Atlantic coast joint venture waterfowl implementation plan

This focus area includes Leon County, Jefferson County north of Highway 98, and Madison County north of Highway 98 and within the Aucilla River Basin. Total area comprises approximately 420,423 hectares (1,038,883 acres), including 142,885 hectares (353,083 acres) of wetlands. Major wetland types and their acreages include palustrine forested 114,362 hectares (282,599 acres), palustrine emergent marsh 7,447 hectares (18,402 acres), palustrine scrub-shrub 6,675 hectares (16,494 acres), lacustrine littoral aquatic bed 5,031 hectares (12,432 acres), and lacustrine limnetic unconsolidated bottom 2,992 hectares (7,393 acres). A series of sinkhole lakes occurs in the Tallahassee area, many of which are dominated by floating-leaved plants and edged with cypress-gum-tupelo bottomland hardwoods. These lakes provide important wintering habitats for waterfowl, primarily Wood Duck and Ring-necked Duck, and year-round habitat for locally breeding Wood Duck. Many private quail-hunting plantations in this region also include managed waterfowl impoundments supporting substantial concentrations of primarily Ring-necked Duck, but also lesser numbers of Blue-winged Teal and Green-winged Teal, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Lesser Scaup, other species. Additionally, the upland component of the focus area supports many high priority landbirds, including Northern Bobwhite, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, and Southeastern American Kestrel.

The ownership pattern in this focus area is largely private. However, the focus area includes a significant portion of the Apalachicola National Forest. Additional ownerships include other federal, state, county, and municipal properties. Much of the area is important for outdoor recreation.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recognize a number of wetlands as priority under the federal Emergency Wetlands Resources Act of 1986. There are several Important Bird Areas (IBA) in the focus area, designated by both the American Bird Conservancy and National Audubon Society. These IBA’s include the Apalachicola National Forest, Red Hills Ecosystem, and Lake Lafayette. There are also several State Wildlife Management Areas and State Parks and a National Forest in the focus area, providing a variety of habitats for a large number of avian species.

This region of Florida consists of mostly inland lakes and other freshwater systems that support breeding populations of Wood Duck and large wintering populations of Ring-necked Duck and Wood Duck. Other species that are important for recreation are Blue-winged Teal, Green-winged Teal, Gadwall, and American Wigeon.

Table 1. Waterfowl species using the Tallahassee Lakes Focus Area.

This region of Florida is highly important to many other migratory birds, primarily waterbirds and landbirds. Important species here are Wood Stork, Limpkin, Glossy and White Ibis, Swallow-tailed Kite, Swainson’s Warbler, Painted Bunting, Prairie Warbler, and Prothonotary Warbler. Other high-priority species associated with the vast pine grassland savannas in this focus area are Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Northern Bobwhite, Bachman’s Sparrow, and American Kestrel.

Halting the loss of wetlands, and protection and restoration of bottomland hardwood communities are the most important wetland conservation needs in this focus area. Timber harvest in wetlands also is a concern. From the mid-1970’s to mid-1980’s, approximately 45 square miles of Florida’s palustrine vegetated wetlands were lost annually. Shallow emergent wetlands have sustained the greatest loss because they are most easily drained. Perhaps the most immediate threat is continued population expansion. Florida is experiencing tremendous population growth, creating demands upon the land for industrial and residential development, agriculture, and water management, all of which have significant negative effects to Florida’s wetlands.

Restoration of natural hydrology and conservation of forested wetlands are most important in this focus area. Since many of the important wetlands are connected to sinkholes and the connections have been altered by levees and structures, management is important to maintain or provide high quality wetlands for waterfowl. Additionally, pine ecosystems are in need of proper fire management to restore avian communities associated with fire maintained

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. 1992. Emergency Wetlands Resources Act, Southeast Region,

Regional Wetlands Concept Plan.

