Florida Coastal Everglades LTER - Personnel Profiles

Mike Heithaus

FCE Site Role
Project Collaborator

Affiliation
Florida International University

Research
Factors influencing behavioral decisions of animals, particularly large marine taxa including marine mammals, sharks and sea turtles, and how they may in turn influence behavioral decisions of other individuals and species, population dynamics, and community structure; Importance of consumers in transporting nutrients within the Florida Coastal Everglades

FCE Working groups
Consumers, Consumer-Mediated Nutrient Transport

Contact
- Mailing address:
- Marine Biology Program
- Florida International University
- Biscayne Bay Campus
- North Miami, FL 33181
- Email: heithaus@fiu.edu

FCE Publications (51)
Book Chapters
Davis, S.E., E. Castañeda-Moya, R. Boucek, R.M. Chambers, L. Collado-Vides, H.C. Fitz, J.D. Fuentes, E.E. Gaiser, M.R. Heithaus, J.S. Rehage, V.H. Rivera-Monroy, J.P. Sah, F.H. Sklar, and T. Troxler. 2019. Chapter 7: Exogenous Drivers - What has Disturbance Taught Us?, in Childers, D.L., E.E. Gaiser and L.A. Ogden (eds.) The Coastal Everglades: The Dynamics of Social-Ecological Transformation in the South Florida Landscape. Oxford University Press : New York, New York.

Kominoski, J., J.S. Rehage, W.T. Anderson, R. Boucek, H.O. Briceno, M.R. Bush, T.W. Dreschel, M.R. Heithaus, R. Jaffe, L. Larsen, P. Matich, C. McVoy, A.E. Rosenblatt, and T. Troxler. 2019. Chapter 4: Ecosystem Fragmentation and Connectivity - Legacies and Future Implications of a Restored Everglades, in Childers, D.L., E.E. Gaiser and L.A. Ogden (eds.) The Coastal Everglades: The Dynamics of Social-Ecological Transformation in the South Florida Landscape. Oxford University Press : New York, New York.

Price, R.M., K.Z.S. Schwartz, W.T. Anderson, R. Boucek, H.O. Briceno, M.I. Cook, H.C. Fitz, M.R. Heithaus, J. Onsted, J.S. Rehage, V.H. Rivera-Monroy, R. Roy Chowdhury, and A.K. Saha. 2019. Chapter 3: Water, Sustainability, and Survival, in Childers, D.L., E.E. Gaiser and L.A. Ogden (eds.) The Coastal Everglades: The Dynamics of Social-Ecological Transformation in the South Florida Landscape. Oxford University Press : New York, New York.

Heithaus, M.R., and J.J. Vaudo. 2012. Predator-Prey Interactions, pp. 505-546 in Carrier, J.C., J. Musick and M.R. Heithaus (eds.) Biology of Sharks and Their Relatives, Second Edition. CRC Press : Boca Raton, FL.

Heithaus, M.R., A. Frid, J.J. Vaudo, B. Worm, and A.J. Wirsing. 2010. Unraveling the ecological importance of elasmobranchs, pp. 611-637 in Heithaus, M.R., J.C. Carrier and J. Musick (eds.) The biology of sharks and their relatives II: Biodiversity, adaptive physiology, and conservation. CRC Press : Boca Raton, FL.
Journal Articles
Strickland, B.A., P.J. Flood, J. Kline, F.J. Mazzotti, M.R. Heithaus, and J.C. Trexler. 2023. An apex predator engineers wetland food-web heterogeneity through nutrient enrichment and habitat modification. Journal of Animal Ecology 92: 1388-1403.

Patrick, C. et al. 2022. A general pattern of trade-offs between ecosystem resistance and resilience to tropical cyclones. Science Advances 8: eabl9155.

Strickland, B.A., K.R. Gastrich, J. Beauchamp, F.J. Mazzotti, and M.R. Heithaus. 2022. Effects of hydrology on the movements of a large-bodied predator in a managed freshwater marsh. Hydrobiologia 849: 861-878.

van Zinnicq Bergmann, M.P.M., B.D. Postaire, K.R. Gastrich, M.R. Heithaus, L.A. Hoopes, K. Lyons, Y.P. Papastamatiou, E.V.C. Schneider, B.A. Strickland, B.S. Talwar, D.D. Chapman, and J. Bakker. 2021. Elucidating shark diets with DNA metabarcoding from cloacal swabs. Molecular Ecology Resources 21: 1056-1067.

