Restoration ecology--Florida--Everglades

The Everglades restoration is now the centerpiece for environmental policymaking in South Florida. The 1991 settlement of the Everglades lawsuit marked a new era of environmental politics known as civic environmentalism. Concepts of civic environmentalism are used in this study to determine if policies developed since the 1991 lawsuit settlement support a successful Everglades restoration and a sustainable South Florida, a vital connection that ensures the socio-economic health of the built environment as well as the environmental health of South Florida's unique ecosystems. Indicators reveal that legislation supports a democratic process, but a nonformal model of civic environmentalism demonstrates that there are weaknesses in many areas, especially on the local level. Results of the study suggest that even though civic environmentalism prevails in some cases, stronger policies that connect both the built and natural environment will be necessary to ensure a successful Everglades restoration and a sustainable South Florida.

To improve water quality as part of a large restoration effort, constructed herbaceous wetlands will be used as filters of high nutrient water. In this study, I tested whether mixed forested wetlands could also be used as nutrient filters. I examined water quality parameters within a forested slough isolated from direct anthropogenic disturbance and within an impounded forest wetland receiving direct agricultural effluent. Among the water quality parameters, TP and K concentrations in the forested slough were particular low. Although all nutrients, except TKN, were higher in the impounded wetland, nutrient concentrations within the wetland were lower at interior sites as compared to inflow water. Based on the use of chloride as a conservative tracer, this reduction resulted predominantly from biological and chemical processes, while physical processes played a minimal role. This study established that mixed forested wetlands can significantly reduce high nutrient levels in surface water.