Abiotic factors are nonliving components in an ecosystem.

Biotic factors are living components in an ecosystem.

Abiotic factors in Biscayne: rain, water temperature, salinity, hurricanes

Biotic factors in Biscayne: seagrasses (manatee, paddle, shoal, star, turtle), animals, and coral.

If seagrasses were removed from the environment, there would be no habitat or food for many animals. If the animals have no shelter, then they will be more susceptible to predators, and their population will dwindle.

Carbon Cycle: With all of the lush wildlife in the mangroves and bay coasts, carbon is found in trees with carbon dioxide and stored in trees. It dissolves in the water surrounding the mangroves. Photosynthesis also takes place.

More carbon can lead to lower pH, which means the ocean is more acidic. It can create a danger if the ocean is more acidic to coral because coral has a very specific window of acidity that it can handle.

3 species involved: red mangrove, black mangrove, brown pelican

Nitrogen cycle: The nitrogen cycle in mangrove ecosystems is different than most. They have special bacteria called diazotrophs that can break apart the atmospheric Nitrogen bonds that are special to the swamp-like atmosphere.

3 species involved: turtle grass, loggerhead turtle, parrotfish

Competition - there is so many animals living in the environment, that there can be a lot of competition for resources such as food, water, and space.

Predator/ Prey - if there are more predators than prey then the food population for parrotfish would be higher, but there would be less coral for the parrotfish to eat because of their rising population.

Density- independent:

Hurricanes - because Biscayne is located right on the coast, they can see lots of hurricanes pass by them, and they can be very dangerous for all ecosystems. For example, the storms can break apart coral.

Fisherman -  If there are more fishermen than is safe for the fish population, it could cause a population decline, which could negatively impact the food chain and balance.

Basic facts about the study:

• Conducted on Loggerheads and green turtles 

• 60 turtles tagged

• The turtles tend to use deeper waters during seasonal migrations

• Loggerhead - February thru November

• Green - mainly august

After 10 years, it was finalized that 21 turtles stayed in Biscayne during seasonal migration, while 30 used it as a part of their migratory pathway, and 5 used it for both. The Loggerhead turtles typically migrate from February through November, but the Green Sea turtles mainly do in August.

Hurricanes also hit Biscayne yearly. Some can have greater effects than others, like Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Hurricanes can completely alter the landscape. If the storm is powerful enough, it can rip apart coral habitats, killing lots of species, whether coral is their food or their habitat.

Attached above is a list of the species and plants in Biscayne.

The natural biodiversity in Biscayne consists of a lot of animals. The species range from fish to coral to mammals. All of the different species serve different purposes and without one the ecosystem could drastically change.

Humans have a big part in helping marine life through resource management of cleaning up marine debris from beaches that they have created. They also help educate and manage outdoor programs to help promote a clean environment.

How to help: To protect the land, the NPS (National Park Service ) could create fines for anyone who tries to harm the land by dredging, littering, or overfishing.

For example, there are bag limits on how many fish you can catch. They could make the bag limits more limiting so that there could be more fish in the ecosystem.

The coral reef population is also fast diminishing, which could be stopped by creating coral reef safety laws like reef-safe sunscreen and using less fertilizer. On the contrary, coral reefs need a very specific environment of the right temperature and acidity level, so it could be harder to maintain that.

Commensalism - mollusks benefit from habitat in the sea grasses, while seagrasses don’t have any benefits or negative effects.

Parasitic - mistletoe growing on a mangrove tree takes some of the food and nutrients on the tree.

An example of this in Biscayne is Spiny Lobsters. They were threatened in the 1970s, but after laws and regulations were passed, the population was able to get back up to steady numbers.

More funding could also go to making Biscayne more user-friendly. More signs informing up could inform the visitors about pollution and how to keep Biscayne clean. It could also make it more accessible for people with disabilities, so ALL people could visit Biscayne.

National Park Service

National Library of Medicine

Science Direct

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation and Commission