Near-shore Water Quality and Ecosystems:

Much of the deterioration of the canal and near shore water quality is self-induced. So the goal of the habitat program is to reverse some of the negative impact we, as humans, have on these ecosystems by making them capable to sustain themselves. In Figures 4 and 5, the natural shoreline and the near shore manmade shoreline are compared.

There are two issues, which engineered filter feeder habitats address. The first is that our rock and cement lined canals do not support the natural filter feeder environment provided by mangrove root eco-systems on our natural shorelines.

High nutrient loading from manmade activity into the low water turn-over in canals dug too deep, results in toxic sediment buildup, pathogens linked to coral disease, hypoxic (low oxygen) stratified lower layers of the water where little can live, and a perfect environment to grow algae. Figure 6: helps to demonstrate the filtering effect of a habitat on green algae over a 40-minute period.

Fisheries Improvements:

It is a secondary goal of the habitat program to estimate the positive effect on our fisheries as the systems scale throughout the Keys.  The program will document the species that are found within and work with scientist and our numerous government resources to predict the survival rates of each in reaching reproductive maturity and legal harvesting size.