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Research about Apalachicola River

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Apalachicola River.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2026

Seasonal and annual survival of acoustically tagged juvenile Gulf sturgeon in the Apalachicola River, Florida, USA

Gulf sturgeon Acipenser desotoi are anadromous fish that have undergone major population declines throughout their range. Habitat alteration and previous overharvest in commercial fisheries led to the species being listed as ‘threatened’ under the US Endangered Species Act in 1991. An accurate understanding of population dynamics, including survival, is necessary for monitoring population trends and recovery. Juvenile Gulf sturgeon are migratory within their natal river system; their survival is not well-studied, but their over-winter occupation of more saline habitat has been identified as a potential bottleneck to juvenile survival. Therefore, we estimated over-winter and annual survival of juvenile Gulf sturgeon in the Apalachicola River system (Florida, USA) using Cormack-Jolly-Seber models informed by acoustic telemetry data from 2014-2023. Seasonal apparent survival estimates ranged from 0.96 in the fall to 0.99 in the spring. Contrary to our expectation, results indicated that survival was high across all seasons with no notable difference in over-winter survival compared to other periods. We also estimated apparent annual survival to be 0.76 for juvenile Gulf sturgeon in the system. These findings suggest that over-winter juvenile mortality is not a major bottleneck to Gulf sturgeon population recovery within the Apalachicola River.

Florida↗
USGS2007

Drying of floodplain forests associated with water-level decline in the Apalachicola River, Florida: Interim results, 2006

Floodplain forests of the Apalachicola River, Florida, are drier in composition today (2006) than they were before 1954, and drying is expected to continue for at least the next 50 years. Drier forest composition is probably caused by water-level declines that occurred as a result of physical changes in the main channel after 1954 and decreased flows in spring and summer months since the 1970s. Forest plots sampled from 2004 to 2006 were compared to forests sampled in the late 1970s (1976-79) using a Floodplain Index (FI) based on species dominance weighted by the Floodplain Species Category, a value that represents the tolerance of tree species to inundation and saturation in the floodplain and consequently, the typical historic floodplain habitat for that species. Two types of analyses were used to determine forest changes over time: replicate plot analysis comparing present (2004-06) canopy composition to late 1970s canopy composition at the same locations, and analyses comparing the composition of size classes of trees on plots in late 1970s and in present forests. An example of a size class analysis would be a comparison of the composition of the entire canopy (all trees greater than 7.5 cm (centimeter) diameter at breast height (dbh)) to the composition of the large canopy tree size class (greater than or equal to 25 cm dbh) at one location. The entire canopy, which has a mixture of both young and old trees, is probably indicative of more recent hydrologic conditions than the large canopy, which is assumed to have fewer young trees. Change in forest composition from the pre-1954 period to approximately 2050 was estimated by combining results from three analyses. The composition of pre-1954 forests was represented by the large canopy size class sampled in the late 1970s. The average FI for canopy trees was 3.0 percent drier than the average FI for the large canopy tree size class, indicating that the late 1970s forests were 3.0 percent drier than pre-1954 forests. The change from the late 1970s to the present was based on replicate plot analysis. The composition of 71 replicate plots sampled from 2004 to 2006 averaged 4.4 percent drier than forests sampled in the late 1970s. The potential composition of future forests (2050 or later) was estimated from the composition of the present subcanopy tree size class (less than 7.5 cm and greater than or equal to 2.5 cm dbh), which contains the greatest percentage of young trees and is indicative of recent hydrologic conditions. Subcanopy trees are the driest size class in present forests, with FIs averaging 31.0 percent drier than FIs for all canopy trees. Based on results from all three sets of data, present floodplain forests average 7.4 percent drier in composition than pre-1954 forests and have the potential to become at least 31.0 percent drier in the future. An overall total change in floodplain forests to an average composition 38.4 percent drier than pre-1954 forests is expected within approximately 50 years. The greatest effects of water-level decline have occurred in tupelo-cypress swamps where forest composition has become at least 8.8 percent drier in 2004-06 than in pre-1954 years. This change indicates that a net loss of swamps has already occurred in the Apalachicola River floodplain, and further losses are expected to continue over the next 50 years. Drying of floodplain forests will result in some low bottomland hardwood forests changing in composition to high bottomland hardwood forests. The composition of high bottomland hardwoods will also change, although periodic flooding is still occurring and will continue to limit most of the floodplain to bottomland hardwood species that are adapted to at least short periods of inundation and saturation.

Florida↗
USGS1997

Effects of habitat suitability on the survival of relocated freshwater mussels

Freshwater mussels are often relocated from existing beds for both conservation and management reasons. In this study, we empirically tested whether the habitat type at the destination site was important in predicting the success of mussel relocation. In 1993, four species of freshwater mussels were relocated in the Apalachicola River in Florida, into three distinct habitat types: stable sand, limestone/sand and cobble. The conditional probability of survival of relocated mussels varied by species and habitat. Two species were considered habitat specialists, one species was considered a habitat generalist and recovery rates for the fourth species were too low to assess habitat preferences. We show empirically that microhabitat is important in the survival of relocated mussels and that the habitat-specific criteria for relocation is species specific. These results suggest that survival of relocated mussels can be enhanced if species-specific site selection criteria are developed using quantitative information.

Florida↗
USGS1980

Nutrient yield of the Apalachicola River flood plain, Florida; water-quality assessment plan

The Apalachicola River in northwestern Florida is the location of one of four current U.S. Geological Survey National River Quality Assessments. The investigation of the Apalachicola River and flood plain is designed to quantify the organic detritus and nutrient yield to the productive, estuarine Apalachicola Bay. The extensive riverine flood plain is subject to seasonal flooding which transports large quantities of accumulated, decaying leaf litter from the flood plain into the river and ultimately into Apalachicola Bay. The Apalachicola River Quality Assessment has four major objectives; (1) Determine the accumulation of organic substances and trace elements in benthic organisms and fine-grained sediments; (2) Define the distribution of the major tree communities on the flood plain; (3) Assess the role of leaf fall and decomposition on nutrient yield; and (4) Identify and quantify major sources and pathways of nutrients to the river. Extensive emphasis is given to investigation approaches and techniques to facilitate technology transfer to similar wetland ecosystems. (USGS)

Florida↗