Goal of research

Florida has a rich and quite colorful cultural history, but a central recurring theme is that waves of settlers moved into an area, chased away previous inhabitants, and busily set about reshaping the landscape to accommodate their ever expanding residential and agricultural activities. South Florida is a prime example of this socioeconomical process. Vast areas of "useless" freshwater wetlands were converted for agricultural and residential use and remaining wetlands were radically re-plumbed to facilitate storage and rapid movement of water across a substantially fragmented wetscape. Since at least the publication of River of Grass in 1947 by Marjory Stoneman Douglas, there has been a profound rethinking of the value of the wetscapes of southern Florida and the world's largest ecosystem restoration project is now underway in the Florida Everglades. I began working in the Everglades in 1989 and was fortunate to have the opportunity to work in several other regional wetlands (e.g., headwater marshes of the St. Johns River, Kissimmee River floodplain, Lake Okeechobee littoral marshes) that were undergoing early stages of restoration. The proximate goal of much of this collaborative research has been to gain a better understanding of the basic biology and ecology of aquatic semi-aquatic organisms such as fishes, amphibians, birds, and arthropods that inhabit the freshwater wetlands of southern Florida. However, the ultimate goal of this research has been to develop biological metrics that can be used to evaluate the efficacy of restoration efforts and to better inform decisions concerning management and conservation of freshwater wetscapes such as the Florida Everglades.

Overview and key findings

• Patterns of habitat use in freshwater wetlands.
• Mechanisms of habitat selection by freshwater nekton.
• Role of scale in organizing wetland communities.
• Use of created wetlands.
• Effects of eutrophication.
• How to sample little fishes in big wetlands.

Collaborators

• Kim Babbitt, University of New Hampshire
• Howard Jelks, US Geological Survey
• Wiley Kitchens, US Geological Survey and University of Florida
• Carole McIvor, US Geological Survey
• Steve Miller, St. Johns River Water Management District
• Joel Trexler, Florida International University

Sources of funding

• South Florida Water Management District
• St. Johns River Water Management District
• Environmental Protection Agency

Publications

• Chimney, M. J. and F. Jordan. 2008. The fish assemblage of a constructed treatment wetland in south Florida. The Florida Scientist 71:246-264.

• Baber, M. J., K. J. Babbitt, F. Jordan, H. Jelks, and W. M. Kitchens. 2005. Relationships between habitat type, hydrology, predator composition, and distribution of larval anurans in the Florida Everglades. Pages 154-160 in Amphibians and Reptiles: Status and Conservation in Florida. W. E Meshaka, Jr. and K. J. Babbitt (Eds.), Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar, Florida.

• Ruetz, C. R., J. C. Trexler, F. Jordan, W. F. Loftus, and S. A. Perry. 2005. Population dynamics of wetland fishes: spatio-temporal patterns synchronized by hydrological disturbance? Journal of Animal Ecology 74:322-332.

• Trexler, J. C., W. F. Loftus, F. Jordan, J. H. Chick, K. L. Kandl, T. C. McElroy, and O. L. Bass, Jr. 2001. Ecological scale and its implications for freshwater fishes in the Florida Everglades. Pages 153-181 in The Everglades, Florida Bay, and Coral Reefs of the Florida Keys: An Ecosystem Sourcebook. J. W. Porter and K. G. Porter (Eds.), CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida.

• Jordan, F., K. J. Babbitt, C. C. McIvor, and S. J. Miller. 2000. Contrasting patterns of habitat use by prawns and crayfish in a headwater marsh of the St. Johns River, Florida. Journal of Crustacean Biology 20:769-776.

• Trexler, J.C., W. F. Loftus, F. Jordan, J. Lorenz, and J. Chick. 2000. Empirical assessment of fish introductions in a subtropical wetland: an evaluation of contrasting views. Biological Invasions 2:265-277.

• Turner, A. M., J. C. Trexler, F. Jordan, S. J. Slack, P. Geddes, and W. Loftus. 1999. Targeting ecosystem features for conservation: standing crops in the Florida Everglades. Conservation Biology 13:898-911.

• Jordan, F., K. J. Babbitt, and C. C. McIvor.  1998. Seasonal variation in habitat use by marsh fishes.  Ecology of Freshwater Fish 7:159-166.

• Jordan, F., S. Coyne, and J. C. Trexler. 1997. Sampling fishes in vegetated habitats: the effects of habitat structure on sampling characteristics of the 1-m2 throw trap. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 126:1012-1020.

• Jordan, F., H. L. Jelks, and W. M. Kitchens. 1997. Habitat structure and plant species composition in a northern Everglades wetland landscape. Wetlands 17:275-283. 

• Babbitt, K. J., and F. Jordan. 1996. Predation on Bufo terrestris tadpoles: effects of cover and predator identity. Copeia 1996:485-488. 

• Jordan, F., K. J. Babbitt, C. C. McIvor, and S. J. Miller. 1996. Spatial ecology of the crayfish Procambarus alleni in a Florida wetland mosaic. Wetlands 16:134-142. 

• Jordan, F., C. J. DeLeon*, and A. C. McCreary*. 1996. Predation, habitat complexity, and distribution of the crayfish Procambarus alleni within a wetland habitat mosaic. Wetlands 16:452-457. 

• Jordan, F., and A. C. McCreary*. 1996. Effects of an odonate predator and habitat complexity on survival of flagfish, Jordanella floridae. Wetlands 16:583-586. 

• Jordan, F., H. L. Jelks, and W. M. Kitchens. 1994. Habitat use by the fishing spider Dolomedes triton in a northern Everglades wetland. Wetlands 14:239-242. 

• Chick, J. H., F. Jordan, J. P. Smith, and C. C. McIvor. 1992. A comparison of four enclosure traps used to sample fishes in aquatic macrophytes. Journal of Freshwater Ecology 7:353-361.

Pictures