1

This focus area includes the Kissimmee River Basin, Lake Okeechobee, the Everglades Agricultural Area, and portions of Broward County north of I-75. Total area comprises approximately 1,745,385 hectares (4,312,924 acres), including 728,437 hectares (1.8 million acres) of wetlands. Major wetland types and their acreages include palustrine emergent marsh 317,719 hectares (795,100 acres), lacustrine unconsolidated bottom 146,542 hectares (362,100 acres), palustrine scrub-shrub 125,425 hectares (309,933 acres), and palustrine forested wetland 83,136 hectares (205,435 acres). Drainage, unfavorable water level management, and agricultural practices have seriously degraded wetland habitat in this area. Several large-scale habitat restoration projects are underway. The South Florida Water Management District and others are restoring the Kissimmee River by back-filling 35 kilometers (22 miles) of the dredged river channel. This effort is predicted to restore more than 103.6 square kilometers (40 square miles) of floodplain wetlands. Several major initiatives are underway to reduce the nutrient pollution generated by agriculture practices north of Lake Okeechobee and in the Everglades Agricultural Area.

The majority of wetland ecosystems within this focus area are owned by various governmental entities including the South Florida Water Management District, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Other large land holdings include several Indian reservations. There are several agricultural operations within this focus area including dairy farms, citrus, cattle, vegetable row crops, and sugarcane.

The Kissimmee chain of lakes (upper basin) south to Lake Okeechobee and beyond (lower basin) constitutes a majority of the lands included in the Everglades Restoration Act and as such, is part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. The Kissimmee chain of lakes is particularly important to numerous waterbirds during droughts and dewatering events in the lower basin. Special recognition sites include Big Cypress National Preserve, Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, numerous state Wildlife Management Areas and Stormwater Treatment Areas, the Kissimmee River Public Use Area, and the Lake Wales Ridge, among others.

This highly altered environment continues to provide significant habitat for resident species such as Mottled Duck and Fulvous Whistling-Duck and wintering species such as Ring-necked Duck, Blue-winged Teal, and Lesser Scaup. Associated prairie uplands interspersed with small pothole-type wetlands in this region constitute the core of Mottled Duck breeding habitat. Rice culture in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) is especially important for breeding Fulvous Whistling-Duck.

The Upper Everglades Basin is very important to migratory and resident songbirds, shorebirds and wading birds (i.e., Wood Stork, White Ibis, Limpkin, Snail Kite, rails, and bitterns). Additionally, this area contains the largest wading bird colony in South Florida (Alley North colony in Water Conservation Area 3AN). Last year this colony contained more than 50% of the nests in South Florida (mostly White Ibis nests). The Kissimmee River Basin is important for Crested Caracaras, Florida Grasshopper Sparrow, Sandhill Crane, a non-migratory flock of Whooping Crane, Bald Eagle, Snail Kite, and migratory and wintering wading birds. Also, Red-cockaded Woodpecker is located in some sections.

There are three major threats within this focus area: hydrologic alteration, nutrient enrichment, and invasion of exotic plants. Hydrologic alteration has resulted from river channelization, water-level control of lakes, and impounding wetlands into discrete sections. This has altered the depth and flow of water through the Everglades, affecting prey availability and foraging behavior of numerous wading birds. High nutrient loading of phosphorus and nitrogen from the Everglades Agricultural Area has resulted in poor water quality and conversion of plant communities from sawgrass marsh to dense, monotypic stands of cattails. Exotic species

such as Brazilian pepper, Melaleuca, and Lygodium are invasive, difficult to control, and threaten the native plant communities.
Conservation Recommendations:

Major conservation efforts are currently underway with the Comprehensive Everglades

Restoration Plan, including fee title acquisition, purchase of conservation easements, and restoration plans addressing water quality requirements. Efforts should be directed to protect and restore organic farm fields in the Everglades Agricultural Area, reversing the stabilization of water levels on Lake Okeechobee, and control of exotic and noxious vegetation.