Matich, P., B.A. Strickland, and M.R. Heithaus. 2020. Long-term monitoring provides insight into estuarine top predator (Carcharhinus leucas) resilience following an extreme weather event. Marine Ecology Progress Series 639: 169-183.

Strickland, B.A., K.R. Gastrich, F.J. Mazzotti, J. Massie, V.A. Paz, N. Viadero, J.S. Rehage, and M.R. Heithaus. 2020. Variation in movement behavior of alligators after a major hurricane. Animal Biotelemetry 8: 7.

Massie, J., B.A. Strickland, R.O. Santos, J. Hernandez, N. Viadero, R. Boucek, H.E. Willoughby, M.R. Heithaus, and J.S. Rehage. 2019. Going downriver: Patterns and cues in hurricane-driven movements of common snook in a subtropical coastal river. Estuaries and Coasts 43: 1158–1173.

Strickland, B.A., J. Massie, N. Viadero, R.O. Santos, K.R. Gastrich, V.A. Paz, P. O'Donnell, A.M. Kroetz, D. Ho, J.S. Rehage, and M.R. Heithaus. 2019. Movements of juvenile bull sharks in response to a major hurricane within a tropical estuarine nursery area. Estuaries and Coasts DOI: 10.1007/s12237-019-00600-7.

Griffin, L.P., J.W. Brownscombe, A.J. Adams, R. Boucek, J.T. Finn, M.R. Heithaus, J.S. Rehage, S.J. Cooke, and A.J. Danylchuk. 2018. Keeping up with the Silver King: Using cooperative acoustic telemetry networks to quantify the movements of Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) in the coastal waters of the southeastern United States. Fisheries Research 205: 65-76.

Boucek, R., M.R. Heithaus, R.O. Santos, P.W. Stevens, and J.S. Rehage. 2017. Can animal habitat use patterns influence their vulnerability to extreme climate events? An estuarine sportfish case study. Global Change Biology 23: 4045-4057.

Damseaux, F., J.J. Kiszka, M.R. Heithaus, G. Scholl, G. Eppe, J. Thome, J. Lewis, W. Hao, M. Fontaine, and K. Das. 2017. Spatial variation in the accumulation of POPs and mercury in bottlenose dolphins of the Lower Florida Keys and the coastal Everglades (South Florida). Environmental Pollution 220, Part A: 577-587.

Matich, P., J.S. Ault, R. Boucek, D.E. Bryan, K.R. Gastrich, C.L. Harvey, M.R. Heithaus, J.J. Kiszka, V.A. Paz, J.S. Rehage, and A.E. Rosenblatt. 2017. Ecological niche partitioning within a large predator guild in a nutrient-limited estuary. Limnology and Oceanography 62: 934-953.

Sarabia, R., M.R. Heithaus, and J.J. Kiszka. 2017. Spatial and temporal variation in abundance, group size and behaviour of bottlenose dolphins in the Florida coastal Everglades. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 98: 1097-1107.

Atwood, T.B., R.M. Connolly, E. Ritchie, C.E. Lovelock, M.R. Heithaus, G.C. Hays, J.W. Fourqurean, and P.I. Macreadie. 2015. Predators help protect carbon stocks in blue carbon ecosystems. Nature Climate Change 5: 1038-1045.

Gaiser, E.E., E.P. Anderson, E. Castañeda-Moya, L. Collado-Vides, J.W. Fourqurean, M.R. Heithaus, R. Jaffe, D. Lagomasino, N. Oehm, R.M. Price, V.H. Rivera-Monroy, R. Roy Chowdhury, and T. Troxler. 2015. New perspectives on an iconic landscape from comparative international long-term ecological research. Ecosphere 6: art181.

Matich, P., and M.R. Heithaus. 2015. Individual variation in ontogenetic niche shifts in habitat use and movement patterns of a large estuarine predator (Carcharhinus leucas). Oecologia 178: 347-359.

