Jerome Lorenz
National Audubon Society, Audubon Florida Everglades Science Center, Department Member
- Jerome J. Lorenz’s research focuses on the impact of water management in the southern Everglades on the coastal ecosy... moreJerome J. Lorenz’s research focuses on the impact of water management in the southern Everglades on the coastal ecosystems of Florida Bay. Specifically, the project examines the linkages between fresh water deliveries from the Everglades, the abundance of aquatic plants and prey fishes in the mangroves and the success of nesting Roseate Spoonbills in Florida Bay. In 2000 Jerry became Research Director at Audubon Florida's Everglades Science Center after completion of his Ph.D. from University of Miami. He was promoted to Research Director for Audubon Florida in 2005. He currently serves as a member of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council and on the Monroe County Climate Change Advisory Council.edit
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The status of the American flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) in Florida has been misunderstood and controversial for nearly a century, leaving them without legal protection at state level in Florida or conservation planning for the entire... more
The status of the American flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) in Florida has been misunderstood and controversial for nearly a century, leaving them without legal protection at state level in Florida or conservation planning for the entire United States. However, flamingo sightings in the early 2000s made biologists consider the origins and history of the species in the state. In 2018, a comprehensive review of the American flamingo's history in Florida was published. Here, we summarise the main findings of this review and provide an update on observations, conservation considerations and management attention following that original publication.
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We summarized data from eight quantitative fish surveys conducted in southern Florida to evaluate the distribution and relative abundance of introduced fishes across a variety of habitats. These surveys encompassed marsh and canal... more
We summarized data from eight quantitative fish surveys conducted in southern Florida to evaluate the distribution and relative abundance of introduced fishes across a variety of habitats. These surveys encompassed marsh and canal habitats throughout most of the Everglades region, including the mangrove fringe of Florida Bay. Two studies provided systematically collected density information over a 20-year period, and documented
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The Across Trophic Levels System Simulator (ATLSS) is a suite of ecological models designed to assess the impact of changes in hydrology on biotic components of the southern Florida ecosystem. ATLSS implements a multimodeling approach... more
The Across Trophic Levels System Simulator (ATLSS) is a suite of ecological models designed to assess the impact of changes in hydrology on biotic components of the southern Florida ecosystem. ATLSS implements a multimodeling approach that utilizes process models for lower trophic levels, structured population models for middle trophic levels (fish and macroinvertebrates), and individual-based models for large consumers. ATLSS requires hydrologic input to assess the effects of alternative proposed restoration scenarios on trophic structure. An ATLSS model (ALFISH) for functional fish groups in freshwater marshes in the Everglades of southern Florida has been extended to create a new model (ALFISHES) to evaluate the spatial and temporal patterns of fish density in the resident fish community of the Everglades mangrove zone of Florida Bay. The ALFISHES model combines field data assessing the impact of salinity on fish biomass with hydrologic data from the Southern Inland and Coastal S...
Research Interests: Environmental Science, Ecosystem management, Water Management, FISH, Scenario evaluation, and 15 moreEverglades, Trophic Level, System Simulation, Ecological Model, Fish Community, Spatial resolution, Spatially Explicit Model, Water Level, Process Model, Trophic Structure, Field Data, Individual Based Model, Coastal Area, Dry Season, and hydrologic model
Empirical assessment of fish introductions in a subtropical wetland: an evaluation of contrasting views
Research Interests: Wetlands, Florida, Everglades, Key words, Cichlids, and 4 moreInvasion, Exotic fishes, Introduced fishes, and Canals
Biscayne Bay is a shallow subtropical lagoon on Florida's southeastern coast that is bordered to the west by the mainland and to the east by barrier islands and keys. Fish assemblages inhabiting two types of mangrove-lined shoreline... more
Biscayne Bay is a shallow subtropical lagoon on Florida's southeastern coast that is bordered to the west by the mainland and to the east by barrier islands and keys. Fish assemblages inhabiting two types of mangrove-lined shoreline that encompass the Bay were examined using a visual 'belt-transect' census method over four consecutive seasons. Several significant differences were evident between shoreline habitats in terms of fish species composition, taxonomic richness and taxon-specific densities; seasonal changes and fish size-structure differences were few. The mangrove shorelines along the mainland (ML) consistently harbored less fish taxa than those on the leeward side of the islands and keys (LK), but harbored higher densities of several euryhaline forms (i.e., killifishes and livebearers). Densities of fishes that are typically associated with coral reef habitats (i.e., snappers and grunts) tended to be higher within LK vs ML mangrove shorelines, but there were e...
