Dataset title: Standard Lengths and Mean Weights for Prey-base Fishes from Taylor River and Joe Bay Sites, Everglades National Park (FCE), South Florida from January 2000 to April 2004 Dataset ID: LT_CD_Lorenz_001 Research type: Long-Term Dataset Creator Name: Dr. Jerry Lorenz Position: Project Collaborator Organization: National Audubon Society Address: Tavernier Science Center, 115 Indian Mound Trail Tavernier, Florida 33070 USA Phone: (305) 852-5092 Email: jlorenz@audubon.org URL: http://www.audubonofflorida.org/science/tavernier.htm Metadata Provider Organization: Florida Coastal Everglades LTER Program Address: Florida International University University Park OE 148 Miami, FL 33199 USA Phone: 305-348-6054 Email: fcelter@fiu.edu URL: http://fcelter.fiu.edu Dataset Abstract Prey-base fishes. The small demersal fishes of the coastal wetlands are a keystone element in this ecosystem. They are the primary and secondary consumers of the plants mentioned above and they are the primary food resource for myriad piscine (e.g. game species of fish), reptilian (e.g. juvenile crocodiles) and avian (e.g. wading birds) predators. The community dynamics of these fishes are dictated by hydrologic and hydrographic parameters so they also respond predictably to water management practices. Because they are a bottle-neck in the food web, their abundance and availability dictate the success of higher trophic levels. Fish are sampled in June, September and monthly from November through April at five locations. A 9m2 drop trap designed specifically for this habitat are used to quantify fish use. Nine traps are used at each site. Dataset Purpose To link manmade changes in water delivery to resident prey base fish species abundance Geographic Coverage Study Extent Description The Study Extent of this dataset includes the Audubon Society's Taylor River and Joe Bay research sites within Everglades National Park, South Florida Bounding Coordinates Geographic description: Data were collected on the Taylor River and north of Joe Bay, within Everglades National Park, South Florida West bounding coordinate: -80.650 East bounding coordinate: -80.532 North bounding coordinate: 25.250 South bounding coordinate: 25.220 Geographic description: Florida Coastal Everglades LTER Study Area: South Florida, Everglades National Park, and Florida Bay West bounding coordinate: -81.078 East bounding coordinate: -80.490 North bounding coordinate: 25.761 South bounding coordinate: 24.913 FCE LTER Sites: Near TS/Ph6a and TS/Ph8 All Sites Geographic Description:NAS_JB Longitude:-80.532 Latitude:25.250 Geographic Description:NAS_TR Longitude:-80.650 Latitude:25.220 Temporal Coverage Start Date: 2000-01-01 End Date: 2004-04-01 Data Table Entity Name: LT_CD_Lorenz_001 Entity Description: Standard Lengths and Mean Weights for Prey-base Fishes from Taylor River and Joe Bay Sites, Everglades National Park (FCE), South Florida Object Name: LT_CD_Lorenz_001 Data Format Number of Header Lines: 1 Attribute Orientation: column Field Delimiter: , Number of Records: Attributes Attribute Name: Year Attribute Label: date Attribute Definition: Collection Year Storage Type: datetime Measurement Scale: Collection Year Missing Value Code: Attribute Name: Month Attribute Label: date Attribute Definition: Collection Month Storage Type: nomimal Measurement Scale: Collection Month Missing Value Code: Attribute Name: SITENAME Attribute Label: sitename Attribute Definition: Name of Collection Site Storage Type: text Measurement Scale: Name of Collection Site Missing Value Code: Attribute Name: Net_Number Attribute Label: ID Number Attribute Definition: Net ID Number Storage Type: data Measurement Scale: Net ID Number Missing Value Code: Attribute Name: Depth_Strata Attribute Label: strata Attribute Definition: Collection Depth Strata Storage Type: text Measurement Scale: Collection Depth Strata Missing Value Code: -9999 (Value will never be recorded) Attribute Name: Collection_Day_Code Attribute Label: ID Number Attribute Definition: Collection Day Code Storage Type: data Measurement Scale: Collection Day Code Missing Value Code: -9999 (Value will never be recorded) Attribute Name: Species_Code Attribute Label: ID Number Attribute Definition: Prey-Base Fish Species Code Storage Type: text Measurement Scale: Prey-Base Fish Species Code Missing Value Code: -9999 (Value will never be recorded) Attribute Name: Standard_Length Attribute Label: length Attribute Definition: Prey-Base Fish Standard Length Storage Type: data Measurement Scale: Units: centimeter Precision: 0.01 Number Type: real Missing Value Code: -9999 (Value will never be recorded) Attribute Name: Mean _Weight Attribute Label: weight Attribute Definition: Prey-Base Fish Mean Weight Storage Type: data Measurement Scale: Units: gram Precision: 0.01 Number Type: real Missing Value Code: -9999 (Value will never be recorded) Methods Sampling Description Samples collected in June, Sep, and monthly from Nov-Apr. 9 traps collected per sample at each of two sites Method Step Description A 9 m2 drop net and removable walkways designed to