Waterbird species–area relationships at Florida lakes: validating a management threshold using citizen science data

Cameron C. 2025. Waterbird species–area relationships at Florida lakes: validating a management threshold using citizen science data. Lake Reserv Manage. XXX–XXX.Surface area and waterbird species richness are highly correlated at lakes around the world. In Florida, this relationship has helped inform establishment of lake regulatory levels. Leveraging professional and citizen science waterbird species richness datasets for 25 Florida lakes, this study demonstrates the ability of eBird citizen science data to detect relative differences in species richness among lakes. Then a statewide species–area evaluation is completed using eBird data for 236 lakes. The results generally support an existing 15% lake area reduction threshold, corresponding to a loss of one waterbird species, used by some Florida lake managers to limit species richness decreases. However, a more conservative 12% threshold may be warranted for lakes with characteristics different from those in previous studies. Methods for the use of eBird data to assess relative species richness differences, account for sampling effort, and establish regulatory thresholds may translate to other regions. While this approach considers one narrow aspect of lake ecology and should only be used as part of a suite of ecologic and hydrologic metrics, it can serve as a practical and critical backstop for lake protection.