Six 100-meter transects were established at a wetland reconnection site in April 2001 to monitor change in floodplain vegetation (woody and herbaceous species and canopy density) before and after construction of three berm breaches. Photopoints were established and digital photographs were taken along each transect (ends and middle) and at the opening to the river in June 2001. Non-native species (Brazilian pepper and shoebutton ardisia [Ardisia elliptica]) within the restoration site were removed through a DEP Bureau of Invasive Plant Management grant in September 2002. The last vegetation monitoring effort took place in April 2003.

SFWMD has recently established four belt transects to identify and examine the health of floodplain vegetation communities of the North Fork SLR and Ten Mile Creek. The current project will follow a similar floodplain vegetation monitoring project conducted along the Northwest Fork of the Loxahatchee River in 2005. Project results, expected by January 2010, will allow SFWMD staff to make recommendations on the impact of enhancing current freshwater flow and salinity patterns to these wetland systems and the river. Better management of flow is anticipated to improve water quality and reduce sediment deposition in the SLR. The current study will also support the need for restoration of the North Fork floodplain. A reference collection of floodplain vegetation will be created by a contractor and housed at the Southeast Florida Aquatic Preserves Field Office for future reference.