Seagrass reports and publications

Florida Port Facilities and their Potential Impacts to Manatees  - The development, maintenance and expansion of port facilities and inlets represent significant threats to the Florida manatee population due to alteration of habitat, habitat use patterns and direct physical threats from dredging, material transport, vessel access, blasting and other construction activities. It is of paramount importance to review all port and inlet projects with a responsible eye toward manatee and manatee habitat protection. This document addresses port-related manatee concerns of the Bureau of Protected Species Management.

Seagrass Protection Report (No-motor zones) 
This report provides a summary of all known seagrass protection zones established prior to January 1998. Marine resource managers throughout Florida were contacted in order to develop this summary. Although there are other boating restriction zones established in Florida for the protection of manatee habitat (e.g. thermal refuge sites; see the Manatee Sanctuary Act, Chapter 62N-22, Florida Administrative Code) and public safety, this report focuses on those zones created for the expressed purpose of seagrass protection. This focus addresses both endangered species foraging habitat and the critical ecological role seagrass communities play in estuarine and marine systems.

Summary of Artificial Warm Water Refugia Issues - This is a synopsis of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Bureau of Protected Species Management’s endeavors regarding the topic of artificial warm water refuges.

Foraging Behavior of Manatees During the Cold Season - It has been speculated that during the winter manatees may be limited to foraging in close proximity to a thermal refuge due to their reliance on warm water. If this is typical manatee behavior it would be reasonable to assume that as the winter progresses food resources near the refuge would become depleted, resulting in manatees moving progressively further away from the refuge to other foraging sites. In response to this speculation a literature review was conducted of published research related to manatee foraging behavior to determine if any stereotypic winter foraging habits have been documented.

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Manatee Habitat and Human-related Threats to Seagrass in Florida: A Review  This review provides and overview of the information regarding manatee habitat in Florida. The purpose of the review is to summarize the existing scientific information concerning:

1. the ecological requirements of manatees
2. the behavior associated with manatee foraging
3. the fresh-water and marine diet of the manatee
4. the ecological impacts of manatees’ feeding on seagrass communities
5. major threats to manatee habitat related to human activities.

Discussions of habitat requirements for manatees are based on scientific and anecdotal information obtained from published sources.

Proposed Restoration of the Ocklawaha River - Report

Please see our report on The Effects of Proposed Restoration of the Ocklawaha River in the Vicinity of the Rodman Basin on Manatees and Manatee Habitat. This report summarizes the history of Rodman Reservoir, historical manatee use, mortality and habitat information for this reservoir and the previously free-flowing Ocklawaha River, and predicted effects on manatee habitat quality and regional manatee populations using this system after planned restoration efforts are completed.

Habitat Protection

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