Waterbirds as indicators of ecosystem health in the coastal marine habitats of southern Florida: 1. Selection and justification for a suite of indicator species

•MARES identified environmental pressures that threaten Florida's coastal ecosystems.•A suite of waterbirds was selected as collectively sensitive to these pressures.•We review aspects of each waterbird's life history to justify use as an indicator.•Using a decision tree, each indicator was given a score of 0-to-5 for each pressure.•Resulting scores showed that the suite was collectively sensitive to the pressures.