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Natural Environmental Changes versus Human Impact in a Florida Estuary (Rookery Bay, USA)

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Abstract

Assessing the impact of climate change and anthropogenic activity on Florida coastal areas requires a thorough understanding of natural climate variability. The available instrumental record, however, is too short and too limited to capture the full range of natural variability. In order to provide additional data on the natural state of the climate system and to evaluate the influence of human impact, we reconstructed climatic and environmental changes of the past 300 years. Pre- (before 1900 ad) and post-human impact conditions were compared in Rookery Bay, a subtropical, southern Florida estuary and its bordering wetland system. Biomarkers from terrestrial and aquatic environments were used to reconstruct temperature, runoff, and aquatic productivity. Pre-anthropogenic conditions before 1750 ad indicate a relatively large contribution of mangrove-derived organic matter, locally decreasing at the end of this period. After 1750 ad follows a relatively stable period in which biomarker concentrations indicate relatively low levels of runoff and aquatic production. Enhanced anthropogenic activities, such as land clearance and hydrological alterations, end this period of stability by altering the hydrological conditions. This leads to a more dynamic system which is more sensitive to disturbances of vegetation and drainage, as evidenced by peak terrestrial biomarker fluxes during the twentieth century. These episodes of enhanced runoff resulted in eutrophication and algal blooms in Rookery Bay. Natural climate phenomena, such as a positive AMO phase and hurricane activity, might have added to ongoing processes during the twentieth century.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by a Utrecht University HIPO grant to F. Wagner-Cremer, S.C. Dekker, and G.J. Reichart. Marieke Lammers is funded by a NWO grant, nr. 820.01.017. Thanks to G. Nobbe at Utrecht University and J. Ossebaar at Royal NIOZ for their technical assistance. We are grateful to the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve for fieldwork and administrative assistance. We would like to thank two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.021, 3508 TA, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    J. M. Lammers, E. E. van Soelen, J. S. Sinninghe Damsté & G. J. Reichart

  2. TNO Geological Survey of The Netherlands, P.O. Box 80015, 3508 TA, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    T. H. Donders

  3. Department of Physical Geography, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Budapestlaan 4, 3584 CD, Utrecht, Netherlands

    F. Wagner-Cremer

  4. Department of Marine Organic Biogeochemistry, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, P.O. Box 59, 1790 AB, , Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands

    J. S. Sinninghe Damsté

  5. Biogeology Department, Alfred Wegener Institute, Am Handelshafen 12, Bremerhaven, Germany

    G. J. Reichart

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  1. J. M. Lammers
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  2. E. E. van Soelen
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  3. T. H. Donders
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  4. F. Wagner-Cremer
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Correspondence to E. E. van Soelen.

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Lammers, J.M., van Soelen, E.E., Donders, T.H. et al. Natural Environmental Changes versus Human Impact in a Florida Estuary (Rookery Bay, USA). Estuaries and Coasts 36, 149–157 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-012-9552-5

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