EDI Staging Environment
This study examines temporal and spatial dynamics in the fish community of the oligohaline to mesohaline reaches of ecotonal creeks along the southwest region of Everglades National Park. Collections of fish in SW ENP during 2004 - 2014 across Rookery Branch and Tarpon Bay. Sampling started in the wet season of 2004, and has been conducted three times per year at these approximate times: November (wet season); February (transition); and April (dry season). Electrofishing samples were processed in the field, and all species (except for non-natives) were returned live at the point of collection. In the Rookery Branch region, fish abundance varies markedly yearly and seasonally. Catches peak in the drier months, reflecting a pulse of movement by freshwater taxa into creeks as marshes upstream dry. The timing of this pulse is closely tied to the pattern of water recession in upstream marshes, and has important ramifications for wading bird prey availability.
EDI is a collaboration between the University of New Mexico and the University of Wisconsin – Madison, Center for Limnology:
