Publications
Explore WARC's science publications.
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Evaluating effects of Everglades restoration on American crocodile populations in south Florida using a spatially-explicit, stage-based population model
The distribution and abundance of the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) in the Florida Everglades is dependent on the timing, amount, and location of freshwater flow. One of the goals of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) is to restore historic freshwater flows to American crocodile habitat throughout the Everglades. To predict the impacts on the crocodile population from pl
Authors
Timothy W. Green, Daniel H. Slone, Eric D. Swain, Michael S. Cherkiss, Melinda Lohmann, Frank J. Mazzotti, Kenneth G. Rice
A fresh liver agar substrate for rearing small numbers of forensically important blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae)
Forensically important calliphorids can be reared on a mixture of beef liver and agar. Small pieces of meat, especially fresh or frozen beef liver, will desiccate in 2–6 h, but this simple-to-make feeding substrate remains moist for at least 12 h at 25 and 30°C without desiccation, even in small (5 g) amounts. We determined the survivorship of small numbers of Chrysomya megacephala (F.) (first-ins
Authors
Susan V. Gruner, Daniel H. Slone
Rapidly spreading seagrass invades the Caribbean with unknown ecological consequences
The non-native seagrass Halophila stipulacea has spread rapidly throughout the Caribbean Sea (Willette et al. 2014); without additional research, the ecological ramifications of this invasion are difficult to predict. Biodiversity, connectivity of marine ecosystems, and recovery of degraded coral reefs could all be affected. The invasive seagrass, native to the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, has taken
Authors
Caroline S. Rogers, Demian A Willette, Jeff Miller
Survival of hatchery Gulf sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi Mitchill, 1815) in the Suwannee River, Florida: a 19-year evaluation
An experimental release of 1192 hatchery-reared, individually PIT tagged, 220 days old (296–337 mm TL) Gulf sturgeon, Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi, was undertaken in 1992 in the Suwannee River, Florida. The original objectives of the 1992 release experiment were to: (1) evaluate survival rate of cultured Gulf sturgeon in the wild vs survival rate of their wild 1992 cohort counterparts, (2) determi
Authors
Kenneth J. Sulak, Michael T. Randall, James P. Clugston
Chronological history of zebra and quagga mussels (Dreissenidae) in North America, 1988-2010
An unprecedented invasion began in North America in the mid-/late-1980s when two Eurasian mussel species, Dreissena polymorpha (zebra mussel) and Dreissena rostriformis bugensis (quagga mussel), became established in Laurentian Great Lakes. It is believed that Lake Erie was the initial location of establishment for both species, and within 3 years, zebra mussels had been found in all the Great Lak
Authors
Amy J. Benson
Intra-population variation in activity ranges, diel patterns, movement rates, and habitat use of American alligators in a subtropical estuary
Movement and habitat use patterns are fundamental components of the behaviors of mobile animals and help determine the scale and types of interactions they have with their environments. These behaviors are especially important to quantify for top predators because they can have strong effects on lower trophic levels as well as the wider ecosystem. Many studies of top predator movement and habitat
Authors
Adam E. Rosenblatt, Michael R. Heithaus, Frank M Mazzotti, Michael S. Cherkiss, Brian M. Jeffery
Functional diversity supports the physiological tolerance hypothesis for plant species richness along climatic gradients
1. The physiological tolerance hypothesis proposes that plant species richness is highest in warm and/or wet climates because a wider range of functional strategies can persist under such conditions. Functional diversity metrics, combined with statistical modeling, offer new ways to test whether diversity-environment relationships are consistent with this hypothesis.
2. In a classic study by R.
Authors
Marko J. Spasojevic, James B. Grace, Susan Harrison, Ellen Ingman Damschen
Integrated carbon budget models for the Everglades terrestrial-coastal-oceanic gradient: Current status and needs for inter-site comparisons
Recent studies suggest that coastal ecosystems can bury significantly
more C than tropical forests, indicating that continued coastal development and
exposure to sea level rise and storms will have global biogeochemical consequences.
The Florida Coastal Everglades Long Term Ecological Research (FCE LTER) site
provides an excellent subtropical system for examining carbon (C) balance because
of
Authors
Tiffany G. Troxler, Evelyn Gaiser, Jordan Barr, Jose D. Fuentes, Rudolf Jaffe, Daniel L. Childers, Ligia Collado-Vides, Victor H. Rivera-Monroy, Edward Castañeda-Moya, William Anderson, Randy Chambers, Meilian Chen, Carlos Coronado-Molina, Stephen E. Davis, Victor C. Engel, Carl Fitz, James Fourqurean, Tom Frankovich, John Kominoski, Chris Madden, Sparkle L. Malone, Steve F. Oberbauer, Paulo Olivas, Jennifer Richards, Colin Saunders, Jessica Schedlbauer, Leonard J. Scinto, Fred Sklar, Thomas J. Smith, Joseph M. Smoak, Gregory Starr, Robert Twilley, Kevin Whelan
Predicting the effects of proposed Mississippi River diversions on oyster habitat quality; application of an oyster habitat suitability index model
In an attempt to decelerate the rate of coastal erosion and wetland loss, and protect human communities, the state of Louisiana developed its Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast. The master plan proposes a combination of restoration efforts including shoreline protection, marsh creation, sediment diversions, and ridge, barrier island, and hydrological restoration. Coastal restoration
Authors
Thomas M. Soniat, Craig P. Conzelmann, Jason D. Byrd, Dustin P. Roszell, Joshua L. Bridevaux, Kevin J. Suir, Susan B. Colley
First evidence of grass carp recruitment in the Great Lakes Basin
We use aging techniques, ploidy analysis, and otolith microchemistry to assess whether four grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella captured from the Sandusky River, Ohio were the result of natural reproduction within the Lake Erie Basin. All four fish were of age 1 +. Multiple lines of evidence indicate that these fish were not aquaculture-reared and that they were most likely the result of successful
Authors
Duane Chapman, J. Jeremiah Davis, Jill A. Jenkins, Patrick M. Kocovsky, Jeffrey G. Miner, John Farver, P. Ryan Jackson
Effects of a non-native cichlid fish (African jewelfish, Hemichromis letourneuxi Sauvage 1880) on a simulated Everglades aquatic community
In an 8-month mesocosm experiment, we examined how a simulated Everglades aquatic community of small native fishes, snails, and shrimp changed with the addition of either a native predator (dollar sunfish Lepomis marginatus) or a non-native predator (African jewelfish Hemichromis letourneuxi) compared to a no-predator control. Two snail species (Planorbella duryi, Physella cubensis) and the shrimp
Authors
Pamela J. Schofield, Daniel H. Slone, Denise R. Gregoire, William F. Loftus
Restoration potential of sedge meadows in hand-cultivated soybean fields in northeastern China
Sedge meadows can be difficult to restore from farmed fields if key structural dominants are missing from propagule banks. In hand-cultivated soybean fields in northeastern China, we asked if tussock-forming Carex and other wetland species were present as seed or asexual propagules. In the Sanjiang Plain, China, we compared the seed banks, vegetative propagules (below-ground) and standing vegetati
Authors
Guodong Wang, Beth Middleton, Ming Jiang