Aquatic Preserve Program

Seagrass beds are one of the most productive habitats found in the world. The rich biodiversity that make up seagrass habitats plays a critical ecological and environmental role to Florida’s coastal com­munities. Seagrasses improve water clarity by stabilizing bottom sediments and absorbing nutrients from the water column. They reduce coastal erosion by helping to diffuse wave energy during storm events. Economically, seagrass beds are of critical importance to Florida’s commercial and recreational fisher­ies.

St. Martins Marsh Aquatic Preserve encourages sustainable use of natural resources while minimizing user impacts. The preserve pro­vides many opportunities for both recreational and commercial users. Public support and interagency participation are imperative to protecting natural resources. Participation in resource management enables the public to understand the importance of protecting the resource while encouraging recreational and commercial use.

In the late 19th century, after 40 years of plume hunting, wading birds became a focal point for conservation. In the 1970s, extensive colonial nesting bird surveys were initiated along the North American Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Wading birds have a high aesthetic and recreational value to humans, and the birds' reproductive performance is a crucial aspect of their population dynamics. Anthropological interference has led to the decline of many bird species in southwest Florida, through both direct and indirect effects.

The basic characteristics of CHAP’s water vary naturally in response to the daily, seasonal and long-term forces that make the estuarine habitat conditions among the most dynamic on earth. The waters also vary throughout CHAP dependent on the location relative to each of the three major rivers and the passes that open to the Gulf of Mexico. The estuaries are also sensitive to runoff and upland discharge that moves into the estuary through sheetflow, small tributaries and canal systems.