Georgia Southern University Digital Commons@Georgia Southern Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies, Jack N. Averitt College of Spring 2007 Seasonal Habitat Use of The Florida Manatee (Trichecus Manatus Latirostris) In The Crystal River Natural Refuge With Regards To Natural And Anthropogenic Factors Ryan Willard Berger Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd Recommended Citation Berger, Ryan Willard, "Seasonal Habitat Use of The Florida Manatee (Trichecus Manatus Latirostris) In The Crystal River Natural Refuge With Regards To Natural And Anthropogenic Factors" (2007). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 731. https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/731 This thesis (open access) is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies, Jack N. Averitt College of at Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SEASONAL HABITAT USE OF THE FLORIDA MANATEE (TRICHECUS MANATUS LATIROSTRIS) IN THE CRYSTAL RIVER NATIONAL WILDIFE REFUGE WITH REGARDS TO NATURAL AND ANTHROPOGENIC FACTORS by Ryan W. Berger (Under the Direction of Bruce Schulte) ABSTRACT Natural and anthropogenic factors work together to influence species habitat use. Kings Bay in Crystal River, Florida serves as critical habitat for the Florida manatee, but is also used extensively by humans. This study documented the seasonal dispersion and behavioral patterns of manatees in Kings Bay with regards to natural and anthropogenic factors from May 2005-June 2006. Survey stations were established across the bay and the number of manatees, people in the water, and boats were counted. The behavioral patterns of four major states were recorded using focal animal observations. During the winter, manatees aggregated in areas containing both springs and sanctuaries, where human activity was high and vegetation coverage low. In the non-winter, manatees were most abundant away from springs, where there was higher vegetative coverage and lower human activity. In the winter season, manatee spent most of their time resting in sanctuaries with springs, but when found feeding bouts were longer than in the non- winter season. In the non-winter, variation in behavior was attributed more to the lifestyle roles of different age and sex class manatees than to sub-habitat type. The need for sanctuaries that protect feeding sites during the non-winter season is recommended. INDEX WORDS: Dispersion Patterns, Behavior Patterns, Trichecus manatus latirostris, Habitat Use, Human Disturbance, Kings Bay, Florida Manatee, Crystal River 1 SEASONAL HABITAT USE OF THE FLORIDA MANATEE (TRICHECUS MANATUS LATIROSTRIS) IN THE CRYSTAL RIVER NATIONAL WILDIFE REFUGE WITH REGARDS TO NATURAL AND ANTHROPOGENIC FACTORS by RYAN W. BERGER B.S., University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2003 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Georgia Southern University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF SCIENCE STATESBORO, GEORGIA 2007 2 © 2007 Ryan W. Berger All Rights Reserved 3 SEASONAL HABITAT USE OF THE FLORIDA MANATEE (TRICHECUS MANATUS LATIROSTRIS) IN THE CRYSTAL RIVER NATIONAL WILDIFE REFUGE WITH REGARDS TO NATUAL AND ANTHROPOGENIC FACTORS by RYAN W. BERGER Major Professor: Bruce A. Schulte Committee: Daniel F. Gleason Sophie B. George Iske L. V. Larkin Electronic Version Approved: May 2007 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the folks in the biology department at Georgia Southern University for providing the foundation for my experience. Dr. Schulte, thank you for your patience and diligence in advisement. You provided me the opportunity to fulfill a childhood dream and through your advisement have created a learning experience that I will use throughout life. I would like to thank my committee members, Drs Gleason and George, for their constructive input on the thesis. To the graduate students, thank you for the many excellent memories. A special thanks to Erek Napora for his friendship and ability to bring the best out in others. I had the good fortune of collaborating with many wonderful individuals and organizations while working on this project. Dr. Larkin from the University of Florida provided beneficial advice while in the field and on the thesis, supplied field assistants, and provided financial support. I thank Mrs. Beck at the USGS’s Sirenia Project for the employment opportunity. I am very grateful to the USFWS’s staff that manages the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge for allowing me to conduct research on their refuge. Mr. Kraus provided useful information and Ms Sarah Palimisano proved to be a wonderful friend. I would like to thank Monica Ross with Wildlife