Final Biological Status Review of the Florida Manatee
This final peer-reviewed Biological Status Review of the Florida Manatee was presented at the June 2006 FWC Commission meeting.
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Final Biological Status Review of the Florida Manatee (3.28MB)
Manatee Biological Status Review Frequently Asked Questions
Executive Summary
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) received a petition from the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) to re-evaluate the endangered status of the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris). A report on the status of the manatee was completed; however, in December 2003 the FWC postponed all but emergency listing petition decisions in order to evaluate the existing listing process. A new listing process was adopted by the FWC in April 2005 and staff members were directed to proceed with conducting a biological status review of the Florida manatee under the new process. A biological review panel (BRP) consisting of a staff member from the FWC as chair and four additional members from federal agencies, a university, and the private sector was appointed to conduct the assessment. This assessment is an evaluation of the biological status of the Florida manatee pursuant to State of Florida criteria and definitions in Rule 68A-1.004 F.A.C. A species need meet only one of the five criteria to qualify for listing.
The criteria consider past and future population trends, area of geographic range (extent of occurrence) and critical habitat (area of occupancy), number of mature individuals, and the probability of extinction. Although manatee numbers appear to have increased in the past few decades, many anthropogenic threats to the Florida manatee population continue to increase and may affect the survival of the species. Natural catastrophes, events that occur infrequently but cause significant declines in the population (e.g., hurricanes, red tide), are expected to continue to occur in the future. Area of occupancy for the Florida manatee was estimated to be 100-300mi2 (warm water availability in the winter) and the extent of occurrence in Florida was estimated to be approximately 7500mi2. The number of mature individuals was calculated to be 2310 mature individuals. The probability of extinction for the statewide population is low in the next 100 years.
The BRP analyzed each criterion with data from scientific studies about the Florida manatee population. There was a 12.1% chance of a 50% decline in the next three generations, meeting the requirements for listing under Criterion A as threatened. The Florida manatee had fewer than 2500 mature individuals and also a 55.5% chance of a 20% reduction in the next two generations, meeting Criterion C for threatened. The 2005-2006 FWC Florida Manatee Biological Review Panel recommends that the Florida manatee be listed as Threatened under 68A-27.0012 F.A.C. according to the criteria A and C defined in 68A-1.004 F.A.C. Regional assessments were also conducted on each of the defined subpopulations to provide additional information to managers charged with developing a conservation management plan to protect the species. These assessments demonstrated that, when considered separately, both the Southwest and Upper St. Johns subpopulations would qualify as Endangered while the Atlantic and Northwest subpopulations would qualify as Threatened.
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