Submerged Vegetation Responses to Climate Variation and Altered Hydrology in a Subtropical Estuary: Interpreting 33 Years of Change

Links between hydrologic modifications, flow and salinity regimes, and submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) species composition and abundance were assessed with an empirical analysis of 33 years of monitoring data collected at nine sites in Florida’s Caloosahatchee River Estuary (CRE). Freshwater inflows to the estuary (30-day means) were often outside the previously recommended envelope of 12.74 to 79.29 m3 s−1. Discharges from Lake Okeechobee...