Apalachicola Bay

Category: Marine and Oceanic Biomes.

Geographic Location: North America.

Summary: Apalachicola Bay is an ecologically intact bay and estuary system that produces 13 percent of the oysters consumed in the United States. A major issue is reduced freshwater inflow due to urbanization to the north.

Apalachicola Bay is a large estuary and bay located in the region of northern Florida known as the Panhandle, a coastal segment of the Gulf of Mexico. Apalachicola Bay is formed mainly by freshwater input from the Apalachicola River, itself part of a large river system known as the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) and governed by a compact among Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The watershed of the bay and 107-mile-long (172-kilometer-long) Apalachicola River encompasses some 20,000 square miles (52,000 square kilometers). The floodplain and freshwater discharge are the largest in the state of Florida. It is bordered in part by the Apalachicola National Forest, one of the largest contiguous blocks of public land east of the Mississippi River.

In 1969, Apalachicola Bay was designated a Florida State Aquatic Preserve, and in 1979, it was designated a National Estuarine Research Reserve by the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, one of only 27 in the country. This designation is reserved for those areas deemed most significant for ecological and hydrological factors, and creates protection for long-term research, water-quality monitoring, education and coastal stewardship. Additionally, it was designated a Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations Man and the Biosphere program in 1984, demonstrating its international significance.

Rich Marine Resource

The bay is considered to be one of the least developed and least polluted natural systems remaining in the United States. There are nearly 120 known plant species; more than one-fourth of them are threatened or rare. The largest stand of tupelo trees (Nyssa spp.) in the world is located in the region.

A total of 86 freshwater fish species, the largest number in Florida, are found within the basin, and 131 freshwater and estuarine fish species are found within the bay and river. The bay once supported a gulf sturgeon commercial fishing industry until the early part of the 20th century; now, fewer than 400 individuals are left in the bay. In addition, the watershed contains the highest density of diverse amphibians (40 species) and reptiles (80 species) of any zone within North America, apart from Mexico, and the area has significant populations of migratory birds.

The bay is particularly renowned for its production of eastern oysters (Crassotrea virginica), producing 90 percent of all the oysters consumed in Florida and 10 percent of the entire consumption of the United States. The state had commercially promoted Apalachicola oysters as having a notable flavor and composition that merits distinction alongside oysters from other regions that have a notable provenience (or merroir). However, because of significant changes in the area such as hurricanes and other storms, changes in water salinity, and increased pollution, in 2020 state officials halted oyster harvesting for five years. A group called the Apalachicola Bay System Initiative (ABSI) approved a management and restoration plan for the area in 2021. Its goal is to work with fishers and community leaders to revitalize the area's oyster industry.

By virtue of proximity to the Apalachicola National Forest, much of the watershed is protected to some degree. In addition, the bay's beaches and barrier islands contain two state parks: St. Joseph Peninsula and St. George Island. The area also boasts a national wildlife refuge, St. Vincent, and one additional barrier island, Dog Island. These barrier islands provide significant protection from hurricanes and tropical storms that could otherwise proceed unimpeded into the bay, perhaps permanently altering its vegetation structure and the salt content of its waters. The last major catastrophic storm in the area was Hurricane Elena in 1985.

Human Pressures

The major human settlement in the area is the town of Apalachicola, population 2,572 according to the 2020 U.S. Census. Apalachicola was once the third-largest port on the Gulf of Mexico due to the shipment of cotton that was brought down the Apalachicola River. This 19th-century economy was severely disrupted due to a blockade of the harbor by the Union Navy during the American Civil War, and the area has never recovered its former economic stature. The town today has become largely reliant on tourism. Across the bay is Eastpoint, a more industrially oriented small town where the major economic activity is oyster harvesting. The bay is bisected along its far southern portion by a bridge on Highway 90. This is the only major road development in or along the bay.

The bay economy is mainly generated by nature- and culture-based tourism and recreational fishing. Apalachicola Bay was not directly affected by the 2010 British Petroleum/Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, but the aftermath of that event combined with the 2008 Florida real estate crash have reduced speculative pressures around the bay, with many large planned developments since scaled back or canceled. It is thought the biome is the beneficiary of this slowdown.

Litigation has been ongoing since the 1970s regarding allocation and distribution of the freshwater among Florida, Alabama, and Georgia. Rapid and widespread development in the Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan area has had particularly significant negative effects on the bay. The primary water supply for Atlanta comes from the Chattahoochee River, where it is impounded in the Lake Lanier reservoir. This water supply was never envisioned to support a growing population of more than 5.2 million around Atlanta. The situation has been exacerbated in recent years due to prolonged drought. These pressures have meant that Apalachicola Bay is perpetually underfed by freshwater inputs—there is also concern over the added inorganic nitrogen, dissolved ammonia and nitrate, and phosphorus concentrations due to municipal discharges.

Global warming is being monitored and its looming effects projected. The Apalachicola biome “works” due to its long-term balance of warm temperatures, high humidity, and moderate precipitation levels. Changes in this balance will exert subtle yet perhaps far-reaching effects on the bay's biota, for example its unique array of amphibians and reptiles. To date, the Apalachicola Bay biome is home to far greater populations of turtles, frogs, salamanders, and snakes than to lizards; this mixture has evolved over thousands of years with relatively stable, if steadily somewhat drier, local climate.

Changes in water levels or precipitation patterns could force some altered dimensions in the animals' integrated behavior with the plant kingdom here as well. The more aquatic reptile and amphibian species tend to thrive in tupelo-cypress and tupelo-cypress-hardwood stands, while those that are less water-tolerant prefer the pine and mixed hardwood areas. Rising water levels, temperatures, and/or humidity will most certainly put pressure on the range and success of many such species.

Bibliography

Binns, Holly, and Chad Hanson. "Plan Unveiled for Restoring Florida Apalachicola Bay and Its Oysters." Pew Trusts, 16 Nov. 2021, www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2021/11/16/final-plan-unveiled-for-restoring-floridas-apalachicola-bay-and-its-oysters. Accessed 14 July 2022.

Edminston, H. Lee, ed. A River Meets the Bay: The Apalachicola Estuarine System. Tallahassee: Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 2003.

Eidse, Faith, ed. Voices of the Apalachicola. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2006.

McCarthy, Kevin. Apalachicola Bay. Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press, 2004.

Livingston, R. J., et al. “Modelling Oyster Population Response to Variation in Freshwater Input.” Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 50, no. 5 (2000).