Matich, P., J.J. Kiszka, M.R. Heithaus, J. Mourier, and S. Planes. 2015. Short-term shifts of stable isotope (d13C, d15N) values in juvenile sharks within nursery areas suggest rapid shifts in energy pathways. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 465: 83-91.

Rosenblatt, A.E., J. Nifong, M.R. Heithaus, F.J. Mazzotti, M.S. Cherkiss, B.M. Jeffery, R.M. Elsey, R.A. Decker, B. Silliman, L.J. GuilletteJr., R.H. Lowers, and J.C. Larson. 2015. Factors affecting individual foraging specialization and temporal diet stability across the range of a large "generalist" apex predator. Oecologia 178: 5-16.

Matich, P., and M.R. Heithaus. 2014. Multi-tissue stable isotope analysis and acoustic telemetry reveal seasonal variability in the trophic interactions of juvenile bull sharks in a coastal estuary. Journal of Animal Ecology 83: 199-213.

Mukherjee, S., M.R. Heithaus, J.C. Trexler, J. Ray-Mukherjee, and J.J. Vaudo. 2014. Perceived risk of predation affects reproductive life-history traits in Gambusia holbrooki, but not in Heterandria formosa. PLoS ONE 9: e88832.

Rosenblatt, A.E., J. Nifong, M.R. Heithaus, M.W. Parry, and F.J. Mazzotti. 2014. New record of Everglades mink in Everglades National Park from the stomach of an American alligator. Southeastern Naturalist 13: N22-N25.

Rosenblatt, A.E., S. Zona, M.R. Heithaus, and F.J. Mazzotti. 2014. Are seeds consumed by crocodilians viable? A test of the crocodilian saurochory hypothesis. Southeastern Naturalist 13: N26-N29.

Wirsing, A.J., M.R. Heithaus, and A. Frid. 2014. Cross-fertilizing aquatic and terrestrial research to understand predator risk effects. WIREs Water 1: 439-448.

Burkholder, D., J.W. Fourqurean, and M.R. Heithaus. 2013. Spatial pattern in seagrass stoichiometry indicates both N-limited and P-limited regions of an iconic P-limited subtropical bay. Marine Ecology Progress Series 472: 101-115.

Mukherjee, S., and M.R. Heithaus. 2013. Dangerous prey and daring predators: a review. Biological Reviews 88: 550-563.

Platt, S.G., R.M. Elsey, H. Liu, T.R. Rainwater, J. Nifong, A.E. Rosenblatt, M.R. Heithaus, and F.J. Mazzotti. 2013. Frugivory and seed dispersal by crocodilians: an overlooked form of saurochory? Journal of Zoology 291: 87-99.

Rosenblatt, A.E., and M.R. Heithaus. 2013. Slow isotope turnover rates and low discrimination values for three tissues in the American alligator: implications for interpretation of ectotherm stable isotope data. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 86: 137-148.

Rosenblatt, A.E., M.R. Heithaus, F.J. Mazzotti, M.S. Cherkiss, and B.M. Jeffery. 2013. Intra-population variation in activity ranges, diel patterns, movement rates, and habitat use of American alligators in a subtropical estuary. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 135: 182-190.

Rosenblatt, A.E., M.R. Heithaus, M.E. Mather, P. Matich, J. Nifong, W.J. Ripple, and B. Silliman. 2013. The roles of large top predators in coastal ecosystems: New insights from long term ecological research. Oceanography 26: 156-167.

Belicka, L., D. Burkholder, J.W. Fourqurean, M.R. Heithaus, S.A. Macko, and R. Jaffe. 2012. Stable isotope and fatty acid biomarkers of seagrass, epiphytic, and algal organic matter to consumers in a nearly pristine seagrass ecosystem . Marine and Freshwater Research 63: 1085-1097.

Belicka, L., P. Matich, R. Jaffe, and M.R. Heithaus. 2012. Fatty acids and stable isotopes as indicators of early-life feeding and maternal resource dependency in the bull shark Carcharhinus leucas. Marine Ecology Progress Series 455: 245-256.

