Manatee Carrying Capacity

Carrying Capacity Estimation for Manatee Warm Water Habitat in Florida

Natural warm-water winter refuges for the Florida subspecies of the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) occur at various locations across the state. Because manatees are a sub-tropical to tropical species, the availability of reliable, warm-water winter refuges is essential to their survival. The purpose of this project is to fulfill the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service need for estimates of the "carrying capacity" of warm water habitats for manatees in Florida. 

Carrying capacity is the number of manatees that can be supported by the current amounts of required resources, in this case food and/or warm water. There is general agreement among manatee experts that warm water is likely to be the limiting resource to manatee population growth. Previous estimates of manatee carrying capacity were derived from expert opinion and ranged from 150-500 manatees in the St. Johns River region to 1200-5000 manatees on the Atlantic coast. 

The goal of this project is to refine those broad estimates to more site-specific, quantitative estimates.  This effort is one of the actions identified in the Florida Manatee Recovery Plan, and the USFWS plans to integrate the results into a customized demographic model (Manatee Core Biological Model) to better enable managers to assess the current status of the Florida manatee population.

Funder: USFWS; Partners: Innovative Health Application, Inc., NewFields

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