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| Figure 1. Location of the FY2001 (red) and FY2002 (yellow) study sites. |
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Coastal wetlands yield important ecosystem services to human societies globally, including habitat for commercially and recreationally important fisheries, providing a buffer from storm surges and improvement of coastal water quality (Ewel et al. 1998, Gautier et al. 2001).
Wetland plant communities have been converted to other uses the world over. Mangrove forests have recently been recognized as a threatened habitat in tropical and sub-tropical regions due to conversion by dredging and filling and other activities (Valiela et al 2001).
In the Tampa Bay area some 2/3 of the coastal wetlands have been lost due to development, dredge and fill activities or conversion for other human uses.
As part of the Tampa Bay Pilot Study we are:
- characterizing the remaining coastal wetlands of Tampa Bay
- studying wetland structure and function
- measuring wetland health
- providing data for sound management of the bay's remaining wetland habitats and for wetland restoration.
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