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 The
geographical position of the Indian River Lagoon (IRL), straddling the zone
of overlap between the temperate and subtropical biotic provinces,
contributes to its vast species richness. The IRL had often been
purported to be one of the most diverse estuarine systems in the
continental United States; however, evidence to support this status
was lacking. Having no documentation of the high biodiversity of the
IRL not only hampered scientific understanding of this complex
system, but also was seen as a major drawback to developing a
comprehensive management strategy to protect biodiversity in the Indian
River Lagoon. Following the IRL Conference on Biodiversity held in
1994, the apparent lack of evidence to support claims of high biodiversity
in the IRL prompted Dr. Hilary Swain and her colleagues Susan E. Hopkins
and Clarissa L. Thornton to compile the Indian River Lagoon Species
Inventory, a taxonomic listing of 2,493 species of protists, plants and
animals which occur in the IRL. The Inventory provided the first
substantial evidence which attested to the high species richness of the
IRL system. The Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce became the
depository for the IRL Species Inventory in 1997.
The initial IRL Species Inventory was compiled
by performing literature searches, and by
surveying colleagues with taxonomic and ecological expertise in IRL biota.
Over 70 people contributed information to the project. Species included in the inventory were those
which: 1) occur within the IRL during some stage in their life cycles; 2) those
which utilize adjacent wetland habitat areas; 3) those bird species which
frequent the flyway above the lagoon; and 4) species which occur most often in
adjacent upland habitats (scrub, shoreline plants, etc.), but which are also tolerant of
estuarine conditions.
Clearly, some taxonomic groups
have been studied more extensively than others, thus the initial Inventory was somewhat
biased in coverage. Taxonomic groups such as mollusks,
fishes, birds, echinoderms, sipunculids, and some protozoan groups have
extensive and possibly complete species listings, while other groups such as the
vascular plants, amphibians, reptiles, macroalgae, sponges and other groups
would benefit from more extensive documentation in the IRL.
Our Goal:
The Smithsonian
Marine Station at Fort Pierce became the depository for the Indian River
Lagoon Species inventory in 1997. Our goal in obtaining the Inventory is to continue to promote public awareness
and the need for stewardship of the IRL as an invaluable marine resource.
In order to accomplish this objective, we have expanded the initial
database by adding additional taxonomic, ecological and life history
information.
During the first year of this Project, we compiled over 40 expanded species reports as part
of a pilot project to show how a wide variety of users could easily access
biological and ecological information on the World Wide Web. Further, we were able to lay the
foundation for the IRL Species Inventory Project increasingly being used as an
educational and management tool. The value of the database in research,
education and resource management will continue
to increase from year to year as more species are added and expanded upon.
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