Florida International University (FIU) has received a $6.375 million renewal from the National Science Foundation to continue its work on the Florida Coastal Everglades Long Term Ecological Research (FCE LTER) program. This six-year grant marks the fifth renewal for the program, which operates in coordination with the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan initiated 25 years ago.
The FCE LTER program will not only maintain its long-term ecological research but also expand efforts to include more input from community members such as the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, farmers, economists, business leaders, and policymakers. John Kominoski, principal investigator of FCE-LTER and researcher at FIU’s Institute of Environment, explained that this approach aims to better understand how restoration impacts local communities and help both people and nature adapt.
“We will bring people together to figure out how we can all grow together in South Florida,” said Kominoski, who is also an FIU professor of biological sciences. “Our past work has focused on how Everglades ecosystems stay above the fresh and marine water they receive. We want to bring that concept to the public and policy-makers so we can all thrive.”
The FCE-LTER is part of a broader NSF Long Term Ecological Research initiative designed to provide insight into complex ecological systems through extended observation and experimentation. More than 245 scientists from 78 institutions have contributed to FCE-LTER since its inception, including 147 researchers and staff from FIU.
“At FIU, our researchers are focused on providing the science needed to keep ecosystems healthy along with economies and communities thriving,” said Mike Heithaus, FIU vice provost of environmental resilience and executive dean of the College of Arts, Sciences & Education. “The Everglades provides South Florida with clean drinking water and remains one of the world’s most amazing natural places.While our faculty, staff and students are working to understand how the Everglades and all its species function, they are also working with the public, government and all interested parties to provide the information needed to manage this incredible resource.”
Future research will address legacy impacts—disturbances that persist in the environment over time—and focus on data collection necessary for managing coastal changes.
“Because the system is ever-changing, the need for data to best manage and adapt to coastal changes is very critical to sustaining coastal communities,” Kominoski said.
The Everglades supports biodiversity by providing habitat for rare species while offering essential services like water filtration and flood control. It also contributes significantly to tourism in Florida but faces challenges due to human development leading to habitat loss and reduced water quality.
“The continued renewal of FCE funding is an attestation to FIU’s role, along with our collaborators, in providing the underlying Everglades ecosystem restoration science,” said Todd Crowl, director of FIU’s Institute of Environment. “This science is necessary to fully recover and ultimately conserve this globally recognized, iconic coastal wetland.”
Everglades restoration remains a large-scale effort aimed at improving water flow from Kissimmee River through Lake Okeechobee down into Florida Bay. For decades, FIU scientists have worked alongside other universities as well as local, state, and federal agencies collecting data vital for informing these ongoing restoration activities.
