APPENDIX I

EXISTING MODELS OF WATER QUANTITY (Gunderson and Holling 1991)

The existing spatial-temporal water quantity models cover the mesoscale domain. The best developed is the South Florida Water Management Model (SFWMM), developed by the South Florida Water Management District. The model has a grid cell size of 3.2 x 3.2 km (1.6 x 1.6 km in ENP) and covers the historic Everglades ecosystem and part of the Big Cypress area. The Model simulates surface water flow, groundwater flows, canal flow and their interactions. The model is used for evaluating management decisions.

A Natural System Model (NSM) was developed from the SFWMM by staff of Everglades National Park and the South Florida Water Management District. The NSM simulates the hydrological characteristics of an unmanaged Everglades system has been developed by staff of Everglades National Park and the South Florida Water Management District. This model may be used as a standard against which changes to the system may be gauged.

A broader scale model used by the SFWMD is the South Florida Regional Routing Model. The model simulates hydrologic interactions among the Lake Okeechobee, Everglades and eastern urban areas, and does not have the explicit spatial representation of the SFWMM.

A hydrologic model referred to as the University of Florida Adaptive Management Model (UFAEA) was developed from a series of modeling workshops conducted by C.S. Holling and Carl Walters. This mesoscale model can easily be revised to test management alternatives and has been used to explore differences between the natural system and present conditions. The UFAEA model has an explicit spatial/temporal representation of surface water movement. It has been used to screen broad-brush management activities for policy considerations.

A three dimensional hydrodynamic model of Lake Okeechobee is being developed at the University of Florida, Departments of Civil and Coastal Engineering under contract from SFWMD. The model is used to help understand circulation and transport processes for eutrophication studies. The model uses a variable grid size.

Groundwater models (MODBRCH) that are being used by the U.S. Geological Survey in Miami, are modifications of the MODFLOW model. These models are comprised of three-dimensional grid cells tat cover areas up to 10 km, and are used to evaluate effects of well fields,canals on groundwater conditions.

MODELS FOR THE KISSIMMEE BASIN

UKISS---Upper Kissimmee Basin model. Used to evaluate effects of regulation schedules in upper Kissimmee lake stages and discharges to lower Kissimmee basin.

UNET-10 Model used to simulate hydrology of lower Kissimmee basin.

Shen's 2D Model--configured for lower Kissimmee basin; simulates hydrology in 2D stage and flow both laterally and longitudinally.

ECOLOGICAL MODELS OF NPS/NBS/ORNL/UT

LEVEL 1: Process-level models of periphyton and microfauna

LEVEL 2: Models of five functional groups of fish and macroinvertebrates.

LEVEL 3: Individual-based model

White-tailed deer and Florida panthers, including seasonally- varying forage.

American alligators.

Wading Birds (Wood Stork, Great Blue Heron, Great Egrets, White Ibis)

Snail Kite model

 

OTHER MODELS OF SOUTH FLORIDA

Two versions of a hydrologic model, one for the natural system and the other for the present system, were developed for southwest Florida (Browder 1976). This models were used to drive an ecosystem model that focused on reproduction by the Wood Stork population at Corkscrew Swamp. Although not spatially explicit, the hydrologic model embodies standard empirical hydrological equations that drive both surface and groundwater flow and the quantitative relationships between surface water coverage and water volume estimated for the collective southwest Florida area. The ecosystem model simulated Wood Stork fledgling production at Corkscrew.

A seagrass model is being developed by the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, to define the conditions favoring the growth of three seagrasses, Thalassia, Syringodium, and Halodule (P. Fong and M. A. Harwell, in press). This simple community model will eventually be expanded to simulate seagrass dynamics across a spatial domain.