Photo by Rick Schwartz NAVIGATING CHANGING TIDES Addressing New Challenges with Effective Science and Management USF St. Petersburg University Student Center 200 6th Avenue South | St. Petersburg, FL September 28-30, 2015 PROCEEDINGS THE SIXTH TAMPA BAY AREA SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION SYMPOSIUM BASIS 6 Navigating Changing Tides: Addressing New Challenges with Effective Science & Management September 28 - 30, 2015 St. Petersburg, Florida Maya Burke Editor FOREWORD These proceedings contain presentations given at the sixth Tampa Bay Scientific Information Symposium, held September 28 - 30, 2015 in St. Petersburg, Florida. Since its inception in 1982, the BASIS conference series has provided a forum for sharing state-of-the-art research on Tampa Bay and its watershed. The theme of the BASIS 6, Navigating Changing Tides, features work that explores the 21st century dimensions of environmental challenges and the innovative and practical strategies devised by regional researchers and resource managers to address them. Presentations are organized around the following session topics: Coastal Connections; Practical Applications of Environmental Management & Policy; Emerging Issues, Technology & Methods; and Climate Change. More than 200 scientists, resource managers and students from the Tampa Bay area participated in the symposium, which included 75 papers and posters. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We gratefully acknowledge the input and direction provided by the Steering Committee for BASIS 6, which resulted in the well-balanced and thorough representation of bay research. We also sincerely thank Jackie Dixon, Dean of the College of Marine Science at the University of South Florida, for providing opening remarks which reflected on the value of sustained, collaborative relationships between research universities and resource managers and their contributions to ecosystem understanding, decision support, and protection. CONVENERS Tampa Bay Estuary Program Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council SPONSORS TECO Manatee Viewing Center Restore America‘s Estuaries Port Tampa Bay Scheda Ecological Associates Quantum Spatial DAT/EM Stantec Tampa Bay Water Streamline Environmental Environmental Science Associates UPPERCASE, Inc. Florida Department of Transportation Canterbury School of Florida Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Fish and Faller Davis and Associates Wildlife Research Institute Suncoast Sierra Club Florida Aquarium Science and Environment Council of Southwest Florida Mosaic Company Tampa Bay Association of Environmental Professionals STEERING COMMITTEE Tom Ash (Environmental Protection Commission of Kelli Hammer Levy (Pinellas County) Hillsborough County) Janet Ley (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Rob Brown (Manatee County) Commission) Maya Burke (Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council) Bob McConnell (Tampa Bay Water) Frank Courtney (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Damon Moore (Manatee County) Commission) Ryan Moyer (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Lindsay Cross (Tampa Bay Estuary Program) Commission) Siobhan Gorham (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Ernst Peebles (University of South Florida) Commission) Thomas Ries (Scheda Ecological Associates) Bruce Hasbrouck (Faller Davis and Associates) Ed Sherwood (Tampa Bay Estuary Program) Dave Karlen (Environmental Protection Commission of Andy Squires (Pinellas County) Hillsborough County) Amber Whittle (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Kris Kaufman (Southwest Florida Water Management District) Commission) Wren Krahl (Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council) Rebecca Zarger (University of South Florida) Stanley Kroh (Tampa Electric Company) Thanks are also extended to those who also organized sessions or participated in the synthesis process but are not listed above: Ann Hodgson, Libby Carnahan, Karen Langbehn, Ernie Estevez, Susan Bell, Shawn Landry and Aaron Brown, as well as to the staff of the Tampa Bay Estuary Program and the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council for their logistic support: Holly Greening, Ed Sherwood, Lindsay Cross, Ron Hosler, Misty Cladas, Nanette O‘Hara, Wren Krahl, Beth Williams and Brady Smith. Funding for BASIS 6 and this document was provided by the Tampa Bay Estuary Program and the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council. This volume should be cited as: Burke, Maya (ed.). 2016. Proceedings, Tampa Bay Area Scientific Information Symposium, BASIS 6: 28-30 September 2015. St. Petersburg, FL. 337 pp. Available on-line from the Tampa Bay Estuary Program at www.tbeptech.org . CONTENTS COASTAL CONNECTIONS .......................................................................................................................................... 1 INCORPORATING VALUATION METRICS INTO LONG-TERM RESTORATION GOALS IN TAMPA BAY ............ 