Adaptive Assessment and Monitoring Program will benefit Everglades research

Published Jan. 31, 2011

ARRA-funded work advances acquisition of critical scientific information

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Jan. 31, 2011) – The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District completed work on the Adaptive Assessment and Monitoring (AAM) Program December 2010. Adaptive management is an approach used to guide the implementation of large-scale ecosystem restoration programs when the pending ecological response is uncertain. The approach is being used by Jacksonville District in its management of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP).  Development of the AAM Program was funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009.

 

AAM works to address gaps in knowledge regarding the relationships within and among natural and social systems. These information gaps require that plans be modified as scientific knowledge improves and social preferences change. Monitoring and assessing scientific data provides new insight that is

translated into project and/or program policies. It will provide the assessment information required to evaluate responses to the implementation of CERP, determine progress toward achieving restoration goals, and indicate needed revisions and refinements of the plan.

           

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District and several contractors: D.E. Grove Surveyors of Jacksonville, Fla., Dial-Cordy and Associates of Jacksonville, Fla., Advance Data Mining LLC of Greenville, S.C. and graduate students from the University of Miami and Florida International University worked cooperatively to complete the system-wide AAM Program, which is currently being implemented for CERP in cooperation with the project sponsor, the South Florida Water Management District and partner agencies. Five ongoing monitoring activities were improved, and work included enhancements to the south Florida topographic and surface water monitoring network, monitoring analysis tools, and mapping of biological and geological habitat features of estuarine environments. The contracts, which were awarded in August and September 2009, totaled $1,060,000. 

 

It is anticipated that the AAM Program will provide scientific information critical to making informed decisions regarding the implementation of CERP, to restore America’s Everglades.


Contact
Nancy J. Sticht
904-232-1667
nancy.j.sticht@usace.army.mil

Release no. 11-09