American Alligator Ecology and Monitoring for CERP

This project will accomplish several tasks with a combination of field data collection, GIS mapping, and computer simulation. Our main objectives are designed to answer questions critical to restoration success and to provide the tools necessary for evaluation: 1. Develop monitoring methods necessary for evaluation of restoration success in alligator populations. 2. Understand the effects of decompartmentalization and other CERP (Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan) projects on restoration of alligator populations. 3. Identify and quantify the extent of aquatic refugia maintained by alligators throughout the system and develop relationships necessary to predict restoration of refugia. 4. Validate and update ecological models for use in prediction of the effects of restoration.

Many important questions concerning the effects of Everglades restoration on alligator populations remain unanswered such as the impacts of decompartmentalization, the role of alligator holes as aquatic refugia, and the effects of hydrology on population growth and condition. Further, the methods for monitoring and evaluating restoration success are not clear or have not been adapted for use during CERP. Also, we need to continue to update and validate restoration tools such as population models for use in alternative selection, performance measure development, and prediction. This project will directly address the questions outlined above, develop monitoring methods, and validate restoration tools for use in CERP. All project tasks have been requested by management agencies in South Florida (NPS, USFWS), listed as critical CERP priority research needs (see USGS Ecological Modeling Workshop at http://sofia.usgs.gov/publications/infosheets/ecoworkshop/ ), and/or highlighted as science objectives for CESI