Wetland Habitats generally from wet to dry are: Natural Lake,
Large Alluvial Stream, Calcareous Stream, SoftwaterStream, Spring and Spring
Run, Bay Swamp, Seepage/Steephead Stream, Shrub Swamp, Freshwater Marsh and Wet Prairie, Cypress Swamp , Hardwood Swamp/Mixed Wetland
Forest, Hydric Hammock, and Bottomland
Hardwood Forest. These are typically the majority of habitat types found in the Florida
Wildlife Management Areas that are owned by the Water Management Districts.
Natural Lake Habitat- The great majority of Florida lakes were
formed or enlarged by dissolution of the underlying limestone by acidic surface
waters. Slumping of the overburden resulted in a surface depression. Most
Natural Lakes in Florida retain an intimate connection with groundwater, and
lack a natural surface outflow. They may be connected to aquatic caves by
underground fissures or bedding planes, and thus provide additional habitat for
animal species found in those subterranean habitats, or they may have bottom
substrates of silt or sand. Most of these lakes have highly variable water
levels. Despite their origin, many Florida lakes are not alkaline, and are
vulnerable to acidification. They also commonly are nutrient deficient, thus
they are vulnerable to nutrient inputs. Florida’s lakes are usually less than
45 feet deep, with sand, silt, or organic bottom substrates. Depending on the
water chemistry, vegetation in the lakes can vary from nonexistent, to a fringe
of emergent plants at the shoreline, to a complete covering of floating plants.
Indeed, introduced aquatic weeds are a major threat to this habitat. Some
Florida lakes have held water continuously for 8,000 years, and two exceed
30,000 years in age.
Large Alluvial Stream Habitat- Alluvial streams originate in high uplands
that are composed of sand and silt based clays, thereby giving these streams a
natural high turbidity. These streams only occur in the north region of Florida
and are characterized as having meandering channels with a mix of sand bottom,
sand and gravel, and areas of bedrock or shoals. Large Alluvial Streams have
flow rates and sediment loads that range from low to high (flood) stages,
consequently causing water depth and other water quality parameters to fluctuate
substantially with seasonal rainfall patterns. Flood stages which overflow the
banks and inundate the adjacent floodplain and Bottomland Hardwood Forest
communities usually occur one or two times each year during winter or early
spring. Due to the high natural turbidity of these streams there is minimal
vegetation which is mostly confined to channel edges or backwaters. Typical
plants include spatterdock, duckweed, American lotus, and water hyssop.
Examples of this stream category include the Escambia, Choctawhatchee, and
Apalachicola rivers.
Calcareous Stream Habitat- The Calcareous Stream habitat occurs only in
the north and central regions of the state and is comprised of 26 streams
originating in or flowing through the Ocala Uplift region of north central
Florida and the eastern panhandle, and the Dougherty Plain region in the
central panhandle. Springs and spring runs form low-order tributaries to most
of the Calcareous Streams. As a result, Calcareous Streams share many
characteristics with the Spring and Spring Run habitat. This habitat typically
has a high pH, high carbonate level, and sand bottom with some limestone
exposed. Most Calcareous Streams are clear and cool, although in areas where
they flow through pinelands or scrub the streams will become stained by the
tannins in the vegetation.Some Calcareous Streams are associated with sinks,
where all or sections of the stream flow underground before resurfacing to flow
overland. Surface and groundwater recharge is bidirectional; water in the river
recharges the aquifer during flood conditions and the water in the aquifer
recharges the river during drought conditions. Submerged plants are frequently
dense, and can include tape grass, wild rice, and giant cutgrass. Calcareous
Streams provide habitat to a variety of species including many snails, water
snakes, and fish, and is critical to certain species of anadromous fish, such
as Gulf Sturgeon. Examples of streams in this category include the Suwannee
River, Santa Fe River, Ichetucknee, Alapaha Rivers, Chipola River, Econfina
Creek, Ocklawaha River, Hillsborough River and the lower, nontidal portions of
most of the rivers draining into the Big Bend region on Florida’s Gulf coast
from the St. Marks River to the Waccasassa River.
Softwater Stream Habitat- Typical Softwater Streams originate from
sandy flats containing broad wetlands which collect rainfall and slowly release
water into the stream. This habitat category has water with low pH, low
carbonate, that may be stained by tannins filtered from the drainage of swamps
and marshes. The flow rate is influenced by seasonal local rainfall. These
streams typically have sand or silt bottoms with varying amounts of aquatic
vegetation. Plants include golden club, smartweed, sedges, and grasses. Softwater Streams differ from Alluvial
Streams by having high, steep banks, and by lacking extensive floodplains and
natural levees. This habitat is well distributed throughout Florida, except in
the regions of north and central Florida dominated by Calcareous Streams, and
in the Everglades/Big Cypress region of south Florida, where wetlands and
coastal streams dominate the landscape. Most of the streams in this category
are small natural streams originating in pinelands or swamps or small natural
segments of otherwise channelized streams in south central Florida. Large
Softwater Stream examples include the Blackwater, Wacasassa, Yellow, Perdido,
Econfina, Aucilla, Sopchoppy, St. Mary’s, and Ochlockonee rivers.
