Habitats in our Watersheds

Oyster reefs

Oysters are filter feeders that help clean the water by removing excess nutrients and particles from the water column. Oysters also form reefs that provide important structure for fish and other aquatic species to live. Pensacola Bay once supported a thriving oyster industry. Due to water quality declines and overharvesting, oyster populations have been on a steady decline since the 1980s. Top priorities and strategies from the Oyster Fisheries and Habitat Management Plan for Pensacola Bay System were incorporated into the CCMP and the Estuary Program created an Oyster Sub-Committee to guide the plan’s implementation and make sure it is actionable and adaptable. As PPBEP and partners work to restore Pensacola Bay oysters, with targets set to restore about 250 acres over the next 5 years and 1,500 acres over the next 10 years, there is a need for continuous monitoring of our oyster habitat to track the success of these efforts. The 2021 oyster mapping survey and condition assessment will serve as our benchmark for measuring restoration success through time.

Seagrass Beds

Underwater grasses are great indicators of water quality in our bays, bayous, and sounds. These grasses can only grow when enough light reaches the bottom, which means they need good water clarity.  Seagrass beds are also an important habitat for many fish, shellfish, manatees, and more! To assess the health of our seagrass habitats, it is important to track the coverage, species, and condition to know if they are declining, improving, or remaining stable.

In fall 2022, PPBEP funded seagrass monitoring efforts to determine the coverage and condition of seagrass beds throughout the Pensacola and Perdido Bay Systems. Researchers collected data on a variety of indicators including seagrass percent cover by species, macroalgae cover, canopy height, and environmental parameters (e.g., water clarity, chlorophyll-a, light availability). More details coming soon!

Wetlands

Wetlands are threatened by sea-level rise and human impacts (e.g., coastal development), so it is important to monitor and track changes over time to determine what actions need to be taken to conserve or restore these important habitats. A loss of wetlands could result in the decline of water quality and overall health of our watersheds.

In 2021, PPBEP and partners conducted an expansion of EPA’s National Wetland Condition Assessment to assess the health of our estuarine wetlands at 30 sites across the watersheds. These surveys are conducted every 5 years across the Nation’s coasts to collect information on soils, plant species diversity, disturbances, and contaminants. The continuation of this watershed-wide assessment and other monitoring will allow us to effectively track wetland condition and the effectiveness of CCMP actions.

Longleaf Pine Forests

The recovery of longleaf pines is an important metric when measuring the health of our upland and coastal environments. Like wetlands, healthy, dense longleaf pine forests help protect downstream water quality by acting as filters for water as it moves across the landscape.

Restoration and natural reforestation of longleaf pines is important to track, but difficult to measure due to the large areas that forests cover, crossing state lines and private and public properties. The Florida Natural Resources Inventory (FNAI) and The Longleaf Alliance are leading an effort to map the extent of longleaf pines in the southeast. This dataset will allow us to assess the current range of longleaf pines more accurately across the watersheds and prioritize lands for future conservation efforts.

Habitat Change

Poor development and agricultural practices can change the landscape and natural habitats, and in turn threaten wildlife, increase soil transport to our waterways, reduce natural filtration and water storage capacity, and decrease natural flood control. Smart development and best management practices applied to agricultural lands can reduce these negative impacts. Furthermore, the protection of natural habitats as conservation lands is important for preserving the services our habitats provide us, as well as preserving habitat connectivity for wildlife and protecting natural spaces for future generations.

The National Land Cover Database measures how land changes through time as natural and human actions change the landscape. Databases such as these are important to inform future decision making for managing development while still protecting natural habitats.

For more information please see the Appendix.