THE SELF-ORGANIZED EVERGLADES
My research focuses on understanding what leads to pattern formation in the ridge-slough Everglades, so that we can understand which aspects of the system to focus on for the restoration of the degraded landscape.
The Everglades
The Everglades is part of a vast wetland complex comprised of Big Cypress, marl prairies, mangroves, tropical hardwood hammocks (often in the form of tree islands) and the historic ridge-slough landscape. The importance of this unique landscape was highlighted when UNESCO and the Ramsar Convention designated the Everglades as a World Heritage Site. Learn more about the Everglades from Wikipedia.
Ridge - Slough Studies
The central Everglades, consisting primarily of Water Conservation 3A and B (WCA 3A, WCA 3B) have undergone five decades of hydrologic modification via systems of levees and canals. Restoration of the Florida Everglades has been stymied, in part, by a lack of clear metrics for reference conditions and for restoration success.
Figure 1: Everglades research areas with satellite imagery.
The ridge and slough mosaic is a major landscape component of the Everglades, described by stands of sawgrass (Cladium jamaicense) on elevated ridges interspersed among deeper water sloughs comprised of floating and emergent species as well as extensive periphyton. The most ‘intact’ portion of the ridge/slough mosaic lies in the center of the Everglades, with the largest portion in WCA3 (Figure 1).
Figure 2: Google Earth Satellite images from WCA3, showing the changes
in landscape patterning with drainage and impoundement. Images are aproximately 1.5 x 2 km.
WCA3 has had a number of hydrologic changes, including drainage in WCA3N and WCA3B, and impoundment in southern WCA3 against Tamiami Trail. This has lead to a degradation in the landscape pattern that made up the historic ridge-slough Everglades. Read more about my research projects here.
About Me
I am a doctoral graduate student with the University of Florida in the School of Natural Resources and Conservation. I am currently an Alumni Fellow working as a research assistant in the Ecohydrology Lab.
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danielle watts
Ridge and Slough Communities