Burkholder, D., M.R. Heithaus, and J.W. Fourqurean. 2012. Feeding preferences of herbivores in a relatively pristine subtropical seagrass ecosystem. Marine and Freshwater Research 63: 1051-1058.

Heithaus, M.R., A.J. Wirsing, and L.M. Dill. 2012. The ecological importance of intact top-predator populations: a synthesis of 15 years of research in a seagrass ecosystem. Marine and Freshwater Research 63: 1039-1050.

Kendrick, G.A., J.W. Fourqurean, M.W. Fraser, M.R. Heithaus, G. Jackson, K. Friedman, and D. Hallac. 2012. Science behind management of Shark Bay and Florida Bay, two P-limited subtropical systems with different climatology and human pressures. Marine and Freshwater Research 63: 941-951.

Matich, P., and M.R. Heithaus. 2012. Effects of an extreme temperature event on the behavior and age structure of an estuarine top predator (Carcharhinus leucas). Marine Ecology Progress Series 447: 165-178.

Nifong, J., A.E. Rosenblatt, N. Johnson, W. Barichivich, B. Silliman, and M.R. Heithaus. 2012. American alligator digestion rate of blue crabs and its implications for stomach contents analysis. Copeia 3: 419-423.

Olson, E.L., A.K. Salomon, A.J. Wirsing, and M.R. Heithaus. 2012. Large-scale movement patterns of male loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) in Shark Bay, Australia. Marine and Freshwater Research 63: 1108-1116.

Vaudo, J.J., and M.R. Heithaus. 2012. Diel and seasonal variation in the use of a nearshore sandflat by a ray community in a near pristine system. Marine and Freshwater Research 63: 1077-1084.

Wirsing, A.J., and M.R. Heithaus. 2012. Behavioural transition probabilities in dugongs change with habitat and predator presence: implications for sirenian conservation. Marine and Freshwater Research 63: 1069-1076.

Matich, P., M.R. Heithaus, and C.A. Layman. 2011. Contrasting patterns of individual specialization and trophic coupling in two marine apex predators. Journal of Animal Ecology 80: 294-305.

Rosenblatt, A.E., and M.R. Heithaus. 2011. Does variation in movement tactics and trophic interactions among American alligators create habitat linkages? Journal of Animal Ecology 80: 786-798.

Ferretti, F., B. Worm, G.L. Britten, M.R. Heithaus, and H.K. Lotze. 2010. Patterns and ecosystem consequences of shark declines in the ocean. Ecology Letters 13: 1055-1071.

Matich, P., M.R. Heithaus, and C.A. Layman. 2010. Size-based variation in intertissue comparisons of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic signatures of bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) and tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier). Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 67: 877-885.

Vaudo, J.J., P. Matich, and M.R. Heithaus. 2010. Mother-offspring isotope fractionation in two species of placentatrophic sharks. Journal of Fish Biology 77: 1724-1727.

Heithaus, M.R., B. Delius, A.J. Wirsing, and M. Dunphy-Daly. 2009. Physical factors influencing the distribution of a top predator in a subtropical oligotrophic estuary. Limnology and Oceanography 54: 472-482.

Torres, L.G., M.R. Heithaus, and B. Delius. 2006. Influence of teleost abundance on the distribution and abundance of sharks in Florida Bay, USA. Hydrobiologia 569: 449-455.

Datasets (16)
FCE Datasets
Large consumer isotope values, Shark River Slough, Everglades National Park (FCE LTER), Florida, USA, May 2005 - ongoing
Creators: Heithaus, Michael; Matich, Philip; Rosenblatt, Adam;

Temperatures,salinities, and dissolved oxygen levels in the Shark River Slough, Everglades National Park (FCE LTER) , from May 2005 to May 2014
Creators: Heithaus, Michael; Matich, Philip; Rosenblatt, Adam;

Water Temperature measured at Shark River, Everglades National Park (FCE) from October 2007 to August 2008
Creators: Rosenblatt, Adam;

Water Temperature, Salinity and other physical measurements taken at Shark River, Everglades National Park (FCE LTER) from February 2010 to March 2014
Creators: Rosenblatt, Adam;

