Florida Ecosystems 2: Upland & Aquatic Ecosystems

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Florida Ecosystems 2 Upland Aquatic Ecosystems

• Dr. Peggy Green

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Upland EcosystemsHigh Pine
Longleaf, Virginia, Loblolly Slash P. with open
canopy groundcover of grasses herbs
When fire is suppressed, hardwoods invade. What
other services are provided by periodic ground
fires?

• Fire dependent maintained by low intensity
  fires every 1-15 yrs.
• Predominant ecosystem in many areas of North FL
• Sandy, nutrient poor soil -- vital recharge area
  for aquifer

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Longleaf Pine

• Trees can live 500 years grow over 100 ft.
  tall, but 88 decline in last 50 yrs has left few
  virgin forests (heavily logged)
• Home to gopher tortoise, indigo snake,
• red-cockaded woodpecker and other
• threatened and endangered species.

Gopher tortoise
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Scrub

• Coastal Inland
• High Intensity fires
• Sandy, nutrient-poor soil
• Herbs, scrub oak, sand
• slash pine, saw palmetto
• cacti, lichens
• Lake Wales scrub oldest
• ecosystem in FL

Coastal Scrub
Florida Scrub Jay
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Pine Flatwoods

• Low, flat land dominated by pines (slash in S
  and longleaf in N)
• Sandy, poorly drained soil that is alternately
  very dry and very wet
• Periodic low intensity fires maintain the open
  canopy
• Harvested extensively for lumber, turpentine, or
  converted to pasture

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Dry Prairie
Low, flat land dominated by grasses with sandy,
poorly drained soil
Often find over 200 species of ground cover
plants per acre Prairie grasses may live 50-100
yrs develop extensive root systems in soil
rich in earthworms and decomposers
Kissimmee Prairie

• Crested Caracara

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• Prairie must burn about every two
• years or it will succeed to pineland

Prairie recently burned
Prairie - no recent burn
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Pine Rockland - open canopy of slash pine on
limestone outcrops

• Found in Southern tip of state
• and the Keys
• Similar to pine flatwoods, but
• trees more widely scattered
• and smaller in size
• Maintained by periodic fires
• fire suppression results in
• succession to tropical hard-
• wood hammock

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Hammocks - tree islands hardwood forests found
throughout FL

• Temperate Hardwood Hammock
• Found in northern areas of FL
• in areas protected from fires
• Dominant trees include live oak,
• laurel oak, sabal palm, etc.
• Greatest diversity of trees
• shrubs of any ecosystem
• in US

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Tropical Hardwood Hammocks
Occur on outcrops of limestone elevated slightly
above surroundings in southern part of the
state tree islands in the Everglades,
behind the coastal strand, in the Keys.

• Dense canopy creates a moist environment thats
  cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter
• Resists burning by creation of moat and moist
  foliage leaf litter

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• Many orchids and bromeliads in the trees
• Very endangered ecosystem because of
• development pressure
• Home to many threatened
• endangered species

Liguus tree snail
Red-bellied woodpecker
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Freshwater Wetlands Aquatic Ecosystems
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Importance of Wetlands
Fluctuating water level (sometimes absent at
surface but soil remains saturated Plant roots
must tolerate anaerobic conditions

• Water purification
• Water storage
• Flood control
• Climate control
• Wildlife habitat

What is the importance of vernal pools?
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Freshwater Marshes

• Wetlands - dominated by grasses
• Yearly fires clear areas for seed germination
  and provide ash that returns nutrients
• May be located in the floodplain of a river,
  around the edge of lakes, next to swamps or in
  vast basins of low, flat land.

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Immature ibis common gallinule
A slough in the Everglades marsh
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Swamps
Tree-dominated wetlands with clean water
diversity of mammals and birds, many epiphytes
Endangered woodstork
Dry season

• Bald cypress in wet season

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Swamp during wet season showing many epiphytes

• Cabbage palm (shown here)
• along with red maple are found
• with the bald cypress in S.
• Florida swamps.

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Note the buttressed trunks and the knees of the
cypress trees
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Gators move between swamps and freshwater marshes
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Lakes
Abundant in areas lacking rivers where land is
flat with basins that hold water.

• Most FL lakes are shallow round -- formed by
  sinkholes filling with water.
• Marsh around edges filters the water
• Plankton form the base of the food chain the
  benthic community recycles nutrients

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• Dynamics of lakes determined by inflow outflow
  of chemicals from surrounding uplands the
  atmosphere.
• Human activities can degrade lakes
• Deforestation
• Mining
• Construction
• Pollution discharge
• Development of
• homes/farms, etc.
• Introduction of
• invasive exotics
• Air pollution
• (acid rain)

Algae bloom caused by eutrophication
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Rivers Springs
Flowing Water Systems
RIVERS
Kissimmee River (channelized)
Variables of rivers include current,
substratum, temperature, dissolved oxygen,
Nutrient levels increase as you go southward
in the state.
Kissimmee River (restored)

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The channel of the river is the open water
part. The floodplain is formed by the
sediment deposited on the sides where the
river periodically overflows its banks.
The brown color of the Suwannee River is due to
tannic acid from trees

• Floodplain of a tributary of the Hillsborough
  River

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SPRINGS
Florida has over 700 springs which
typically have crystal clear water coming up from
deep aquifers.
Silver Springs
Manatee Springs
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Unfortunately, nutrient overload (high
concentrations of nitrogen phosphorus
containing compounds) have degraded the water
quality of all aquatic systems, including springs.
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The End