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Assessment of Hurricane Irma Impacts on South Florida Seagrass Communities Using Long-Term Monitoring Programs

  • Special Issue: Impact of 2017 Hurricanes
  • Published:
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Abstract

Hurricanes are some of the largest environmental drivers of change in coastal systems. We investigated the impacts of Hurricane Irma on benthic macrophyte communities in Florida Bay (FB) and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS), USA. Spatiotemporal analyses were performed at multiple hierarchical levels (site, zone, region) to identify potential changes in the Braun-Blanquet (BB) densities of total seagrass (TSG) and total calcareous green macroalgae (TCAL) post-disturbance and to determine whether changes were attributable to hurricane impacts or normal seasonal and inter-annual variability. There were significant decreases in TSG in one of five zones in FKNMS and in one of six zones in FB, but no change in TCAL was recorded in either system. TSG in the Lower Keys Bayside declined from a mean BB score of 2.6 to 1.2, resulting from storm-induced erosion, whereas TSG in coastal FB declined from 1.05–2.4 to 0.36–2.0, likely due to prolonged hyposalinity and low dissolved oxygen following stormwater drainage. Overall, impacts to South Florida benthic macrophyte communities from Hurricane Irma were not catastrophic and were limited in spatial extent. Our results suggest that coastal areas hit by a storm with heavy winds are more likely to sustain direct physical impacts to the benthos, whereas estuarine areas with longer residence times are more at risk of the indirect effects of stormwater runoff and retention. Our analyses placed putative hurricane impacts within the context of recent variability and historical system baselines through the use of long-term monitoring data coordinated by multiple governmental and academic entities.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Christian Lopes, Kevin Cunniff, Rachel Lopez, Sonja Smith, Claudia Carrion, Brittany Nguyen, Manuel Merello, Donna O’Dell, Katie Toth, Mike Wheeler, and Robin Jung for field assistance. We are grateful to Everglades National Park and Mote Marine Laboratory for logistical support. We appreciate the comments from editors and three anonymous reviewers, which improved the manuscript greatly.

Funding

Funding for Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary’s Water Quality Protection Program seagrass monitoring was provided by Environmental Protection Agency contract #X7-00D39015. Funding for Florida Bay seagrass monitoring was provided by the National Science Foundation through the Florida Coastal Everglades Long-Term Ecological Research Program under Grant No. DEB-1237517, and the South Florida Water Management District under the Restoration, Coordination and Verification Program. This is contribution # ___ from the Center for Coastal Oceans Research in the Institute of Water and Environment at Florida International University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences and Center for Coastal Oceans Research, Institute of Water and Environment, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th St., Miami, FL, 33199, USA

    Sara S. Wilson & James W. Fourqurean

  2. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, 100 Eighth Avenue Southeast, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA

    Bradley T. Furman & Margaret O. Hall

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  1. Sara S. Wilson
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  2. Bradley T. Furman
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  4. James W. Fourqurean
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Correspondence to Sara S. Wilson.

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Communicated by Melisa C. Wong

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Wilson, S.S., Furman, B.T., Hall, M.O. et al. Assessment of Hurricane Irma Impacts on South Florida Seagrass Communities Using Long-Term Monitoring Programs. Estuaries and Coasts 43, 1119–1132 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-019-00623-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-019-00623-0

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