Dynamics of Florida milk production and total phosphate in Lake Okeechobee

PLoS One. 2021 Aug 5;16(8):e0248910. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0248910. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

A central tenant of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) is nutrient reduction to levels supportive of ecosystem health. A particular focus is phosphorus. We examine links between agricultural production and phosphorus concentration in the Everglades headwaters: Kissimmee River basin and Lake Okeechobee, considered an important source of water for restoration efforts. Over a span of 47 years we find strong correspondence between milk production in Florida and total phosphate in the lake, and, over the last decade, evidence that phosphorus concentrations in the lake water column may have initiated a long-anticipated decline.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cattle
  • Dairying / statistics & numerical data*
  • Ecosystem
  • Female
  • Florida
  • Lactation*
  • Lakes / chemistry*
  • Models, Statistical
  • Phosphates / analysis*

Substances

  • Phosphates

Grants and funding

This work was funded in collaboration of the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Everglades National Park, and University of California San Diego through the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) Network http://www.cesu.psu.edu/. This work was also supported by the DoD-Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program 15 RC-2509, NSF DEB-1655203, NSF ABI-1667584, DOI USDI-NPS P20AC00527, NSF-IOS 1936674, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Postdoctoral Fellowship, the McQuown Fund, and, the McQuown Chair in Natural Sciences, University of California, San Diego. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.