A Holistic Approach to Ecosystem Decline in Mosquito Lagoon, Florida

Examining the decline of an ecosystem should be done through a holistic and interdisciplinary lens to fully understand all factors which might contribute to this ecosystem imbalance. This dissertation focuses on the declining ecosystem of Mosquito Lagoon, Florida which started to see a significant decrease in health since the early 2010s due to a variety of factors. The dissertation is separated into three papers: quantifying the total decline of seagrass in Mosquito Lagoon from 2000 to 2020, the effects of this seagrass and overall ecosystem decline on stakeholders’ livelihoods, and the regrowth of seagrass in 2023 after the events of Hurricanes Ian and Nicole. Using GeoAI and a mixed-methods approach, there was a large fluctuation in seagrass coverage in Mosquito Lagoon from 2000 to 2023, and it can be used as an indicator of overall ecosystem health. These changing conditions have drastically impacted the stakeholders in the lagoon, as they cannot depend on the ecosystem to be stable enough to support the local fishing industry. These studies develop new methodologies to quantify critical seagrass loss and produce community-engaged results to contextualize the struggles of stakeholders and advocate for change for both people and the environment.