Focus Area: Upper St. Johns and Adjacent Coast, Florida

Sub-Focus Areas: None




Area Description:

This focus area includes the portions of Volusia, Seminole, Orange, and Osceola Counties lying south and east of I-4 within the St. Johns River basin, the entire Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, all of Brevard and Indian River counties, and portions of St. Lucie, Okeechobee, and Martin Counties lying within the southern Indian River Basin (ends at St. Lucie Inlet). This area comprises approximately 677,466 hectares (1,674,050 acres), including 334,715 hectares (827,097 acres) of wetlands. Major wetland types and their acreages include palustrine emergent marsh 102,475 hectares (253,222 acres), estuarine subtidal unconsolidated bottom 80,349 hectares (198,546 acres), palustrine forested 52,713 hectares (130,251 acres), palustrine scrub-shrub 25,122 hectares (62,076 acres), and marine subtidal unconsolidated bottom 23,861 hectares (58,959 acres). This region provides some of the best habitat for waterfowl in the state. Before development of the upper St. Johns River Basin, 117,363 hectares (290,000 acres) of marsh were inundated during years of normal rainfall. Since the turn of the century, almost 80% of the floodplain marshes were diked and drained, mostly for agriculture. In the 1970’s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the St. Johns River Water Management District began restoring wetland habitats in the upper basin of the river. The main components of this restoration effort include floodplain preservation through land acquisition and construction of agricultural irrigation and stormwater management reservoirs. The adjacent coast includes the Indian River, Banana River, Mosquito Lagoon, and associated coastal impoundments, including Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. This area provides wintering habitat for about 400,000 ducks. About three-fourths of these are Lesser Scaup using open water habitats associated with seagrass beds. Other abundant species include Ring-necked Duck, Northern Pintail, Blue-winged Teal, American Wigeon, and Mottled Duck.

A substantial portion of the lands in the Upper St. Johns River Basin and Adjacent Coast are owned by State or Federal Agencies. The St. Johns River Water Management District, an agency of the state, is the primary owner of river floodplain marshes. Additional lands are in private ownership, most of which include large citrus and cattle ranches. The adjacent coast, including Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island area is in federal ownership (NASA, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. National Park Service). Outside of the urban areas along US Highway 1 and the Indian River lagoon south of Merritt Island, much of the land is privately owned. Conservation easements constrain development on a number of these properties. Additional ownerships include other federal, state, county, and municipal agencies.

The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge is recognized as a Global Important Birding Area, National Estuary, Candidate Marine Protected Area, Essential Fish Habitat, and Outstanding Florida Waters. Also, much of the entire adjacent coast area has received Important Bird Area (IBA) designation by the American Bird Conservancy and the National Audubon

American Wetlands Conservation Act, Ducks Unlimited, and the Wetlands Reserve Program.

This region of Florida is highly important to many other resident and migratory birds. Important species include Whooping Crane, Wood Stork, Brown Pelican, Least Tern, Bald Eagle, Limpkin, Peregrine Falcon, rails, Glossy and White Ibis, Reddish Egret, Roseate Spoonbill, Snail Kite, Swallow-Tailed Kite, Snowy and Piping Plover, Short-Billed Dowitcher, near shore pelagic species, Swainson’s Warbler, Painted Bunting, Prairie Warbler, and Prothonotary Warbler.

Florida is experiencing tremendous population growth, creating demands upon the land and fish and wildlife resources for recreational and commercial uses, industrial and residential development, agriculture, and water management, all of which have significant negative impacts

of the tidal salt marshes were impounded for mosquito control in the mid 1960’s. The majority of these impoundments lie within the boundary of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, which has historically managed the impoundments for waterfowl and other migratory birds. Refuge staff has received pressure to restore the impoundments to estuarine salt marsh that could threaten several thousand acres of migrating and wintering habitat for waterfowl such as Northern Pintail, American Wigeon, Gadwall, and Green-winged Teal and Blue-winged Teal.

Wetland management, hydrological restoration, and protection and restoration of wetland communities are the most important needs in this focus area. Because many of the important wetlands in this focus area are modified, water management is critical to maintain or provide the high quality wetlands for waterfowl resources here. Open-water estuary and associated water quality and submerged aquatic plant communities are critical to fish and wildlife populations, including endangered species like the manatee and sea turtles. Additionally, proper fire management needs to be implemented to restore avian communities associated with fire-maintained ecosystems. On public lands, government programs should be used to maintain and restore the integrity of the wetlands and open water habitat.

Herring, G. and Jaime A. Collazo. 2003. Estimating winter survival and temporary emigration of lesser scaup in Florida. North Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695. Abstract.

7.2.4 Georgia

Figure 7.5. Georgia waterfowl focus areas.