Walters Carl, Gunderson Lance, Holling C S
Ecol Appl. 1992 May;2(2):189-202. doi: 10.2307/1941775.
Marshland drainage and water regulation have greatly altered the Florida Everglades. One of the most visible ecological impacts has been a drastic decline in nesting populations of wading birds, and several specific hypotheses have been advanced to explain the decline. Recent efforts at ecological restoration have concentrated on reestablishing more natural seasonal hydropatterns in freshwater marsh areas now used extensively by the wading birds. However, nesting colonies were originally concentrated along the estuarine mangrove edge of the system rather than around upstream marshes. Hydrological simulation models have been used to reconstruct what hydrological conditions might have been like in the natural system, and these simulations indicate that freshwater pools near and flows to the estuary have been drastically reduced, especially late in the annual spring drying season. An experimental program of increased water releases to the estuary could be used to test whether estuarine restoration is a necessary condition for recovery of wading bird populations. This program would require a substantial commitment to deliver runoff from the Everglades Agricultural Area into the marshes, and to minimize water diversions for flood control and well field recharge.
湿地排水和水资源调控极大地改变了佛罗里达大沼泽地。最明显的生态影响之一是涉禽筑巢数量急剧下降，人们提出了几个具体假说来解释这一下降现象。近期的生态恢复工作集中在重新建立目前被涉禽广泛使用的淡水沼泽地区更自然的季节性水文模式。然而，筑巢群落最初集中在该系统的河口红树林边缘，而非上游沼泽周围。水文模拟模型已被用于重建自然系统中可能的水文状况，这些模拟表明，靠近河口和流入河口的淡水池已大幅减少，尤其是在每年春季枯水期后期。一项增加向河口放水的试验计划可用于测试河口恢复是否是涉禽种群恢复的必要条件。该计划需要大量投入，将大沼泽地农业区的径流输送到沼泽地，并尽量减少用于防洪和井场补给的调水。
