Wading bird guano enrichment of soil nutrients in tree islands of the Florida Everglades.

Differential distribution of nutrients within an ecosystem can offer insight of ecological and physical processes that are otherwise unclear. This study was conducted to determine if enrichment of phosphorus (P) in tree island soils of the Florida Everglades can be explained by bird guano deposition. Concentrations of total carbon, nitrogen (N), and P, and N stable isotope ratio (δ(15)N) were determined on soil samples from 46 tree islands.

Wading bird guano contributes to Hg accumulation in tree island soils in the Florida Everglades.

Tree islands are habitat for wading birds and a characteristic landscape feature in the Everglades. A total of 93 surface soil and 3 soil core samples were collected from 7 degraded/ghost and 34 live tree islands. The mean Hg concentration in surface soils of ghost tree islands was low and similar to marsh soil.

Seasonal plant water uptake patterns in the saline southeast Everglades ecotone.

The purpose of this study was to determine the seasonal water use patterns of dominant macrophytes coexisting in the coastal Everglades ecotone. We measured the stable isotope signatures in plant xylem water of Rhizophora mangle, Cladium jamaicense, and Sesuvium portulacastrum during the dry (DS) and wet (WS) seasons in the estuarine ecotone along Taylor River in Everglades National Park, FL, USA. Shallow soilwater and deeper groundwater salinity was also measured to extrapolate the salinity encountered by plants at their rooting zone.

Seasonal water-use by the invasive exotic, Schinus terebinthifolius, in native and disturbed communities.

Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi (Anacardiaceae) is an aggressive invader found in both disturbed and native habitats of Florida. The purpose of this study was to compare Schinus water uptake patterns to those of four native species in a disturbed previously farmed area versus a native pineland community. Although neither of the study sites was flooded, soils in both sites were saturated with water at the end of the wet season.