USF St. Petersburg campus Faculty Publications
Paleolimnological Assessment of Six Lakes on the Kissimmee Chain, with Implications for Restoration of the Kissimmee–Okeechobee–Everglades system, Florida, USA
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2020
ISSN
10402381
Abstract
Whitmore TJ, Riedinger-Whitmore MA, Reed, ZE, Curtis, JH, Yang H, Evans DE, Cropper NR, Alvarado KS, Lauterman FM, Scott A, Leonard DE, Franklin DL. 2020. Paleolimnological assessment of six lakes on the Kissimmee Chain, with implications for restoration of the Kissimmee–Okeechobee–Everglades systerm, Florida, USA. Lake Resrv Manage. XX:XX–XX. The Kissimmee Basin in south central Florida contains a large, freshwater network that includes the Kissimmee River and nearly 2 dozen lakes that are headwaters of the Florida Everglades. Management of these lakes is an important part of Everglades restoration. We report a paleolimnological investigation of 6 lakes in the Upper Kissimmee Basin. Engineering activities connected the lakes and permanently altered hydrology in the 19th and 20th centuries. The lakes were naturally meso-eutrophic, but changes in lake levels and nutrient loading contributed to different degrees of eutrophication. Cyanobacteria were present historically at low levels in Lakes East Tohopekaliga, Cypress, and Tohopekaliga, but increased during the 20th century. Lake Jackson lacked cyanobacteria until recently, but Lakes Kissimmee and Marian have had high levels of cyanobacteria since predisturbance times. Profound changes in the lakes occurred after engineering activities eliminated natural large fluctuations in water levels that periodically dried large portions of the basins. Salt-tolerant biological indicators previously alternated with freshwater organisms. Large water-level fluctuations moderated aquatic-plant standing crops and reduced organic matter accumulation. Lakes Kissimmee and Marian showed greatest evidence of former associated wetlands, but lacked large variations in water levels. We recommend disconnecting these lakes from each other and from the Kissimmee River to reestablish large, natural fluctuations in water levels that were part of healthy ecosystem function. Former wetlands should be restored to slow the downstream cascade of nutrients to Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades. This study demonstrates that paleolimnology is useful for assessing hydrological changes that potentially affect lake restoration efforts.
Publisher
Taylor and Francis Group [Commercial Publisher]; Taylor and Francis [Imprint]
Recommended Citation
Whitmore, Thomas J.; Riedinger-Whitmore, Melanie A.; Reed, Zachary E.; Curtis, Jason H.; Yang, Handong; Evans, Deveny E.; Cropper, Nicholas R.; Alvarado, Karla S.; Lauterman, Francesca M.; Scott, Austyn; Leonard, Christine R.; and Franklin, Daniel L., "Paleolimnological Assessment of Six Lakes on the Kissimmee Chain, with Implications for Restoration of the Kissimmee–Okeechobee–Everglades system, Florida, USA" (2020). USF St. Petersburg campus Faculty Publications. 4147.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/fac_publications/4147