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The establishment of marine reserves has been offered as an important fishery-management tool to complement the more traditional methods of size and bag limits, gear restrictions, closed seasons, and limitations on the number of fishers.... more
The establishment of marine reserves has been offered as an important fishery-management tool to complement the more traditional methods of size and bag limits, gear restrictions, closed seasons, and limitations on the number of fishers. In several parts of the world, 'no-take' zones, areas where fishing is forbidden, have been shown to benefit exploited populations, critical habitats, and community structure (see studies listed in NRC, 1999). Because fishing and bycatch mortality are all but eliminated in no-take areas, fish within these zones should live longer, grow larger, and be more fecund than those in fished areas (PDT, 1990; Bohnsack, 1993). Despite these expected benefits, the creation of marine protected areas in U.S. waters is relatively new, and where they have been established, they have been small in scale (Ogden, 1997; Murray et al., 1999). Consequently, there are few examples of no-take zones in the U.S. that can be used to evaluate their true benefits for e...
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The coastal marine environment is currently under threat from many anthropogenic pressures that were identified by the MARES project. Indicators of ecosystem health are needed so that targets can be set to guide protection and restoration... more
The coastal marine environment is currently under threat from many anthropogenic pressures that were identified by the MARES project. Indicators of ecosystem health are needed so that targets can be set to guide protection and restoration efforts. Species of birds that are dependent on coastal habitats are ubiquitous along the coasts of southern Florida. Generally referred to as waterbirds, these species, although not all taxonomically related, share a common dependency on the marine environment for food, nesting habitat, or both. A suite of waterbirds was selected based on their perceived sensitivity to pressures in arine coastal ecology
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Research Interests: Cartography, Earth Sciences, Biomass, Crustacea, Environmental Change, and 15 moreBiological Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Estuaries, Community Structure, Environmental Variables, Body Size, Density Estimation, Deep water, Algal Bloom, Environmental Conditions, Fresh water, Fish Community, Florida Keys, Cumulant, and Dry Season
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ABSTRACT Non-native fishes present a management challenge to maintaining Everglades National Park (ENP) in a natural state. We summarized data from long-term fish monitoring studies in ENP and reviewed the timing of introductions relative... more
ABSTRACT Non-native fishes present a management challenge to maintaining Everglades National Park (ENP) in a natural state. We summarized data from long-term fish monitoring studies in ENP and reviewed the timing of introductions relative to water-management changes. Beginning in the early 1950s, management actions have added canals, altered wetland habitats by flooding and drainage, and changed inflows into ENP, particularly in the Taylor Slough/C-111 basin and Rocky Glades. The first non-native fishes likely entered ENP by the late 1960s, but species numbers increased sharply in the early 1980s when new water-management actions were implemented. After 1999, eight non-native species and three native species, all previously recorded outside of Park boundaries, were found for the first time in ENP. Several of these incursions occurred following structural and operational changes that redirected water deliveries to wetlands open to the eastern boundary canals. Once established, control non-native fishes in Everglades wetlands is difficult; therefore, preventing introductions is key to their management. Integrating actions that minimize the spread of non-native species into protected natural areas into the adaptive management process for planning, development, and operation of water-management features may help to achieve the full suite of objectives for Everglades restoration.
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In its pristine state, the Everglades delivered large volumes of freshwater to Florida Bay. To provide flood control to urban and agricultural areas, southern Florida's extensive man-made canal system diverted Everglades flow,... more
In its pristine state, the Everglades delivered large volumes of freshwater to Florida Bay. To provide flood control to urban and agricultural areas, southern Florida's extensive man-made canal system diverted Everglades flow, resulting in shorter hydroperiods and higher salinities in ...
