title: Biogeochemical classification of South Florida's estuarine and coastal waters.
abstract: South Florida's watersheds have endured a century of urban and agricultural development and disruption of their hydrology. Spatial characterization of South Florida's estuarine and coastal waters is important to Everglades' restoration programs. We applied Factor Analysis and Hierarchical Clustering of water quality data in tandem to characterize and spatially subdivide South Florida's coastal and estuarine waters. Segmentation rendered forty-four biogeochemically distinct water bodies whose spatial distribution is closely linked to geomorphology, circulation, benthic community pattern, and to water management. This segmentation has been adopted with minor changes by federal and state environmental agencies to derive numeric nutrient criteria.
authors: Florida International University, Southeast Environmental Research Center, 11200 SW 8th St, OE #148, Miami, FL 33199, USA. Electronic address: bricenoh@fiu.edu.
authors: Henry O
authors: HO
authors: Briceño
authors: Florida International University, Southeast Environmental Research Center, 11200 SW 8th St, OE #148, Miami, FL 33199, USA. Electronic address: jnboyer@plymouth.edu.
authors: Joseph N
authors: JN
authors: Boyer
authors: National Park Service, 950 N. Krome Ave., Homestead, FL 33030, USA. Electronic address: Joffre_Castro@nps.gov.
authors: Joffre
authors: J
authors: Castro
authors: Florida International University, Southeast Environmental Research Center, 11200 SW 8th St, OE #148, Miami, FL 33199, USA.
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Harlem
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D063366:Estuaries; D005431:Florida; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry*; D014507:Urbanization; D014876:Water Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: Environmental impact; Estuaries; Segmentation; South Florida; Water biogeochemistry