Monthly fluorescence parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) components for Shark River Slough, Taylor Slough, and Florida Bay, Everglades National Park (FCE LTER), Florida, USA, April 2011 - ongoing

Dissolved organic matter plays an important role in biogeochemical processes in aquatic
environments such as elemental cycling, microbial loop energetics, and the transport of
materials across landscapes. Since most of N (> 90%) and P (around 90%) is in the organic
form in the oligotrophic subtropical Florida Coastal Everglades (FCE), study of the source
and dynamics of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the ecosystem is crucial for the better
understanding of the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients. FCE are composed of estuaries with
distinct regions with different biogeochemical processes. Freshwater marsh primarily
receives terrestrial input and local autochthonous vegetation production. Mangrove ecotone,
nevertheless, is affected by the tidal contributions from Florida Bay and local mangrove
production. Florida Bay (FB) is a wedge-shaped shallow oligotrophic estuary which lays south
of the Everglades, the bottom of which is covered with a dense biomass of seagrass. The
sources of both freshwater and nutrients in FCE are difficult to quantify, owing to the
non-point source nature of runoff from the Everglades and the dendritic cross channels in
the mangroves. Furthermore, the combination of multiple DOM sources (freshwater marsh
vegetation, mangroves, phytoplankton, seagrass, etc.), and the potential seasonal
variability of their relative contribution, along with the history of (photo)chemical and
microbial diagenetic processing, and complex advective circulation, makes the study of DOM
dynamics in FCE particularly difficult using standard schemes of estuarine ecology.
Quantitative information of DOM is very useful to investigate the biogeochemical cycling of
DOM to a certain degree, however, qualitative information is necessary to better understand
the source and dynamics of DOM. Since fluorescence spectroscopic techniques are very
sensitive, quick and simple, they have been applied to investigate the fate of DOM in
estuaries. Here, we have quantified a series of six distinct signatures of DOM composition
using parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC). These components comprise the majority of DOM
source and composition across the Florida Coastal Everglades ecosystem. Data collection for
this project began in April 2011 and is ongoing. Monthly fluorescence monitoring data in this data package supersede those in package
knb-lter-fce.1234
(https://portal.edirepository.org/nis/mapbrowse?scope=knb-lter-fce&identifier=1234).
Additional monthly monitoring fluorescence data (covering 2004-2014) from FCE are available
in package knb-lter-fce.1174
(https://portal.edirepository.org/nis/mapbrowse?scope=knb-lter-fce&identifier=1174) but
are not interoperable with fluorescence data provided in this package.