Importance of Floodplain Wetlands to Restoration of the Kissimmee River Fishery
J. Lawrence Glenn, III
South Florida Water Management District
Fishes are an ecologically important component of large river-floodplain ecosystems.
They serve as critical links in the energy pathway between both primary and secondary
producers and higher trophic levels as well as indicators of aquatic health or integrity.
Channelization of the Kissimmee River eliminated seasonally fluctuating discharge and
the associated historic river-floodplain linkage. The seasonal flood pulse, a predictable
natural disturbance provides the floodplain varying degrees of hydrologic connectivity
with the river channel and maintains a variety of wetland vegetation communities,
thereby creating a mosaic of available microhabitats to fish species. Elimination of the
flood pulse in the Kissimmee River ecosystem has negatively impacted floodplain fish
assemblages through reductions in their density and diversity. Disconnection of the
historic river-floodplain linkage also may be limiting recruitment through reduction in the
areal extent of available spawning/nursery grounds and disruption of critical food web
pathways within the system.
Reestablishment of historic hydrologic characteristics, including variable discharge and
seasonal floodplain inundation frequencies will provide spawning, nursery, and foraging
grounds for most fish species inhabiting the system. Food web linkages between river
channel and floodplain habitats will be recreated through the transport of aquatic
invertebrates, fishes, and particulate organic matter during periods of floodplain
recession.
The Kissimmee River restoration evaluation project incorporates restoration expectations
or pre-defined performance criteria or values for specific metrics to gauge restoration
success. Restoration expectations for the Kissimmee River floodplain fish assemblage
were generated using information from historic data and current literature on comparable
blackwater river-floodplain ecosystems. Expectations for post-restoration floodplain fish
assemblages will be discussed as an indicator of restoration success.
Lawrence Glenn, South Florida Water Management District, 3301 Gun Club Road, West
Palm Beach, FL 33406, Phone: 561-682-6499, FAX: 561-682-5704, email:
lglenn@sfwmd.gov, Oral, Ecology and Ecological Modeling – Kissimmee River