Spring and Spring Run Habitat-This habitat is present in the north and
central regions of Florida, in most of the same areas occupied by Calcareous
Stream habitat, where underlying limestone is close to the surface. Spring and
Spring Run often represent headwaters or low-order tributaries of, and thus
share many characteristics with Calcareous Streams. The Spring and Spring Run
originate from and have direct outflow as artesian openings in the underground
limestoneFloridan aquifer. Because of the calcareous nature of the limestone
aquifer, the outflow from most springs carries dissolved mineral ions such as
calcium, magnesium, bicarbonate, sulfate, and sodium. Springs typically have
high water clarity, low sedimentation, stable channels, and openings that are
less than 40 feet wide. Individual springs are stable systems, with very little
change in water temperature, water flow, or chemical composition, but those
characteristics can vary from one spring to the next. The bottoms of spring
runs are generally sand or exposed limestone along a central, stable channel.
Vegetation in Spring and Spring Run consists of submerged aquatic vegetation,
aquatic algae covering limestone outcroppings, and species such as tape grass,
wild rice, and giant cutgrass located in the spring runs. The constant
temperatures of springs provide essential habitat for manatees and some species
of fish. Examples of Spring and Spring Run include Silver Springs, Manatee
Springs, Spring Creek, Blue Spring, and Rainbow Springs.
Seepage/Steephead Stream Habitat - This habitat includes seepage bogs and streams
that typically have deep sand bottoms with slow, constant, percolated
groundwater inflow of clear, cool, unpolluted water. Seepage/Steephead Streams
are usually less than 40 feet wide, shallow, often form the headwaters of many
Alluvial and blackwater streams, and are biologically diverse. These streams
are usually sheltered by a dense overstory and therefore have little to no
aquatic vegetation. Green algae may occur intermittently within the stream,
while mosses, ferns and liverworts can sometimes occur in clumps at the water’s
edge. Seepage/Steephead Streams are usually accompanied by seepage slopes.
These slopes have acidic, low-nutrient soils which are constantly saturated
with moisture flowing from upslope. Steephead streams are formed when drainage
water begins to collect underground from a slope and flow outward to the
surface. The resulting flow brings about an erosion of the slopes base, which
forms a cut out in the underside of the hill. Seepage bogs exist in areas where
the land gradually slopes to just above, or slightly intersects the water
table. These bogs do not have regular standing water and are not as wet as
swamps or marshes. Seepage bogs are dominated by low growing plant species,
such as grasses and carnivorous plants, which occasionally must burn to remain
healthy. Classic Florida examples are found in the Apalachicola drainage, but
streams of this type also occur elsewhere in the state where there is
topographic relief. This category includes seepage streams in ravines, and the hillside
pitcher plant bogs found at the head of or along seepage streams on Eglin Air
Force Base and Blackwater River State Forest.
Bay Swamp Habitat- (Specifically excludes Cypress Swamps, Strands, and Domes)These hardwood
swamps contain broadleaf evergreen trees that occur in shallow, stagnant
drainages or depressions often found within pine flatwoods, or at the base of
sandy ridges where seepage maintains constantly wet soils. Where Bay Swamp
occurs in seepage areas it is often associated with or grades into
Seepage/Steephead Stream habitat. The soils, which are usually covered by an
abundant layer of leaf litter, are mostly acidic peat or muck that remains
saturated for long periods but over which little water level fluctuation
occurs. The overstory within bayheads primarily is composed of evergreen
hardwood trees, but bay trees, especially sweetbay, red bay, and loblolly bay,
dominate the canopy and characterize the community. Depending on the location
within the state, other species including pond pine, slash pine, blackgum,
cypress, and Atlantic white cedar can occur as scattered individuals.
Understory and ground cover species may include dahoon holly, wax myrtle,
fetterbush, greenbriar, royal fern, cinnamon fern, and sphagnum moss.
Shrub Swamp Habitat- Shrub Swamps are wetland communities
dominated by dense, low-growing, woody shrubs or small trees. Shrub Swamps are
usually characteristic of wetland areas that are experiencing environmental
change, and are early to mid-successional in species complement and structure.
These changes are a result of natural or man-induced perturbations due to
increased or decreased hydro-period, fire, clear cutting or land clearing, and
siltation. Shrub Swamps statewide may be dominated by one species, such as
willow, or an array of opportunistic plants may form a dense, low canopy.
Common species include willow, wax myrtle, primrose willow, buttonbush, and
saplings of red maple, sweetbay, black gum, and other hydric tree species
indicative of wooded wetlands. In northern Florida, some Shrub Swamps are a
fire maintained subclimax of Bay Swamps. These dense shrubby areas are
dominated by black titi, swamp cyrilla, fetterbush, sweet pepperbush,
doghobble, large gallberry, and myrtle-leaf holly.
Freshwater Marsh and Wet Prairie Habitat- These wetland communities are dominated by a
wide assortment of herbaceous plant species growing on sand, clay, marl, and
organic soils in areas of variable water depths and inundation regimes.
