How the Ecology and Biology of Florida’s Drive the Reality of Regulatory Options

CSA Sciences Inc.

Mark S. Fonseca Ph.D. Science Director CSA Ocean Sciences Inc. Outline

• What are seagrasses? • Challenges to restoration / what have we learned? • Evaluation criteria • Conclusions – challenges in the 21st century What are Seagrasses? q Flowering, vascular – not algae q 6 to 8 in Florida: Putative “H. beaudettii” • decipiens – paddle grass Extreme “pioneering” • – star grass often annual • (?) – Johnson’s

• Ruppia maritima – widgeon grass Euryhaline / sheltered

• Halodule wrightii – (cuban) shoal grass • Halodule beaudettii (?) – shoal grass “pioneering” • filiforme – manatee grass

• – turtle grass “climax” Thalassia

Halodule

One meter

Syringodium

Halophila decipiens

One meter One meter Challenges Larger Issues • Habitat restoration rarely a net gain • Avoidance > minimization > mitigation Flynn vs. FDEP • Seagrass niche is full State of Florida Division of Administrative Hearings • Biggest gains –past, large-scale modifications 96-4737 • watersheds, borrow pits, roadways, scarring Regulatory Issues • Consistency • Trade-offs of seagrass loss for conservation off-site = net long term loss • Prop scars – not much ‘lift’ • Spatially & temporally dynamic cover – defining habitat • UMAM process not designed for seagrass o Complicates performance and compliance levels • Maintenance dredging conundrum • Bird stakes & carbonate sediments (south Fl and Halodule)

Key Pitfall is Site Selection (follows (Addy 1947)

• Depth similar as natural beds • Anthropogenically disturbed • No rapid or natural recolonization • Track record • Sufficient area • Similar quality habitat restored • No chronic or acute disturbance (storms, bioturbation) What have we learned? • Site selection § Stalled at simple observations of depth, and human causality • Methods - most of them work • Extreme expectations…too much like crops • Defining success: persistence and acreage • Impediments to success § Disturbance (water clarity, storms and bioturbation) § Grazing • Applying seagrass biology and ecology § Spreading rates, vegetative vs. seeding § Compressed succession § Landscape pattern • Economics

Evaluation Criteria

Success = Coverage and persistence

Other measures….. • Interesting research • Do not guide interim action • Unreliable indicators f (small scale gradients) • blade width • leaf length • epiphytes • rhizome length • biomass How much acreage? HEA and UMAM Similarities • Assessment tools for habitat impacts and mitigation • Calculate amount of mitigation required • Consider the change in the value of services over time Habitat Equivalency Analysis

• Quantitative assessment based on a recovery function • 2 primary components

▫ Amount of injury (area and severity) ▫ Lost services vs natural recovery + restoration (all discounted over time) • Units = acre-years of service • No formal risk assessment or preservation factor Uniform Mitigation Assessment Method

• Qualitative assessment • Relative to fish and wildlife utilization • Units = functional loss and relative functional gain (RFG; dimensionless) • RFG = mitigation Δ (with vs without project) adjusted for ▫ Time ▫ Risk ▫ Preservation (if applicable) • Currently under review for seagrass/benthic habitats

Assessment uncertainties

• Spatially and temporally dynamic habitat vs 30 min assessment • Natural growth variations f (habitat conditions) • Functional roles • Open system for wildlife/fish utilization • Separating anthropogenic degradation vs natural variation

Conclusions • What are the challenges/opportunities in the 21st century? 1. Understanding disturbances, defining extremes, 2. Species definitions 3. Forecasting site suitability 4. Applying economics 5. Applying landscape principles – draw from terrestrial ecology 6. Using genetic information at the scale of action 7. Managing non-charismatic seagrass species 8. Effective use of information

A. Uhrin Google: Seagrass guidelines A. Uhrin

[email protected]

CSA Ocean Sciences Inc.

8502 SW Kansas Avenue · Stuart, Florida 34997 www.csaocean.com · 772-219-3065 Seagrass restoration costs 1.5 acre (0.607 HA) project

• Map & Ground truth = 6 • Planting = 19 • Monitoring = 59 • Contractor = 8 • Gov’t. oversight = 9

• TOTAL COST ~= $504 – 826K In 2013 dollars $336 – 550K per acre

Source: United States vs. Salvors Inc. Planting unit size affects survival

400

350 Mega sod 300 3.5 x 3.5 m (11 m2) 250 Mega sod

200

Sod 150 Sod . 25 x 25 cm 2 ~ Survival (days) ~ Survival 100 (0.0625 m ) Bare root

50

0 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 Bare root units 10 x 10 cm Planting unit size (m2) (0.01 m2)