Website

https://floridadep.gov/fco/aquatic-preserve/content/charlotte-harbor-aquatic-preserves

Region(s)

SW

Summary

Seagrass ecology, water quality, water clarity

Parameters

Seagrass species and abundance (total and by species using Braun Blanquet method), shoot counts, blade lengths (cm), epiphyte loading on seagrass blades, sediment type, depth (cm), begining and end of bed (m)

Notes

Additional information: http://myfwc.com/media/2718409/charlotte-harbor.pdf AND http://www.dep.state.fl.us/coastal/sites/charlotte/research/SeagrassSiteMap_2007.pdf . The database is rather complicated…and the tables interrelate to each other in different ways. Please see the Seagrass Metadata document. You can create a new query to get the data that you are looking for. For example, if you are looking at the data associated only with the repeat quadrats, use the 2017 repeat table. However, this does not include the beginning or end of seagrass bed stations. Also, data from Estero Bay AP, and DEP DEAR is also included, which has some data collected during the non-growing or off season. If you narrow down the focus of the analyses, I can always query the appropriate data for you, as there are many intricacies involved. Station locations programs 570 (CHAP) and 571 (Estero Bay) and other data managed by CHEP is provided in CHAP_SampleStations_MidPoint_MA.xlsx. Transect mid-points are used to represent the location of each transect. Data is provided by Charlotte Harbor Seagrass Monitoring (program 570) for both program 570 (CHEP) and 5721 (Estero Bay). The column SEACAR_ProgramID indicates the program assigned to the SITE, and also indicates SITES to exclude, including: CR01, CR02, CR02a, CR02b, CR03, CR04a, CR04b, CR05, and PI10, PI11, SC04 and SC05.

Application

To provide scientists, resource managers, legislators, and other stakeholders a summary of the status of seagrasses in Lemon Bay, Gasparilla Sound- Charlotte Harbor, Cape Haze, Pine Island Sound, and Matlacha Pass.

Publications

CHAP Summary Reports and contributions to the FWC SIMM reports

Start

1999

End

Current

Frequency

Annual

Method

SAV evaluated for total cover using the Braun-Blanquet method (0.1: solitary, 0.5: few, 1: < 5%, 2: 5–25%, 3: 26–50%, 4: 51–75%, 5: 76–100%) and by species with regularly-spaced 1 m × 1 m quadrats along transects from shore to deep edge of the SAV. Blade lengths (cm), shoot counts, epiphyte cover category, sediment type and water depth (cm) are also recorded for each quadrat. Salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, secchi depth and PAR also measured at the end of each transect (1999-2006). Fixed transects with repeat sampling stations, beginning and end of bed vary each year.

Discontinuity

Water quality data collection became optional in ~2006 due to establishment of more comprehensive water quality monitoring programs in area.

Data Location

By Request

Data Format

MS Access, but data for SEACAR is exported from the database and provided in the DDI
Access- can export to Excel

Habitats

Submerged Aquatic Vegetation

SEACAR Citation

Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP); Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection (RCP); Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserves. (2023). Charlotte Harbor Seagrass Monitoring. Updated 04/17/2024. Distributed by: SEACAR Data Discovery Interface, Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection, Florida Department of Environmental Protection. https://data.florida-seacar.org/programs/details/570

Alternative Citation

indicates priority attributes