Generally, Freshwater Marsh habitat occurs in deeper, more strongly inundated
situations and is characterized by tall emergents and floating-leaved species.
Freshwater Marshes occur within flatwoods depressions, along broad, shallow
lake and river shorelines, and scattered in open areas within hardwood, Dry
Prairie, and Cypress Swamps. Portions of freshwater lakes, rivers, and canals
that are dominated by floating-leaved plants such as lotus, spatterdock, duck
weed, and water hyacinths are included in this category. Freshwater Marshes are
common features of many river deltas, such as the Escambia, Apalachicola and
Choctawhatchee, where these rivers discharge into estuaries. Wet Prairies
commonly occur in shallow, periodically inundated areas and are usually
dominated by aquatic grasses, sedges, and their associates. Wet Prairies occur
as scattered, shallow depressions within Dry Prairie and flatwoods habitat and
on marl prairie areas in south Florida. Also included in this category are
areas in southwest Florida with scattered dwarf cypress having less than 20
percent canopy coverage, and a dense ground cover of freshwater marsh plants.
Various combinations of pickerel weed, sawgrass, maidencane, arrowhead, fire
flag, cattail, spikerush, bulrush, white water lily, water shield, and various
sedges dominate Freshwater Marshes and Wet Prairies. Many subcategories of this
habitat, such as sawgrass marsh or maidencane prairie, have been described and
named based on their dominant plant species.
Cypress Swamp Habitat- These regularly inundated wetlands form a
forested border along large rivers, creeks, and lakes, or occur in depressions
as circular domes or linear strands. These communities are strongly dominated
by either bald cypress or pond cypress, with very low numbers of scattered
black gum, red maple, and sweetbay. Understory and ground cover are usually
sparse due to frequent flooding but sometimes include such species as
buttonbush, lizard's-tail, and various ferns.
Hardwood Swamp/Mixed Wetland Forest Habitat-
These wooded wetland communities are composed of either pure stands of
hardwoods, or occur as a mixture of hardwoods and cypress where hardwoods
achieve dominance. This association of wetland-adapted trees occurs throughout
the state on organic soils and forms the forested floodplains of non-alluvial
rivers, creeks, and broad lake basins. Tree species include a mixed overstory
containing black gum, water tupelo, bald cypress, dahoon holly, red maple,
swamp ash, cabbage palm, and sweetbay. Also included in this category are mixed
wetland forest communities in which neither hardwoods nor conifers achieve
dominance. The mix can include hardwoods with pine or cypress and can represent
a mixed hydric site or a transition between hardwoods and conifers on
hydric/mesic sites. Hardwood Swamp/Mixed Wetland Forests occur on low-lying
flatlands or scattered low spots in basins and depressions that will only flood
in extreme conditions. The canopy is usually dense and closed, keeping air
movement and light penetration relatively low and, thus, keeping the humidity high.
Due to these damp conditions, this habitat infrequently burns.
Hydric Hammock Habitat- Hydric Hammock occurs on soils that are
poorly drained or have high water tables. This association is a still-water
wetland, flooded less frequently and for shorter periods of time than mixed
hardwood and cypress swamps. Outcrops of limestone are common in the Gulf
coastal area. Typical plant species include laurel oak, live oak, cabbage palm,
southern red cedar, and sweetgum. Canopy closure is typically 75 to 90 percent.
The sub-canopy layer and ground layer vegetation is highly variable between
sites. Wax myrtle is the most frequent shrub in Hydric Hammock. Other shrubs
include yaupon, dahoon, and swamp dogwood. Ground cover may be absent or
consist of a dense growth of ferns, sedges, grasses, and greenbriars. Sites are
usually between mesic hammocks or pine flatwoods and river swamp, wet prairie,
or marsh. Hydric Hammock is found in a narrow band along parts of the Gulf
coast and along the St. Johns River where it often extends to the edge of
coastal salt marshes.
Bottomland
Hardwood Forest- These seasonally
flooded wetland forests are composed of a diverse assortment of hydric
hardwoods which occur on the rich alluvial soils of silt and clay deposited
along the floodplain of several Panhandle rivers including the Apalachicola,
Choctawhatchee, and Escambia. These communities are characterized by an
overstory that includes water hickory, overcup oak, swamp chestnut oak, river
birch, American sycamore, red maple, Florida elm, bald cypress, blue beech, and
swamp ash. The understory can range from open and park-like to dense and nearly
impenetrable. Understory plants can include bluestem palmetto, hackberry, swamp
azalea, pink azalea lanceleaf greenbrier, poison ivy, peppervine, rattanvine,
indigo bush, white grass, plume grass, redtop panicum, caric sedges, silverbells,
crossvine, American wisteria, and wood grass. In Bottomland Hardwood Forests,
soils and hydro-periods primarily determine the diverse temporary and permanent
species composition along with community structure. Additionally, the rich
organic material that accumulates on the forest floor is carried off by
flooding waters during the wet season, and therefore provides an essential
source of minerals and nutrients for downstream ecosystems such as estuarine
systems.
(C) 2012 Companion to "Boardwalks and Long Walks" Will Holcomb
