A hydrological budget (2002-2008) for a large subtropical wetland ecosystem indicates marine groundwater discharge accompanies diminished freshwater flow

Estuaries and Coasts
By: , and 

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Abstract

Water budget parameters are estimated for Shark River Slough (SRS), the main drainage within Everglades National Park (ENP) from 2002 to 2008. Inputs to the water budget include surface water inflows and precipitation while outputs consist of evapotranspiration, discharge to the Gulf of Mexico and seepage losses due to municipal wellfield extraction. The daily change in volume of SRS is equated to the difference between input and outputs yielding a residual term consisting of component errors and net groundwater exchange. Results predict significant net groundwater discharge to the SRS peaking in June and positively correlated with surface water salinity at the mangrove ecotone, lagging by 1 month. Precipitation, the largest input to the SRS, is offset by ET (the largest output); thereby highlighting the importance of increasing fresh water inflows into ENP for maintaining conditions in terrestrial, estuarine, and marine ecosystems of South Florida.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title A hydrological budget (2002-2008) for a large subtropical wetland ecosystem indicates marine groundwater discharge accompanies diminished freshwater flow
Series title Estuaries and Coasts
DOI 10.1007/s12237-011-9454-y
Volume 35
Issue 2
Year Published 2012
Language English
Publisher Springer
Contributing office(s) Southeast Ecological Science Center
Description 16 p.
First page 459
Last page 474
Time Range Start 2002-01-01
Time Range End 2008-12-31
Country United States
State Florida
Other Geospatial Everglades National Park;Shark River Slough
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