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Provancha, Jane A.; Provancha, M. J.
(detail)
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1988 |
Long-term trends in abundance and distribution of manatees (Trichechus manatus) in the northern Banana River, Brevard County, Florida.
Mar. Mamm. Sci. 4(4): 323-338. 3 tabs. 5 figs. Oct. 1988.
–Presents aerial survey and habitat data and discusses factors influencing manatee distribution, including boat traffic, seasonal movements, and availability of fresh water and food. Concludes that no other area on the east coast of Florida has as much legally protected suitable habitat for manatees as the northern Banana River, and that the manatee aggregations there are probably both socially-based and resource-based.
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Provancha, Jane A.; Hall, Carlton R.
(detail)
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1991 |
Observations of associations between seagrass beds and manatees in east central Florida.
Florida Scientist 54(2): 87-98. 5 tabs. 3 figs. Spring 1991.
–Exclosure experiments in a Syringodium-dominated seagrass bed in the north Banana R. showed that seagrass cover was reduced by about 90% by manatee grazing. Evidence of rooting was noted only occasionally.
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Lefebvre, Lynn W.; Provancha, Jane A.; Slone, Daniel H.; Kenworthy, W. Judson
(detail)
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2017 |
Manatee grazing impacts on a mixed species seagrass bed.
Marine Ecology Progress Series 564: 29-45. 2 tabs. 9 figs. doi:10.3354/meps11986. Jan. 2016.
–ABSTRACT: The endangered manatee Trichechus manatus is one of few large grazers in seagrass systems. To assess the long-term impacts of repeated grazing on seagrasses, we selected a study site within Kennedy Space Center in the northern Banana River, Brevard County, Florida, that was typically grazed by large numbers of manatees in spring. Two 13 × 13 m manatee exclosures and 2 paired open plots of equal size were established at the study site in October 1990. Shoot counts, biomass, and species composition of the co-dominant seagrass species, Syringodium filiforme and Halodule wrightii, were sampled 3 times per year in all 4 plots between October 1990 and October 1994. We used a Bayesian modelling approach, accounting for the influence of depth, to detect treatment (exclosed vs. open) effects. S. filiforme shoot counts, total biomass, and frequency of occurrence significantly increased in the exclosures. By July 1993, mean biomass values in the exclosures (167 g dry wt m?²) greatly exceeded those in the open plots (28 g dry wt m?²). H. wrightii decreased in the exclosures by 1994. Initially, both S. filiforme and H. wrightii responded positively to release from manatee grazing pressure. As S. filiforme continued to become denser in the exclosures, it gradually replaced H. wrightii. Our findings may be helpful to biologists and managers interested in predicting seagrass recovery and manatee carrying capacity of repeatedly grazed seagrass beds in areas of special significance to manatees and seagrass conservation.
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Bibliography and Index of the Sirenia and Desmostylia 