Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, South Florida/Caribbean CESU

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The US Geological Survey is offering a funding opportunity to CESU partner of the South Florida � Caribbean CESU. This opportunity is to support research to be performed for the Greater Everglades Ecosystem restoration planning and scenario evaluation. This study focuses on analysis of estuarine and coastal organisms in sediment cores to reconstruct changes in key environmental parameters over the last 100-5000 years. These analyses examine the impacts and interactions of natural drivers, such as climate change and sea level rise, and anthropogenic drivers, such as land use and water management, to provide information to managers planning for future scenarios and to assist in the establishment of targets and performance measures. Key questions are: 1) what is the late Holocene history of sea level and climate change for the coastal regions of South Florida; 2) what role did sea level rise and storms play in the current geologic and ecologic landscape; 3) how have the natural and anthropogenic drivers interacted; and 4) how will future changes impact the natural resources of South Florida?

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