This project will complete a data gap analysis for mangrove and salt marsh habitats and begin to compile all existing mapping and monitoring data sets for mangrove and salt marsh habitats within Florida.
Salt marshes and mangroves comprise essential fisheries habitat in Florida. State-wide estimates of salt marsh (739,000 acres) and mangrove area (674,000 acres) are outdated and need to be revisited. Recent episodes of marsh mortality have also focused attention on the vulnerability of these important fisheries habitats to disease and potential loss.
Future sea-level rise is expected to cause fragmentation of salt marsh and loss of acreage where hardened shorelines and other obstacles prevent the landward migration of salt marsh grasses. Mangrove distribution is also changing in response to climate change and sea-level rise, as well as shifts in marsh habitats. Thus, a coordinated statewide mapping and monitoring program is necessary in order to protect Florida’s vulnerable coastal habitats, and the numerous species that depend upon them.
The Coastal Habitat Integrated Mapping and Monitoring Program (CHIMMP) was funded by Florida’s State Wildlife Grants Program from 2013-2017 in order to support the study of high priority coastal habitats and meet requirements of the State Wildlife Action Plan. CHIMMP's goals included bringing together representatives from mapping and monitoring programs across the State in order to increase communication, minimize duplicate efforts and identify data gaps, needs, and priorities. Three CHIMMP workshops were held at the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida in April 2014, September 2015, and January 2017 to bring together coastal wetland scientists and managers from across Florida.
Learn more about the CHIMMP workshops
.
Workshop participants and CHIMMP partners collaborated to write a statewide technical report that was published in 2017. This report summarizes regional mapping and monitoring programs for salt marshes and mangroves as well as the status of coastal wetlands in Florida.
Coastal Habitat Integrated Mapping and Monitoring Program Report
for the State of Florida
View Complete Report
View Individual Chapters
Title page, acknowledgements, contributors, and executive summary
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Northwest Florida
Chapter 3: Big Bend and Springs Coast
Chapter 4: Tampa Bay
Chapter 5: Sarasota Bay
Chapter 6: Charlotte Harbor and Estero Bay
Chapter 7: Collier County
Chapter 8: Everglades
Chapter 9: Florida Keys
Chapter 10: Biscayne Bay
Chapter 11: Palm Beach and Broward Counties
Chapter 12: Indian River Lagoon
Chapter 13: Northeast Florida
Chapter 14: Conclusions and Recommendations