quantify densities of small fishes in wetland habitats with low to moderate vegetation density. The method permits the collection of small, quantitative, discrete samples in ecologically sensitive areas by combining rapid net deployment from fixed sites with the carefully contained use of the fish toxicant rotenone. This method requires very little contact with the substrate, causes minimal alteration to the habitat being sampled, samples small fishes in an unbiased manner, and allows for differential sampling of microhabitats within a wetland. When used in dwarf red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) habitat in southern Everglades National Park and adjacent areas (September 1990 to March 1993), high recovery efficiencies were achieved (78-90percent) for five common species less than 110 mm in length. About 20,000 individuals of 26 species were captured. The most abundant fishes were sheepshead minnow Cyprinodon variegatus, goldspotted killifish Floridichthys carpio, rainwater killifish Lucania parva, sailfin molly Poecilia latipinna, and the exotic Mayan cichlid Cichlasoma urophthalmus. The 9 m2 drop net and associated removable walkways are versatile and can be used in a variety of wetland types, including both interior and coastal wetlands with either herbaceous or woody vegetation. Specimens were returned to the lab for identification and measuring weight and length. Instrumentation callipers electronic scale Quality Control Numerous checks by research personnel Distribution Online distribution: http://fcelter.fiu.edu/perl/public_data_download.pl?datasetid=LT_CD_Lorenz_001.txt Intellectual Rights These data are classified as 'Type II' whereby original FCE LTER experimental data collected by individual FCE researchers to be released to restricted audiences according to terms specified by the owners of the data. Type II data are considered to be exceptional and should be rare in occurrence. The justification for exceptions must be well documented and approved by the lead PI and Site Data Manager. Some examples of Type II data restrictions may include: locations of rare or endangered species, data that are covered under prior licensing or copyright (e.g., SPOT satellite data), or covered by the Human Subjects Act, Student Dissertation data and those data related to the FCE LTER Program but not funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under LTER grant #DEB-9910514. Researchers that make use of Type II Data may be subject to additional restrictions to protect any applicable commercial or confidentiality interests. All publications based on this dataset must cite the data Contributor, the Florida Coastal Everglades Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Program and that this material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation through the Florida Coastal Everglades Long-Term Ecological Research program under Cooperative Agreements #DEB-1237517, #DBI-0620409, and #DEB-9910514. Additionally, two copies of the manuscript must be submitted to the Florida Coastal Everglades LTER Program Office, LTER Program Manager, Florida International University, Southeast Environmental Research Center, OE 148, University Park, Miami, Florida 33199. For a complete description of the FCE LTER Data Access Policy and Data User Agreement, please go to FCE Data Management Policy at http://fcelter.fiu.edu/data/DataMgmt.pdf and LTER Network Data Access Policy at http://fcelter.fiu.edu/data/core/data_user_agreement/distribution_policy.html. Dataset Keywords FCE Florida Coastal Everglades LTER ecological research long-term monitoring National Audubon Society Everglades National Park Taylor River Joe Bay consumer dynamics Taylor Slough precipitation temperature pH specific conductance salinity dissolved oxygen water level water column fishes prey-based fishes species wetlands habitats freshwater abundance water ecosystems Data Submission Date: 2005-09-13 Maintenance This is a long-term trophic dynamic and community structure dataset. This dataset replaces all previous versions of LT_ CD_Lorenz_001 original and version 1. The FCE program is discontinuing its practice of versioning data as of March 2013. Dataset Contact Position: Information Manager Organization: LTER Network Office Address: UNM Biology Department, MSC03-2020 1 University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001 USA Phone: 505 277-2535 Fax: 505 277-2541 Email: tech-support@lternet.edu URL: http://www.lternet.edu Position: Information Manager Organization: Florida Coastal Everglades LTER Program Address: Florida International University University Park OE 148 Miami, FL 33199 USA Phone: 305-348-6054 Fax: 305-348-4096 Email: fcelter@fiu.edu URL: http://fcelter.fiu.edu Project permits NPS Research Permit EVER-2003-SCI-0017 Dataset Submission Date 2005-09-13 Information Management Notes This is a long-term trophic dynamic and community structure dataset. This dataset replaces all previous versions of LT_ CD_Lorenz_001 original and version 1. The FCE program is discontinuing its practice of versioning data as of March 2013.