Wet Prairie
within Freshwater Non-forested Wetlands
Vulnerability:
General Information
Wet prairies are characterized as treeless plains with sparse to dense ground cover of grasses and herbs, including wiregrass, maidencane, spikerush, and beakrush. They occur on low, relatively flat, poorly drained terrain of the coastal plain. Other typical plants include hatpins, marsh pinks, sundews, black-eyed susan, white-top sedge, meadow beauty, yellow-eyed grass, wax myrtle, pitcher plants, tickseed, and panicums.
The most important physical factors are hydrology and fire. Wet prairies are seasonally inundated or saturated for 50 to 100 days each year and burn every 2-4 years. They are found statewide excluding extreme southern peninsula.
This conservation asset includes Wiregrass Savanna, Cutthroat Seep, Calcareous Wet Prairie, and Pitcher Plant Prairie.
Area
- 161,894 hectares within Florida (modeled)
- 58,904 hectares (36%) is located on public lands
Area impacted by up to 3 meters sea level rise:
Climate Impacts
Decreased precipitation coupled with increased temperature will likely alter species composition and increase fragmentation of larger systems through reduced flow and connectivity. Decreases in water quantity and quality will continue to stress the system and cause degradation. Increased precipitation and floods will cause increased run-off, erosion, siltation, and pollutants, all contributing to habitat degradation and loss. In some circumstances these impacts could cause decreased reproductive success, increased stress and increased mortality. For species whose reproductive cycle is linked to wet/dry cycles, changes in the timing and amount of precipitation could affect these life cycle events, potentially causing mismatches of phenological processes, leading to reduced reproductive success, reduced recruitment and increased mortality.
More information about general climate impacts to habitats in Florida.
Climate Impacts to Species
Many species of wading birds, including great egret, little blue heron, snowy egret, tricolored heron, and white ibis use wet prairies for foraging. Increased temperatures and decreased precipitation will lead to loss of suitable foraging sites for wading birds as the timing and duration of dry periods change. Additionally, increased drying of the prairies, leading to more fragmented systems will impact the nesting success of wading birds. Wading birds’ nesting success is tied to the proximity of nesting and foraging habitats to one another. Nesting success is reduced when foraging sites are located at distances too far away, beyond the bird's physiological ability to survive and rear their young. Other species, such as the sandhill crane, will lose suitable nesting habitat if the wet prairies hydrology (timing and amount of precipitation) is altered.
More information about general climate impacts to species in Florida.
Other Non-climate Threats
- Chemicals and toxins
- Conversion to agriculture
- Conversion to housing and urban development
- Groundwater withdrawal
- Incompatible fire
- Incompatible recreational activities
- Incompatible resource extraction
- Invasive animals
- Invasive plants
- Management of nature
- Nutrient loads - agriculture and urban
- Roads
- Surface water withdrawal and diversion
More information about climate change interactions with existing threats and stressors in Florida.
Vulnerability Assessment Details
This habitat was assessed as part of the Standardized Index of Vulnerability and Value Assessment - Natural Communities (SIVVA).
This habitat is within the top 5 most vulnerable natural communities in one but not all of the SIVVA vulnerability categories.
Read more information about SIVVA natural communities.
Adaptation Strategies
Protection
- Identify and protect ecologically significant areas such as breeding/nesting sites, wintering sites, and areas of high species diversity that will continue to serve these functions under climate change.
- Preserve the structural complexity and biodiversity of vegetation.
- Protect areas that are naturally positioned to be more resistant/resilient to climate change.
- Facilitate wetland migration through setbacks, easements, or purchase.
- Protect aquatic corridors.
- Acquire and protect wetlands with the largest carbon stores.
- Install water control structures at the outlets of freshwater wetlands to better manage water levels during dry periods.
- Protect buffer zones to allow for future system shifts/migration through easements, acquisition or purchase of development rights.
Restoration
- Replace impervious surfaces with permeable pavement to allow runoff to flow through and be temporarily stored prior to discharge, in areas adjacent to wetlands.
- Replicate habitat types in multiple areas to spread risks associated with climate change.
- Control invasive species in climate-stressed wetlands.
- Practice prescribed fire management to maintain natural conditions.
- Review and revise techniques to maintain or mimic natural disturbance regimes (e.g., what techniques should be used when prescribed fire is no longer feasible).
- Replace culverts with those designed to accommodate future flow conditions and allow for fish and wildlife passage.
- Implement management practices that accommodate shifts in the timing of the rainy season and eliminate or reduce application of pesticides during this period.
- Develop adaptive stormwater management practices (e.g., promoting natural buffers, adequate culvert sizing).
- Restore hydrologic connections, implementing designs that will accommodate both increased and decreased flow.
- Promote restoration to fill gaps in wetland corridors.
Planning
- Incorporate wetland and climate change ecosystem protection goals into watershed management, water planning, and comprehensive land planning including smart growth, and infrastructure development programs.
- Expand the planning horizons of land use planning to incorporate longer climate predictions.
- Develop adaptive stormwater management plans (e.g., promoting natural buffers, adequate culvert sizing, remove impervious surfaces).
- Beginning with existing management plans, determine the processes and actions needed to increase the resiliency of wetlands and watersheds in the face of climate change.
- Study and better understand and address invasive species in climate-stressed wetlands.
Policy
- Create permitting rules that constrain locations for landfills, hazardous waste dumps, mine tailings, and toxic chemical facilities.
- Manage water demand (through water reuse, recycling, rainwater harvesting, desalination, etc.).
- Prevent or limit groundwater extraction from aquifers during periods of drought.
- Increase regulatory protection for wetlands most threatened by climate change to reduce stresses, provide opportunity for wetlands to migrate, and protect carbon stores.
- Strengthen control of drainage of wetlands.
Education and Outreach
- Develop training on the use of existing and emerging tools for managing wetlands under climate change (e.g., vulnerability and risk assessments, scenario planning, decision support tools, and adaptive management).
- Develop focused outreach efforts and materials aimed at local, state, tribal, and federal government authorities involved in water management.
- Collaborate with EPA, Corps of Engineers, Water Management Districts, Department of Environmental Protection to define and address regulatory concerns. Some wetlands may need added protection in light of climate change.
- Collaborate with water managers, including floodplain programs, drinking water programs, and drain engineers and others to consider wetland options for climate strategies.