecosystem, 3rd edn. CRC Press,
Boca Raton
Shinn EA, Lidz BH (2018) Geology of the Florida keys. University Press of Florida, Gainesville
G. L. Wingard