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Mayan cichlids (Cichlasoma urophthalmus) were collected monthly from March 1996 to October 1997 with hook-and-line gear at Taylor River, Florida, an area within the Crocodile Sanctuary of Everglades National Park, where human activities... more
Mayan cichlids (Cichlasoma urophthalmus) were collected monthly from March 1996 to October 1997 with hook-and-line gear at Taylor River, Florida, an area within the Crocodile Sanctuary of Everglades National Park, where human activities such as fishing are prohibited. Fish were aged by examining thin-sectioned otoliths, and past size-at-age information was generated by using back-calculation techniques. Marginal increment analysis showed that opaque growth zones were annuli deposited between January and May. The size of age-1 fish was estimated to be 33-66 mm standard length (mean=45.5 mm) and was supported by monthly length-frequency data of young-of-year fish collected with drop traps over a seven-year period. Mayan cichlids up to seven years old were observed. Male cichlids grew slower but achieved a larger size than females. Growth was asymptotic and was modeled by the von Bertalanffy growth equation L-t=263.6(1-exp[-0.166(t-0.001)]) for males (r(2)=0.82, n=581) and L-t=215.6 (1...
Research Interests: Management and Biology
ABSTRACT Mated pairs of convict cichlids Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum were exposed to one of two acidities (pH 5.0–5.5 and pH 7.0) and allowed to breed. Two conspecifics similar in size to the parents were placed in the tank to act as... more
ABSTRACT Mated pairs of convict cichlids Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum were exposed to one of two acidities (pH 5.0–5.5 and pH 7.0) and allowed to breed. Two conspecifics similar in size to the parents were placed in the tank to act as objects of parental aggression. These conspecifics were isolated from the parents by a grid barrier that allowed free visual and chemical interchange between conspecifics and parents. Significant alterations in brooding behaviors and aggressive activities occurred in pairs exposed to pH 5.0–5.5 compared to those at pH 7.0. Females reduced brooding behaviors at lower pH and males increased brooding behaviors to compensate for reductions by females. Aggressive behaviors, especially by males, increased under low-pH stress. Increased visual aggression may reduce the need for physical altercation in stressed environments.
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The Across Trophic Levels System Simulator (ATLSS) is a suite of ecological models designed to assess the impact of changes in hydrology on biotic components of the southern Florida ecosystem. ATLSS implements a multimodeling approach... more
The Across Trophic Levels System Simulator (ATLSS) is a suite of ecological models designed to assess the impact of changes in hydrology on biotic components of the southern Florida ecosystem. ATLSS implements a multimodeling approach that utilizes process models for lower trophic levels, structured popu- lation models for middle trophic levels (fish and macroinvertebrates), and individual-based models for large consumers.
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A brackish water ecotone of coastal bays and lakes, mangrove forests, salt marshes, tidal creeks, and upland hammocks separates Florida Bay, Biscayne Bay, and the Gulf of Mexico from the freshwater Everglades. The Everglades mangrove... more
A brackish water ecotone of coastal bays and lakes, mangrove forests, salt marshes, tidal creeks, and upland hammocks separates Florida Bay, Biscayne Bay, and the Gulf of Mexico from the freshwater Everglades. The Everglades mangrove estuaries are characterized by salinity gradients that vary spatially with topography and vary seasonally and inter-annually with rainfall, tide, and freshwater flow from the Everglades.
Research Interests: Earth Sciences, Wetlands, Brackish Water, Sea Level, Water Management, and 14 moreBiological Sciences, Seasonality, Environmental Sciences, global Climate change, Sea level rise, Ecosystem Restoration, Estuaries, Florida Everglades, Conceptual Model, Mangrove forest, Gulf of Mexico, Ecological Model, Fish Community, and Salt marsh
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... Currently, Jed is an EPA STAR (Science to Achieve Results) fellow. Jerry Lorenz is currently Research Director at Audubon of Florida's Tavernier Science Center and primary investigator of the National Audubon... more
... Currently, Jed is an EPA STAR (Science to Achieve Results) fellow. Jerry Lorenz is currently Research Director at Audubon of Florida's Tavernier Science Center and primary investigator of the National Audubon Society's Florida Bay Estuarine Research Project. ...
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ABSTRACT In our companion manuscript we identified 11 waterbirds as indicators of various pressures on the coastal marine ecosystems of southern Florida. Here, we identify the habitats on which these species depend and the ecological... more
ABSTRACT In our companion manuscript we identified 11 waterbirds as indicators of various pressures on the coastal marine ecosystems of southern Florida. Here, we identify the habitats on which these species depend and the ecological linkages that make them representative of those habitats. Through the use of conceptual ecological models (CEMs), we develop tools that can be used by managers/decision makers to evaluate the health of the various habitats in order to rectify myriad problems that are occurring or will possibly occur in the future such that the valuable ecosystem services provided by these habitats can be maximized. We also demonstrate the practical use of these tools by documenting data availability, benchmarks, and scientific needs for each species.