Trust for allowing me to aid in their manatee re-introductory project. Many foundations and organizations have provided financial support for Dr. Schulte’s manatee projects over the years. We are thankful to the Jane Smith Turner and Eppley Foundations, the Georgia Southern University Academic Excellence Award and Graduate Student Development Fund, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in collaboration with the Walt Disney Corporation for graciously providing monetary support. I am very appreciative to Mr. Joe Johnson for his private funding. We would also like to thank the Ocean Kayak Company for the reduced price of our field kayak. Lastly, I have a very supportive and understanding family and I love you all so much. Thank you for instilling in me the qualities necessary to accomplish tasks such as this. Also, for putting up with the difficult times and working through them with me. Knowing you all were behind me allowed me to do the best job I was capable of doing. I must thank my dog, Kiara, for sharing this experience with me every single day. She is a wonderful companion and I have many great memories because of her. 5 CIRRICULUM VITAE PERMANENT ADDRESS: CURRENT ADDRESS: 903 S. Surrey Ct. 222 Lanier Dr. #307 Mahomet, IL 61853 Ryan Berger Statesboro, GA 30458 (217) 586-2470 [email protected] (912) 536-3612 ________________________________________________________________________ PROFESSIONAL OBJECTIVE To continue conducting quality research and educate the public through manatee awareness, advocacy and conservation by building on and fully utilizing the skills acquired while studying manatee habitat use in relation to human activity within the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge. EDUCATION Georgia Southern University • Masters of Science in the Department of Biology (2004-2007) – GPA 4.0 • Thesis title: “Seasonal habitat use of the Florida manatee in Kings Bay, Crystal River Florida in relation to the natural factors of habitat composition and the possible impacts of human activities.” University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) • Bachelor of Science in Biology (1998-2003) – overall GPA 3.4/4.0 scale MANATEE BEHAVIOR AND CONSERVATION EXPERIENCE United States Geological Survey - Sirenia Project 9/05 - 4/06, 6/06 - 12/06 • Monitoring the manatee population in Kings Bay Crystal River FL through high quality photographs, aging and sexing of manatees for the Manatee Individual Photo-identification System’s (MIPS) database. • Assisted with manatee health assessments in Kings Bay as crew of the capture boat pulling lead lines and loading manatees. Health assessments were part of a study on animals having the papilloma virus. • Supervisor: Cathy Beck, [email protected] (353) 372-2571 ext 21. United States Fish & Wildlife - Chassaowitzka National Wildlife Refuge, Crystal River FL 5/04 – 12/06 • Worked closely with refuge staff, attended staff meetings, and spoke directly with the refuge manager regarding the political, economic, and environmental issues facing manatees within the refuge. • Aided in Florida manatee captures, conducted vegetation sampling as a long term data set within Kings Bay, and presented powerpoint updates to refuge staff and volunteers regarding my research. • Refuge Manager: Jim Kraus, [email protected] (352) 563-2088 Wildlife Trust - Kings Bay, Crystal River FL 9/05 – 2/06 • Aided in Florida manatee rescues of injured manatees and tracking of tagged manatees in Kings Bay. While tracking behavioral recordings were taken following an ethogram outlined by experienced personnel. • A tagged manatee was reintroduced into the wild as part of a rehabilitation process of injured manatees and special care was given to the tagged animals feeding and socializing habits. My proposal to aid in this important study was accepted by the Manatee Rehabilitation Partnership (MRP). • Manatee Behaviorist: Monica Ross, [email protected] (407) 739-9260 Georgia Southern University – Kings Bay, Crystal River FL data collection for thesis project 5/05-6/06 • I spent a total of 663 hours kayaking on the water to conduct a total of 264 20-minute behavioral observations on manatees over 218 days. I investigated the demographics of manatees that use Kings Bay seasonally as well as the specific behaviors performed and how 6 human activity might impact these behaviors. During behavioral observations, I aged, sexed, and photographed individual animals for my research photo-identification catalogue. I also trained many field assistants in the methodologies of behavioral data collection. • In addition, I spent a total of 492 hours kayaking a total of 164 surveys in which I counted the number of manatees, boating