This project aims to provide continuous valid scientific data about the salinity status of drinking water availability to wildlife throughout islands spanning from No Name to Sugarloaf Key. The data are made available to Refuge management and related state and federal agencies as well as the public. The project utilizes a broad network of sampling sites, some of which are on non-refuge lands and some of which lie within the Refuge. In addition to providing spatially detailed and comprehensive data on drinking water availability to wildlife in the lower Keys, this project provides the opportunity to conduct research on several related topics: 1) Using rain gauges on multiple islands and locations, the project allows the study of how rainfall volumes affect the various water sources – e.g. how much rainfall is required to bring a particular source back to wildlife-usable range. This will, in turn, allow better understanding and estimation of water resource availability in the future; 2) Using trail cameras at selected water sources, this project aims to provide direct video evidence of the deer’s (and potentially other wildlife’s) acceptance of the different salinity concentrations as the water sources cycle through their annual range, thus providing updated data on what salinities are acceptable to the  animals for short-term and sustainable long-term use. Back