Water Temperature measured at Shark River, Everglades National Park (FCE) from July 2007 to June 2011
Creators: Rosenblatt, Adam;

Bull shark catches, water temperatures, salinities, and dissolved oxygen levels in the Shark River Slough, Everglades National Park (FCE) , from May 2005 to May 2009
Creators: Heithaus, Michael; Matich, Philip;

Large shark catches (Drumline), water temperatures, salinities, dissolved oxygen levels, and stable isotope values in the Shark River Slough, Everglades National Park (FCE LTER) from May 2009 to May 2011
Creators: Heithaus, Michael; Matich, Philip;

Shark catches (longline), water temperatures, salinities, and dissolved oxygen levels, and stable isotope values in the Shark River Slough, Everglades National Park (FCE LTER), Florida, USA, May 2005 - ongoing
Creators: Heithaus, Michael; Matich, Philip;

Percent cover, species richness, and canopy height data of seagrass communities in Shark Bay, Western Australia, with accompanying abiotic data, from October 2012 to July 2013
Creators: Heithaus, Michael; Nowicki, Robert;

Fish community data obtained from Antillean-Z fish trap deployment in the Eastern Gulf of Shark Bay, Australia from June 2013 to August 2013
Creators: Heithaus, Michael; Nowicki, Robert;

Capture data for sharks caught in standardized drumline fishing in Shark Bay, Western Australia, with accompanying abiotic data, from February 2008 to July 2014.
Creators: Heithaus, Michael; Thomson, Jordan;

Capture data for sharks caught in standardized drumline fishing in Shark Bay, Western Australia, with accompanying abiotic data, from January 2012 to April 2014.
Creators: Heithaus, Michael; Thomson, Jordan;

Count data of air-breathing fauna from visual transect surveys including water temperature, time, sea and weather conditions in Shark Bay Marine Park, Western Australia from February 2008 to July 2014
Creators: Heithaus, Michael; Nowicki, Robert;

Marine turtles captured during haphazard at-sea surveys in Shark Bay, Australia from February 2008 to December 2013
Creators: Heithaus, Michael; Thomson, Jordan;

Stationary camera observations, set, and environmental data from Shark Bay Marine Park, Western Australia from July 2011 to June 2012
Creators: Heithaus, Michael; Bessey, Cindy;

Fish trap catch, set, and environmental data from Shark Bay Marine Park, Western Australia from May 2010 to July 2012
Creators: Heithaus, Michael; Bessey, Cindy;

Recent FCE Presentations
Hemsi, S., R. Roose, W. Sample, K.R. Gastrich, L. Garcia Barcia, and M.R. Heithaus. 2024. Everglades bull sharks display preferential associations. 2024 FCE LTER All Scientists Meeting, Fairchild Tropical Garden, Coral Gables, Florida, April 29, 2024.

Sample, W., and M.R. Heithaus. 2024. Drivers of movement and emigration timing in juvenile bull sharks. 2024 FCE LTER All Scientists Meeting, Fairchild Tropical Garden, Coral Gables, Florida, April 29, 2024.

Hemsi, S., R. Roose, W. Sample, K.R. Gastrich, L. Garcia Barcia, and M.R. Heithaus. 2024. Social network analysis of the juvenile bull sharks of Everglades National Park. 2024 Florida International University Biosymposium, North Miami Beach, Florida, February 3, 2024.

Garcia Barcia, L., K.R. Gastrich, G.M. Clementi, B.A. Strickland, P. Matich, K. Zikmanis, S.N. Schoen, P. O'Donnell, J.J. Morris, V. Hagan, K.A. Wilkinson, T.R. Wiley, H. Moncrief-Cox, C.T. Peterson, B. Hamilton, R.D. Grubbs, Y.N. Samara Chacon, Y. Lorenzo, T. Brewer-Tinsl, S. Hemsi, M. Borbolla, E. Babcock, Y. Cai, M.R. Heithaus, and D.D. Chapman. 2023. Spatial and ontogenetic variation in mercury, methylmercury, and selenium accumulation dynamics in bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) in the Gulf of Mexico. SETAC North America 44th Annual Meeting, Louisville, Kentucky, November 16, 2023.

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Personnel Profiles

Mike Heithaus