Dataset title: Trophic transfer of Everglades marsh consumer biomass to Everglades Estuaries (FCE), Everglades National Park, South Florida from December 2010 to Present Dataset ID: LT_TDCS_Rehage_003 Research type: Long-Term Dataset Creator Name: Dr. Jennifer Rehage Position: Collaborator Organization: Florida Coastal Everglades LTER Program Address: Florida International University University Park ECS 119 Miami, FL 33199 USA Phone: 305-348-0181 Email: rehagej@fiu.edu URL: http://www2.fiu.edu/~rehagej/index.html 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 We measured the trophic transfer of secondary consumer biomass from the Everglades marshes to the oligohaline reaches of the Shark River by sampling the diets of four common large bodied piscivorous fishes occurring at the marsh-estuary oligohaline ecotone. The four species sampled were Florida bass (Micropterus floridanus), bowfin (Amia calva), common snook (Centropomus undecimalis), and red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus). We sampled diets via pulsed gastric lavage, a relatively non-lethal and effective sampling technique used to measure trophic interactions. We quantified trophic transfer of marsh biomass to the estuary when a focal piscivore consumed a prey species that was likely a migrant from adjacent marshes. A more detailed description of these methods can be found in citation #28. In the presented data, we combined estimates of relative abundance of piscivores from standardized electrofishing techniques (# of piscivores/ 100 meters of sampled shoreline) with biomass of marsh species consumed in the estuary to calculate the biomass (g) transferred to the estuary per 100 meters of shoreline. These values serve as our index of how much biomass is being exported off of the marsh to the estuary through consumer mediated habitat linkages. An important key finding from this work is that disturbance, in particular drought, can sever this biomass linkage, and conserve biomass export off of karstic wetlands to estuaries through of marsh secondary consumer trophic pathways. Dataset Purpose The purpose of these data collection was to determine how disturbance, including droughts, tropical cyclones, sea-level rise, and Everglades restoration changes consumer mediated habitat linkages between Everglades karstic marshes and the oligohaline reaches of the estuary. Geographic Coverage Study Extent Description The Study Extent of this dataset includes areas near FCE Shark River Estuary, Everglades National Park, South Florida Bounding Coordinates Geographic description: Everglades marshes, South Florida West bounding coordinate: -81.078 East bounding coordinate: -81.078 North bounding coordinate: 25.365 South bounding coordinate: 25.365 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 All Sites Geographic Description:Shark River Estuary, Everglades National Park, FL US. Longitude:-80.490 Latitude:24.913 Temporal Coverage Start Date: 2010-12-17 End Date: 2013-07-01 Data Table Entity Name: LT_TDCS_Rehage_003 Entity Description: Trophic transfer of Everglades marsh consumer biomass to Everglades Estuaries (FCE), Everglades National Park, South Florida Object Name: LT_TDCS_Rehage_003 Data Format Number of Header Lines: 1 Attribute Orientation: column Field Delimiter: , Attributes Attribute Name: Date Attribute Label: Collection date Attribute Definition: sampling date Storage Type: datetime Measurement Scale: Missing Value Code: Attribute Name: Latitude_DD Attribute Label: Latitude_DD Attribute Definition: Latitude Storage Type: coordinate Measurement Scale: Latitude Missing Value Code: -9999.000 (Value will never be recorded ) Attribute Name: Longitude_DD Attribute Label: Longitude_DD Attribute Definition: Longitude Storage Type: coordinate Measurement Scale: Longitude Missing Value Code: -9999.000 (Value will never be recorded ) Attribute Name: BIOMASS_CONSUMED_PER_100_M Attribute Label: biomass Attribute Definition: Biomass of allochthonous marsh floodplain prey consumed by common piscivores found in the estuary Storage Type: data Measurement Scale: Units: gram Precision: 0.01 Number Type: real Missing Value Code: -9999.000 (Value will never be recorded ) Methods Sampling Description We captured snook using a boat-mounted, generator-powered electrofisher (two-anode, one cathode Smith-Root 9.0 unit) . Boat electrofishing is an effective sampling technique in freshwater habitats, including the Everglades, and has been used successfully to sample upper estuarine fish communities. We conducted three replicate electrofishing bouts (timed sampling transects) at fixed locations in each site, each 200 m apart. For each bout, we ran the boat at idle speed at a randomly-selected creek shoreline and applied power for 5 min of time, during which two netters captured all immobilized fishes. We standardize power output to 1500 Watts, given temperature and conductance conditions measured at the beginning of each bout. Method Step Description We sampled diets via pulsed gastric lavage, a relatively non-lethal and effective sampling technique. We followed protocols found in IACUC Protocol #12-030. Citation Boucek, Ross E 2013-10-01. No free lunch: displaced marsh consumers regulate a prey subsidy to an estuarine consumer.. Oikos, 122(10): 1453-1464. Protocol Protocol Title: Catching fish Protocol Creator(s) Name: Ross Boucek Position: Graduate Researcher Organization: Florida International University Address: Florida International University University Park ECS 119 Miami, FL 33199 USA Phone: 305-348-0181 Publication Date: 2013-10-01 Abstract We captured snook using a boat-mounted, generator-powered electrofisher (two-anode, one cathode Smith-Root 9.0 unit) . Boat electrofishing is an effective sampling technique in freshwater habitats, including the Everglades, and has been used successfully to sample upper estuarine fish communities (Rehage and Loftus 2007). We conducted three replicate electrofishing bouts (timed sampling transects) at fixed locations in each site, each 200 m apart. For each bout, we ran the boat at idle speed at a randomly-selected creek shoreline and applied power for 5 min of time, during which two netters captured all immobilized fishes. We standardize power output to 1500 Watts, given temperature and conductance conditions measured at the beginning of each bout. We captured snook using a boat-mounted, generator-powered electrofisher (two-anode, one cathode Smith-Root 9.0 unit) . Boat electrofishing is an effective sampling technique in freshwater habitats, including the Everglades, and has been used successfully to sample upper estuarine fish communities (Rehage and Loftus 2007). We conducted three replicate electrofishing bouts (timed sampling transects) at fixed locations in each site, each 200 m apart. For each bout, we ran the boat at idle speed at a randomly-selected creek shoreline and applied power for 5 min of time, during which two netters captured all immobilized fishes. We standardize power output to 1500 Watts, given temperature and conductance conditions measured at the beginning of each bout. We captured snook using a boat-mounted, generator-powered electrofisher (two-anode, one cathode Smith-Root 9.0 unit) . Boat electrofishing is an effective sampling technique in freshwater habitats, including the Everglades, and has been used successfully to sample upper estuarine fish communities (Rehage and Loftus 2007). We conducted three replicate electrofishing bouts (timed sampling transects) at fixed locations in each site, each 200 m apart. For each bout, we ran the boat at idle speed at a randomly-selected creek shoreline and applied power for 5 min of time, during which two netters captured all immobilized fishes. We standardize power output to 1500 Watts, given temperature and conductance conditions measured at the beginning of each bout. Keywords Electrofishing fish capture Procedural Steps Apply electric current to sampling area net immobilized fish place fish into a water tank on boat Instrumentation The gastric lavage was built in the lab using a 50 Gallon per hour bilge pump andpressure fitted tubing. The nossel tubing of the lavage is 3/8 inch in diameter. Method Step Description We captured snook using a boat-mounted, generator-powered electrofisher (two-anode, one cathode Smith-Root 9.0 unit) . Boat electrofishing is an effective sampling technique in freshwater habitats, including the Everglades, and has been used successfully to sample upper estuarine fish communities. We conducted three replicate electrofishing bouts (timed sampling transects) at fixed locations in each site, each 200 m apart. For each bout, we ran the boat at idle speed at a randomly-selected creek shoreline and applied power for 5 min of time, during which two netters captured all immobilized fishes. We standardize power output to 1500 Watts, given temperature and conductance conditions measured at the beginning of each bout. Citation Young, Joy 2014-05-28. Spatiotemporal dynamics of spawning aggregations of common snook on the east coast of Florida.. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 505: 227-240. Instrumentation 21' Aluminum boat fitted with a generator and other electrofishing equipment (see citation 28) Quality Control Employees, check entered data following standard QA/QC procedures. Distribution Online distribution: http://fcelter.fiu.edu/perl/public_data_download.pl?datasetid=LT_TDCS_Rehage_003.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 grants #DEB-9910514, and # DBI-0620409. 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 consumer dynamics fishes Rookery Branch Electrofishing Everglades National Park catches consumers freshwater estuarine biology species Consumer mediated habitat linkages Everglades estuary consumers biomass trophic transfer Everglades marsh consumer secondary consumer biomass biomass transfer Data Submission Date: 2014-11-17 Maintenance This is a long-term trophic dynamics and community structure dataset and subsequent data will be appended. 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 EVER-SCI-2013-0020 Dataset Submission Date 2014-11-17 Information Management Notes This is a long-term trophic dynamics and community structure dataset and subsequent data will be appended.