The Florida Coastal Everglades Long-Term Ecological Research (FCE-LTER)
project is a collaboration of over 120 researchers, students,
and technical staff. The team studies the ways in which hydrology,
climate, and human activities affect ecosystem patterns in the
estuarine ecotones, or regions where freshwater and saltwater
mix, of the Florida Coastal Everglades. In addition to collecting
data, conducting experiments, and building models, the FCE-LTER
team also distributes data to other scientists, presents research
results at scientific conferences, publishes papers in peer-reviewed
journals, trains graduate students to be professional scientists,
and provides education and outreach to the south Florida community.
We link FCE science with Everglades Restoration to provide reliable, continuous, and growing knowledge transfer from basic ecological theory to the development of more effective environmental management and restoration/rehabilitation programs.
More information about what we do
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Field
and Lab Research
FCE researcher taking a water sample
Ph.D. student Josh working in the lab
Research is the most central activity performed by FCE-LTER
scientists. Countless hours are spent selecting appropriate
field sites, installing environmental monitoring and
experimentation equipment, collecting data, and analyzing
data. Sample collection is often performed in the field,
while biomass measurements, nutrient analyses, and ecological
modeling are conducted in the laboratory.
MS student Bryan Delius with a bull shark in the Shark
River.
As an example of how this process is carried out consider
the work of Dr. Mike Heithaus, whose research in the
Everglades focuses on the importance of consumers, such
as sharks, in transporting nutrients from the ocean
into freshwater habitats.
Slide show of Dr. Mike Heithaus' Everglades research
An Introduction to FCE Research
Labs, centers, and institutes affiliated with the FCE LTER Program
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