RECOVER MAP 3.2.3.5 and 3.2.4.5 South Florida Fish and Invertebrate Assessment Network (FIAN)

The South Florida Seagrass Fish and Invertebrate Assessment Network (FIAN) is an element of the Monitoring and Assessment Plan (MAP) a part of RECOVER, the Restoration, Coordination and Verification Program of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). FIAN is an element of the Southern Coastal System module of MAP (MAP activities 3.2.3.5 and 3.2.4.5). FIAN monitors seagrass-associated fish and invertebrate (penaeid and caridean shrimp and crabs) communities present in shallow waters of South Florida; the pink shrimp, Farfantepenaeus duorarum, as an indicator of restoration success, is a species of special interest. FIAN represents the first region-wide view of these communities and the pink shrimp. The FIAN monitoring component of the Southern Estuaries module of MAP is designed to support the four broad objectives of MAP: (1) to establish a pre-CERP reference state, including variability, for each of the performance measures; (2) to determine the status and trends in the performance measures; (3) to detect unexpected responses of the ecosystem to changes in stressors resulting from CERP activities; and (4) to support scientific investigations designed to increase ecosystem understanding, cause-and-effect, and interpretation of unanticipated results. The data developed in FIAN will be used to evaluate the success of CERP by contributing to the assessment of the estuarine response to restoration-related modifications to upstream hydrology in the freshwater Everglades. At present, FIAN provides input to the pink shrimp performance measure (RECOVER, 2004; SFWMD 2005). The pink shrimp emerged as an ecosystem attribute to be monitored from the Florida and Biscayne Bay conceptual ecological models. More generally, these data will be used to relate seagrass-associated faunal communities to habitat and environmental conditions in South Florida shallow water estuaries. FIAN is closely coupled with the MAP seagrass monitoring project FHAP-SF and other seagrass monitoring programs in South Florida, e.g. DERM. Close coupling with seagrass monitoring recognizes the importance of shallow seagrass systems to the function of coastal waters and their vulnerability to anthropogenic change. Estuaries downstream from CERP projects will be affected by changes in the quantity, timing, and distribution of freshwater inflows. Associated changes in estuarine salinity regimes and subsequent, long-term, changes in benthic vegetation are anticipated. We hypothesize that abundance and diversity of seagrass-associated fish and invertebrates including the pink shrimp in nearshore waters of South Florida will increase as the overlap of favorable salinity conditions with favorable seagrass/algal habitat increase.南佛罗里达海草鱼类与无脊椎动物评估网络（South Florida Seagrass Fish and Invertebrate Assessment Network, FIAN）是监测与评估计划（Monitoring and Assessment Plan, MAP）的组成单元，而该计划隶属于《综合大沼泽地修复计划（Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, CERP）》下设的“修复、协调与验证项目（Restoration, Coordination and Verification Program, RECOVER）”。FIAN属于MAP的南部沿海系统模块（对应MAP活动编号3.2.3.5与3.2.4.5），其监测范围涵盖南佛罗里达浅水区内与海草共生的鱼类及无脊椎动物（包括对虾科、长臂虾科虾类与蟹类）群落；其中粉色滨对虾（Farfantepenaeus duorarum）作为修复成效的指示物种，是该项目重点关注的对象。FIAN首次实现了对这类群落及粉色滨对虾的区域尺度全景观测。 作为MAP南部河口模块的监测子项目，FIAN的设计目标是支撑MAP的四大核心任务：（1）为每项绩效指标建立CERP实施前的参考状态（包含其变异性特征）；（2）明确各项绩效指标的现状与变化趋势；（3）识别生态系统对CERP活动引发的胁迫因子变化所产生的意外响应；（4）支撑旨在加深生态系统认知、厘清因果关系及解释非预期结果的科学研究。 FIAN生成的数据将用于评估CERP的修复成效，具体途径是通过评估淡水大沼泽地上游水文修复改造对河口生态的响应。目前，FIAN已为粉色滨对虾绩效指标提供数据支撑（RECOVER, 2004; SFWMD 2005）。粉色滨对虾作为生态系统监测指标，源自佛罗里达与比斯坎湾的概念生态模型。从更广泛的应用场景来看，这些数据将用于关联南佛罗里达浅海河口的海草共生动物群落与栖息地及环境条件之间的关系。 FIAN与MAP下属的海草监测项目FHAP-SF及南佛罗里达其他海草监测项目（如佛罗里达环境资源管理部（DERM））保持紧密联动。与海草监测项目的深度协作，凸显了浅海海草生态系统对近岸水域功能的重要性，以及其对人为干扰的脆弱性。CERP项目下游的河口将受到淡水输入量、时间及分布变化的影响，由此引发的河口盐度格局改变及长期底栖植被变化均在预期之中。我们提出如下假说：随着适宜盐度条件与适宜海草/藻类栖息地的重叠范围扩大，南佛罗里达近岸海域中与海草共生的鱼类、无脊椎动物（包括粉色滨对虾）的丰度与多样性将随之提升。