Sea Level Rise Adaptation in the Florida Keys

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Sea Level Rise Adaptation in the Florida Keys Conserving Terrestrial and Intertidal Natural Areas and Native Species What’s at stake? Hawk’s Cay Resort, Duck Key, Florida May 11, 2011 Conservation Areas of the Florida Keys Base map courtesy of Bill Kruczynski Also (not shown due to scale): Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Florida Keys Wildlife Environmental Areas, U.S. Navy Boca Chica Naval Air Station, The Nature Conservancy’s Preserves, Audubon Sanctuaries, Monroe County Land Authority’s Conservation Lands, and Municipal Parks Management Challenges ~ Past, Present & Future ~ • Habitat Fragmentation • Habitat loss • Barriers – canals, roads, buildings • Fire Management • Urban interface • Fire-dependent habitats • Invasive Exotic Plants & Animals • Public Use • Wildlife disturbance • Trampling, cutting, collecting • Hurricanes • Wind damage • Storm surge – flooding, salt inundation • Sea Level Rise Graphics courtesy of Roel Lopez, TAMU Florida Keys habitat zones vary along a gradient • Elevation • Salinity tolerance • Distance from coast Federal Threatened & Endangered Species in the Florida Keys Mammals Invertebrates Key deer Schaus swallowtail butterfly Key Largo cotton mouse Stock Island tree snail Key Largo woodrat Elkhorn coral Lower Keys marsh rabbit Staghorn coral Silver rice rat Bartram’s hairstreak butterfly (C) West Indian manatee Florida leafwing butterfly (C) Miami blue butterfly (C) Birds Piping plover Plants Roseate tern Garber’s spurge Red knot (C) Key tree-cactus Big Pine partridge pea (C) Reptiles Blodgett’s silverbush (C) American crocodile Florida indigo (C) Eastern indigo snake Florida semaphore cactus (C) Green sea turtle Sand flax (C) Hawksbill sea turtle Wedge spurge (C) Leatherback sea turtle Loggerhead sea turtle Fish Smalltooth sawfish (C) = USFWS Candidate for listing Key silverside (SSP) (SSP) = NOAA Species of Special Concern Mangrove rivulus (SSP) Michelle Wisniewski Beaches, sand dunes, beach ridge shrub & ridge hammock, coastal rock barrens Katie Lyons Lagoons and salt ponds Michelle Wisniewski Chuck Getter Chuck Getter Michelle Wisniewski Mangrove islands, tidal creeks & tidal flats Michelle Wisniewski Salt marsh & buttonwood transition ecotones Michelle Wisniewski Craig Falhauber Tropical hardwood hammock Michelle Wisniewski Tim Chapman Pine rockland Freshwater solution holes & wetlands Invasive exotic species in the wildland-urban interface 35 % decrease in pineland (Ross et al. 1994) NOAA Tide gauge in Key West Impacts of hurricanes Little Crane Key Boca Grande Key Before & After Hurricane Wilma storm surge (Oct 2005) Big Pine Key Photo set courtesy of Paula Cannon Sand island created by Hurricane Wilma Storm Surge (Oct 2005) Wilma Key (2007) Conserving Terrestrial and Intertidal Natural Areas and Native Species Meeting Purpose: Engage Florida Keys terrestrial natural area and native species managers, regulators, the scientific community and the public in information sharing and facilitated discussion leading to initiation of integrated research and monitoring activities and adaptive management strategies for minimizing the consequences of sea level rise. Hawk’s Cay Resort, Duck Key, Florida May 10-12, 2011 Conserving Terrestrial and Intertidal Natural Areas and Native Species Adaptation: Implementing management actions to help reduce the impacts of climate change on fish, wildlife and their habitats; for example, restoring habitats, controlling exotic species, connecting fragmented habitats, etc. vs. Mitigation: Reducing our carbon footprint to reduce the rate of climate change; for example, by using less energy, consuming fewer materials, sequestering carbon in plants, etc. Hawk’s Cay Resort, Duck Key, Florida May 10-12, 2011 Anne Morkill Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuges Complex U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 28950 Watson Boulevard Big Pine Key, FL 33043 [email protected] 305-872-2239.
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