Environmental issues in Brevard County
It preserves a significant sample of the natural communities that were originally found in this region, including xeric oak scrub, mature hardwood forests, wetlands and pine flatwoods.
[4] A recent controversy was solved when the County decided to rehire the Nature Conservancy to negotiate the purchase of EEL acquisitions.
To maximize the funding, the EEL Program forms partnerships with federal, state and local agencies that are committed to the protection of natural resources and our long-term quality of life.
Programs include educational projects, beach cleanups, and guided hikes on the Barrier Island Trail.
It is home to many species of birds, wild boar, white-tailed deer, American alligators, bobcats, nine-banded armadillos and other creatures .
There are five basic habitat types in the Enchanted Forest Sanctuary: oak, scrub, mesic and hydric hammock, wet prairie, and pine flatwood.
Wildlife species found here include the eastern indigo snake, Florida scrub lizard, gopher tortoise, white-tailed deer, and bobcat.
[12] The brown pelican, wood stork, snowy egret, great blue heron and loggerhead sea turtles are endangered species present in Brevard.
The Florida scrub jay has been thought to be threatened in the county for many years, because the species is territorial and cannot move to better grounds when its habitat is jeopardized.
In 2009, the Brevard Zoo is moving the remaining 15 scrub jay families native to Palm Bay to Buck Lake Conservation Area in Mims.
[19] In 2010, officials rescued 3,000 loggerhead turtles from hypothermia, brought about by unseasonably cold weather in early January.
[22] Other foreign pests include the Asian ambrosia beetle (Xyleborus glabratus) threatens the local avocado industry and redbay trees (Persea borbonia).
3) Muck from construction, farming, erosion and dead plants, all find their way to the bottom of the lagoon, preventing growth and consuming vital oxygen essential to marine flora and fauna; 4) Invasive species, including the Asian green mussel, South American charru mussel, and the Australian spotted jellyfish, all eat clams and fish larvae.
[28] In December 2005, four communities including Cocoa Beach, failed the salinity test in the adjacent Indian River Lagoon.
[29] Watershed Action Volunteers (WAV) provides workers, from among their 300 members, to help monitor water quality, conduct nature surveys, planting sea oats and other eco-friendly tasks.
[36] In 2013, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection required that benchmarks be met within 15 years: cut nitrogen runoff to the lagoon by 67% and 72% of phosphorus.
[38] The St. John's Watershed Action Volunteers provides workers, from among their 300 members, to help monitor water quality, conduct nature surveys, planting sea oats and other eco-friendly tasks.
[40] In 2005, divers and biologists want to restrict fishing and ocean dumping at Oculina Reef to protect the deep-sea coral that grows only here, about 30 miles (48 km) offshore from Cape Canaveral to Fort Pierce.
[43] The 900-acre (3.6 km2) Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge contains a twenty-mile (32 km) section of coastline from Melbourne Beach south.
The Marine Resources Council focuses on issues affecting the Indian River Lagoon through its programs on shoreline restoration, water quality monitoring and right whale watching.
[46] A recent inventory disclosed a growing incidence of diseases, including cancers, lesions and tumors in dolphins, turtles and fish.
Most recently, some shrimp and blue crab populations have been infected with a flesh-eating parasite, and scientists warn health problems may one day arise in people who use the estuary as well.
The increasing appearance of invasive species—such as an Asian green mussel recently found—which can beat out other species for space in the lagoon and erode native diversity.
Shrinkage has been documented in the lagoon's rich biodiversity and degradation of its water quality from crystal clear to murky green, which threaten its fisheries and Brevard's tourism industries.
Among other tasks, KBB schedules and oversees volunteer cleanups four times a year along roads, parks and beaches.
[54] Nearby is the Canaveral National Seashore park, a twenty-four mile stretch of undisturbed ocean beach near the Kennedy Space Center.
Studies have shown mitigation reefs do not adequately perform the ecological function of natural ones,[59] and a group called ‘Save The Mid-Reach’ has organized locally to redesign the project and require better material standards for nourishment sand.
In 2018 potable water distributed by the city of Melbourne measured up to 12 parts per trillion of PFBA (perfluorobutanoic acid).
They found that there was no public health hazard and overall cancer rates were lower in Satellite Beach and the surrounding area than they were statewide.
[62] Human epidemiological studies found associations between PFOS exposure and high cholesterol and adverse reproductive and developmental effects.
