Manatee Habitat Assessment

In 2004, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Manatee Recovery Team Habitat Working Group (HWG), including staff from Wildlife Trust, developed a Habitat Assessment Checklist.  The checklist has been approved as the process by which warm water manatee habitat will be assessed.  Results will ultimately be used to refine the habitat criteria for the next revision of the FWS Manatee Recovery Plan.  The checklist considers numerous factors for all primary and secondary warm water sites, including thermal importance, levels of protection for manatees and for the site itself, access to the site, adequacy of forage around the site, protection of the forage areas around the site, and protection of travel corridors between sites.
 
Assessments will be conducted for 46 important warm water sites around the state of Florida.  Primary and secondary warm water sites have been grouped into 12 assessment units based on proximity.  Site visits will be conducted to each warm water site to familiarize staff with the area and to gather current photos of each site.  The bulk of the work for this project will involve compilation and analysis of existing datasets available from water management districts, state and county agencies, results of completed and on-going warm water habitat research, and other sources.  Data will be collected on thermal importance of each site, level of protection for manatees and the habitat, and accessibility of each site.  More in-depth analsyis utilizing GIS and modeling will include quantifying adequacy of forage within 15 and 30 km, quantifying percent of protection for manatees within 15 and 30 km, quantifying percent of protection for forage within 15 and 30 km, and determining type and quantity of regulatory zones within travel corridors within 15 and 30 km of each site.

Completion of the checklists will be essential for refining habitat criteria for the next revision of the FWS Manatee Recovery Plan.  Implementation of updated habitat criteria will provide protection and facilitate recovery of the Florida manatee.

Funder: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Partner: Dynamac

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