2 CHANGES IN RESIDENCE TIME DUE TO LARGE-SCALE INFRASTRUCTURE IN A COASTAL PLAIN ESTUARY ................................................................................................................................................................ 10 A WEST FLORIDA COASTAL OCEAN CIRCULATION MODEL ............................................................................ 19 THE INFLUENCE OF ANTHROPOGENIC AND PHYSICAL EFFECTS ON FISH, ZOOPLANKTON, AND HYPERBENTHOS COMMUNITY STRUCTURE: A COMPARISON OF WEST-CENTRAL FLORIDA ESTUARIES ................................................................................................................................................................................. 27 COMPARISON OF ISOTOPE-BASED BIOMASS PATHWAYS WITH GROUNDFISH COMMUNITY STRUCTURE IN THE EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO ................................................................................................................... 40 INNOVATION IN COLLABORATIVE ECOTOURISM .............................................................................................. 56 BE FLORIDIAN: USING SOCIAL MARKETING (AND A PLASTIC FLAMINGO) TO REDUCE FERTILIZER USE 57 COASTAL AWARENESS PROGRAM..................................................................................................................... 58 STEWARDSHIP IN ACTION ................................................................................................................................... 59 THE ROCK PONDS ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION PROJECT – A TRUE MOSAIC OF COASTAL HABITATS FOR TAMPA BAY.................................................................................................................................................... 60 COMMUNITY-BASED PROGRAM OF SHORELINE STABILIZATION AND RESTORATION AT MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE ......................................................................................................................................................... 61 OLD TAMPA BAY INTEGRATED MODEL SYSTEM .............................................................................................. 63 BASELINE INFORMATION FOR OTOLITH MICROCHEMISTRY OBTAINED FROM PRE-COLUMBIAN MIDDENS ................................................................................................................................................................ 64 HIGH RESOLUTION TAMPA BAY AND VICINITY MODEL.................................................................................... 65 A COMPARISON OF OTOLITH MICROCHEMISTRY IN GULF OF MEXICO LESIONED AND HEALTHY FISH FOLLOWING THE DEEPWATER HORIZON OIL SPILL ........................................................................................ 67 TAMPA BAY COMMUNITY-BASED SEAGRASS TRANSPLANTING .................................................................... 69 TOWARDS TRASH FREE WATERS IN THE HILLSBOROUGH RIVER WATERSHED ........................................ 71 WATERSHED AUDIO TOUR .................................................................................................................................. 73 SOCIAL MARKETING: THERE IS NO POOP FAIRY ............................................................................................. 75 PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT & POLICY ................................................. 77 THE ROLE OF SEEDBEDS IN PYRODINIUM BAHAMENSE BLOOM DYNAMICS IN TAMPA BAY .................... 78 LIGHT ABSORPTION PROPERTIES OF ALGAL BLOOMS IN OLD TAMPA BAY: IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGEMENT ....................................................................................................................................................... 84 LONG-TERM UNDERWATER LIGHT CLIMATE VARIATION AND SUBMERGED SEAGRASS TRENDS IN TAMPA BAY, FLORIDA ........................................................................................................................................... 96 SEAGRASS RESTORATION SUCCESS IN TAMPA BAY AND NEKTON COMMUNITY STRUCTURE: BUILD IT AND THE FISH WILL COME ................................................................................................................................. 119 SALTERN RESTORATION VIA HYDRO-BLASTING TECHNIQUES ................................................................... 137 LESSONS LEARNED DURING RESTORATION OF DIVERSE NATIVE GROUND COVER AT UPLANDS HABITATS OF TWO COASTAL PRESERVES IN MANATEE COUNTY .............................................................. 145 SEEKING SUSTAINABLE STORMWATER MANAGEMENT THROUGH TMDL IMPLEMENTATION IN DELANEY CREEK .................................................................................................................................................................. 154 MINING RESTORATION ACTIVITIES .................................................................................................................