Monitoring the effects of construction and operation of a marina on the seagrass Halophila decipiens in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Deis, D.R. (2000). Monitoring the effects of construction and operation of a marina on the seagrass Halophila decipiens in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in: Bortone, S.A. (Ed.) Seagrasses: monitoring, ecology, physiology, and management. pp. 147-155
In: Bortone, S.A. (Ed.) (2000). Seagrasses: monitoring, ecology, physiology, and management. CRC Marine Science Series, 16. CRC Press: Boca Raton. ISBN 0-8493-2045-3. 318 pp., more
In: Kennish, M.J.; Lutz, P.L. (Ed.) CRC Marine Science Series., more
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| Abstract |
A monitoring program to determine the impact of marina development and operation on seagrasses was designed and performed for the City of Fort Lauderdale at the Birch/Las Olas Fort Lauderdale Municipal Marina. The marina site is located on the east side of the Atlantic lntracoastal Waterway (ICW) on the north and south sides of the Las Olas Boulevard bridge in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Basically, the proposed marina development plan includes removing the existing marina and replacing it with piers and slips extending further waterward toward the ICW. At least three previous seagrass surveys had been conducted at the marina site and indicated that Halophila decipiens occurs in varying densities within the site between years (i.e., over time). This species of Halophila has been described as an annual seagrass species regrowing each year from seed. Regrowth each year may be controlled by light (photoperiod); flowering is primarily controlled by temperature. This seasonal regrowth may explain some of the variability between past investigations at the site. The intent of the seagrass investigation is to determine whether a statistically significant change in the distribution and abundance of H. decipiens occured as a direct result of demolition of the existing structures, construction of the new waterfront facility, and subsequent operations of the marina. The basis for this determination will be a statistical comparison to a nearby control area of approximately the same dimensions, depth, and bottorn contours as the study site. At the same time, a pre- and post-construction water quality monitoring program was also designed and will be conducted to identify and characterize how selected water quality parameters might be influenced by demolition/construction/operation activities. The seagrass survey and water quality monitoring efforts win be coordinated to optimize the potential to correlate water quality trends with observed changes in seagrass abundance/diversity. Three seagrass investigations are proposed -one during the pre-construction period in the summer of 1997 and two over the 3 subsequent years. Water quality sampling began during the initial seagrass monitoring event. Quarterly water quality sampling win continue throughout the seagrass monitoring program. |
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