RECOVER MAP 3.1.3.6 Landscape Pattern - Ridge, Slough, and Tree Island function: Surfacewater-Groundwater Interaction in WCA3 TIs

This project is a component of the GE Wetland module of the CERP Monitoring and Assessment Plan (MAP) and is directly linked to the a) Ridge and Slough Landscape monitoring and research component of CERP, and b) Tree Island Stage Duration and the measurement of water depth on tree islands located in WCA 3A and 3B. It will significantly improve RECOVER and the SFWMD's ability to support Central Everglades Plan Process (CEPP), Everglades Forever Act, Minimum Flows and Levels (MFL), Regulatory Operations and CERP by: 1) developing a way to reverse the significant loss of tree island in WCA-2A (Worth 1988) and WCA-3 (Sklar and van der Valk 2002), 2) conduct environmental assessments for weekly SFWMD operational meetings, and 3) develop criteria to protect the flora and fauna that rely on the existence of Tree Islands.
This research monitoring will take place at four different tree islands located in the Water Conservation Area 3. This Statement of Work (SOW) includes the study objectives, a general description of the scope, a detailed listing of tasks to be undertaken and associated deliverables, and the timeframes citing the methodologies to be used by the contractor to perform assigned work efforts.

This project will compare the characteristics and dynamics of four Everglades tree islands such that hydraulic patterns and hydrogeochemical processes can be characterized. This monitoring project aims to understand how biogeochemical pattern and processes operating at inter-annual temporal and spatial scales can mediate tree island growth and patch maintenance through interaction of biological, geochemical, and climatic factors. It is hypothesized that water movement, mediated by hydraulic processes that are punctuated during the dry season by increased tree island evapotranspiration (ET), influence the lateral flux of nutrients to downstream components of the tree island ecosystem, thus concentrating phosphorus at the intersection between local and regional water pools. The objectives of this project are: 1) monitor and characterize spatial and temporal variability in diurnal ET patterns, 2) monitor and characterize temporal local and regional hydraulic patterns, and 3) characterize spatial and temporal hydro-chemical patterns in ions and nutrients among tree island plant communities and the adjacent deep water slough, and 4) design and implement a field experiment addressing questions linked to environmental conditions for soil development and feasibility of active management as a means to restore the structure and function of degraded tree islands.