TREE ISLANDS OF THE EVERGLADES

TREE ISLANDS OF THE EVERGLADES

Tree Islands of the Everglades Edited by FRED H. SKLAR South Florida Water Management District, West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.A. and ARNOLD VAN DER VALK Iowa Lakeside Laboratory, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, U.S.A. Associate Editors Joel VanArman Jan Johansen KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS DORDRECHTI BOSTON I LONDON

A C.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN-13: 978-94-010-6490-3 e-isbn-13: 978-94-009-0001-1 001: 10.1007/978-94-009-0001-1 Published by Kluwer Academic Publishers, P.O. Box 17, 3300 AA Dordrecht, The Netherlands. Sold and distributed in North, Central and South America by Kluwer Academic Publishers, 101 Philip Drive, Norwell, MA 02061, U.S.A. In all other countries, sold and distributed by Kluwer Academic Publishers, P.O. Box 322, 3300 AH Dordrecht, The Netherlands. Printed on acid-free paper All Rights Reserved 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2002 No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.

Tree Islands ofthe Everglades Preface PREFACE Within the Florida Everglades, tree islands, which cover only a small percent of this ecosystem, historically have provided essential habitat for a wide variety ofterrestrial and amphibious plants, birds, and animals. These tree islands, however, have been one of its least studied features. Because of their less flood tolerant vegetation, tree islands are one ofthe most sensitive components of the Everglades to changes in hydrology, and many tree islands have been lost during periods when water levels have been abnormally high or low. Their sensitivity to water level changes makes tree islands potentially one of the best and surest measures of the overall hydrologic health of the Everglades. Consequently, the maintenance of healthy, functioning tree islands and the restoration ofthose that have been lost will be an important performance measures that will be used to judge the success of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). A symposium, Tree Islands of the Everglades, was held on July 14 and 15, 1998 at Florida Atlantic University, BocaRaton, Florida. It was sponsored by Florida Center for Environmental Studies and the South Florida Water Management District. This was the first scientific meeting ever devoted to tree islands. The organizers of this symposium were Drs. Arnold van der Valk, Florida Center for Environmental Studies and Iowa State University, Fred Sklar, South Florida Water Management District, and Wiley Kitchens, United States Geological Survey. This symposium brought together scientists from a variety of federal, state and local government agencies and universities who had worked or were working on the geology, ecology, and archaeology of tree islands. On July 15, 1998, there was also a session at the Boca Raton meeting to develop a conceptual model of tree islands. This model identifies threats to them and how they have or will impact tree island abundance, distribution, and condition. Potential features of tree islands that could be monitored to determine their status and condition were also identified. This book is in large part the proceedings of this symposium. It has been significantly expanded beyond this symposium proceedings and it includes a number of chapters reporting on studies done since the Boca Raton symposium. Most significantly, we have added an overview chapter on tree islands. Tree islands are not a unique feature of the Everglades, but are found in many other large wetlands around the world. Unfortunately, as in the Everglades, they have also been largely ignored. It is our hope that this book will stimulate work on tree islands in other large wetlands. The tree island symposium and this book are products of a year spent on a sabbatical by one of the editors, Arnold van der Valk, at the Florida Center

Tree Islands ofthe Everglades Preface for Environmental Studies (FCES) in Palm Beach Gardens. Funding for this sabbatical was provided by Iowa State University and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD). We would like to thank Len Berry, the director offces, and his staff for their hospitality and help. We are especially indebted to Jo Ann Jolley for her patience and good humor in dealing with a host ofadministrative and logistical problems and to Doreen DiCarlo who handled all ofthe logistical arrangements for the Boca Raton symposium. Pat Gostel ofthe South Florida Water Management District did much behind the scenes to make this FCES and SFWMD interaction go smoothly. We would like to thank him for his encouragement, support and help. We would also like to give a very special thanks to our associate editors, Joel VanArman and Jan Johansen ofthe South Florida Water Management District. Without them, work on this book might never have been finished. Although we are unable to list them because many have requested that they remain anonymous, we would like to thank the reviewers of each of the chapters ofthis book. Their suggestions and comments have done much to improve this volume. Finally, we would like to thank all the contributors to this book for their hard work and especially their patience. This book is dedicated to the scientists and staff ofthe South Florida Water Management District who are working to preserve and to restore the Everglades. Fred H. Sklar, West Palm Beach, Florida Arnold van der Valk, Ames, Iowa 11

Table ofcontents Chapter 1. Tree Islands ofthe Everglades: An Overview Fred H. Sklar and Arnold van der Valk 1 Chapter 2. Tree Island Ecosystems ofthe World Paul R. Wetzel 19 Chapter 3. Bayhead Tree Islands on Deep Peats ofthe Northeastern Everglades Peter A. Stone, Patrick J. Gleason, and Gail L. Chmura 71 Chapter 4. Paleoecological Insights on Fixed Tree Island Development in the Florida Everglades: 1. Environmental Controls Debra A. Willard, Charles W. Holmes, Michael S. Korvela, Daniel Mason, James B. Murray, William H. Orem, and D. Timothy Towles 117 Chapter 5. Nutrient Geochemistry ofsediments from Two Tree Islands in Water Conservation Area 3B, the Everglades, Florida William H. Orem, Debra A. Willard, Harry E. Lerch, Anne L. Bates, Ann Boylan, and Margo Comm 153 Chapter 6. The Archaeology ofeverglades Tree Islands Robert S. Carr 187 Chapter 7. Water Depth Tolerances ofdominant Tree Island Species: What do We Know? William H. Conner, Thomas W. Doyle, and Daniel Mason 207 Chapter 8. Vegetation Pattern and Process in Tree Islands ofthe Southern Everglades and Adjacent Areas Thomas V. Arrnentano, David T. Jones, Michael S. Ross and Brandon W. Gamble 225 Chapter 9. Tree Island Vegetation and Water Management in the Central Everglades Lorraine Heisler, D. Timothy Towle, Laura A. Brandt, and Robert T. Pace...283 Chapter 10. Tree Islands ofthe Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge iii

Tree Islands ofthe Everglades fable ofcontents Laura A. Brandt, Jennifer E. Silveira, Wiley M. Kitchens 311 Chapter 11. Vegetation, Peat Elevation and Peat Depth on Two Tree Islands in Water Conservation Area 3-A Daniel H. MasonI and Arnold van der Valk 337 Chapter 12. Analysis oftree Island Vegetation Communitie$ Paul R. Wetzel 357 Chapter 13. Occurrence ofwildlife on Tree Islands in the Southern Everglades Walter E. Meshaka, Jr.,Ray Snow, Oron L. Bass, Jr., and William B. Robertson, Jr 391 Chapter 14. Effects oftree Island Size and Water on the Population Dynamics ofsmall Mammals in the Everglades Michael S. Gaines, Christopher R. Sasso, James E. Diffendorfer, and Harald Beck 429 Chapter 15. Habitat-Use Patterns ofavian Seed Dispersers in the Central Everglades Dale E. Gawlik, Peg Gronemeyer, and Robert A. Powell 445 Chapter 16. Spatial Simulations oftree Islands for Everglades Restoration Yegang Wu, Ken Rutchey, Weihe Guan, Les Vilchek and Fred H. Sklar..469 Chapter 17. What We Know and Should Know about Tree Islands Arnold van der Valk and Fred Sklar.499 Subject Index 523 Genus and Species Index 537 iv