Priceless Florida, Ch. 2

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Weather

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The state of the atmosphere at particular times and places.

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Climate

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The long term state of the atmosphere defined by its averages and extremes over time.

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Benefits of rainfalls

Back 3

-Cleans leaf surfaces
-Adds to groundwater reserves

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Special role of Seasonal Rains in Wetlands

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They provide periodic times of inundation alternating with dry times

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Hydroperiods

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Periods of wetness

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Lightning Fires

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Are important force shaping many Florida ecosystems

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In natural fire adapted ecosystems..

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fires started by lightning burn off fire-sensitive plants, leaving fire-resistant plants in possession of the territory. May fires stimulate these plants to flower and by the time that their seeds drop, the ground is bare and nutrients released by fire are available as fertilizer

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Cyclone

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is a spinning wind

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Tropical Depression

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is a cyclone that has reached wind speeds of 40 miles per hour.

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Tropical Storm

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is a cyclone that has reached wind speeds of 40-70 miles per hour

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Hurricane

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A cyclone that has wind speeds in excess of 70 miles per hour.

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Storm Surge

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Big waves on top of water that is high above normal, a dome of water , maybe 50 miles wide that sweeps across the coastline near the point where the storm makes landfall.

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Three physical characteristics that distinguish Florida from regions north.

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-Marine Sediments (limestone and dolomite)
-Clastic Sediments (clay, silt, sand, and gravel) generally lay on top of marine sediments
-A layer of organic soil lies on or is mixed into the surface sediments

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Piedmont

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is a rocky skirt that surrounds mountains

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Continental Shelf

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is the part of the continent that lies submerged, offshore. At its far edge, the continental slope drops off to the ocean basins.

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Sediments

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are loose materials that are deposited on the land or at the bottoms of water bodies. Florida's sediments are composed of fragments of rock from the land, materials that were formed beneath the sea, and organic matter.

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Marine Sediments

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originate from salts, shells and the like that settle out of the ocean water. Florida's major sediments of marine origin are derived from
-limestone
-dolomite
stones whose principal ingredients are calcium and magnesium carbonites

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Clastic Sediments

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are fragments of rock. Florida's clastics are composed largely of quartz (silicon dioxide) and feldspar (aliminum silicates) particles that have been transported in from the Appalachian mountains. In order of size from smallest to largest, they are:
-clay
-silt
-sand
-gravel

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Soil

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The particulate matter lying on top of the land, which is capable of supporting plant life. Soil includes: -inorganic sediments
-Organic components (peat, muck, humus)
-Living things (earthworms)
-microscopic organisms
-Air
-Water

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Terms that describe moisture related characteristics of soils that are important determinants of what will grow in an area.

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-Xeric
-Mesic
-Hydric

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Xeric

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Solis that are dry and contain ample oxygen to meet plant needs. Rain water drains rapidly from xeric soils

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Mesic

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Soils are moist but do not become waterlogged; they hold oxygen and drain well.

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Hydric

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Soils are wet and low in oxygen content

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Florida Platform

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is a mass of sedimentary rocks deposited on the sea floor over millions of years. In the north, river-borne sediments have accumulated on the platform. In central and south Florida marine sediments have accumulated.

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Florida's Three Zones

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-Highlands/Ridgelands/Uplands Plains
-Lowlands
-Coastal Zones

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The Florida Aquifer System

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is the great water-holding limestone system that underlies nearly all of Florida. Pronounced
-FLORIDAN not Floridian.

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Highlands

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are mostly clay and sand deposited by rivers flowing down from the north.

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Upland Plains

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consist of clayey sands and sandy clays over deeply buried limestone. They display the surface contours characteristic of karst topography.

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Ridges

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are high, sandy remnants of old coastal dunes.

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Highlands/Ridges/Upland Plains

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Florida's innermost zone has been above sea level for at least 6-7 million and up to 25 million or more years

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Lowlands

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The materials of the lowlands are among the oldest in Florida, but they were exposed only recently (during the past 1-2 million years at most) by erosion.

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Lowlands definition

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are lower and more level on the whole, and the name of their predominant ecosystem:
-flatlands or flats
describes their topography.

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Coastal Lowlands

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occupy the entire periphery of the state.

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Interior Lowlands

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include the karst region around Marianna known as the Marianna Lowlands and the Woodville Karst Plain just south of Tallahassee.

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Coastal Zone

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the third zone is the strip of land that lies along the coast and includes the current beaches, coastal marshes and swamps that are presently being worked by the sea. Coastal ecosystems are constantly influenced by salt spray.

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Two types of Coastal Zones

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-Major salt marshes and mangrove swamps
-Florida's major estuaries, where salt and fresh water are mixed.

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Karst Features

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Where limestone lies in thick layers just below the surface of the ground, rain water dissolves the stone, causing sinks, springs and caves to develop.

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Karst Regions

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occur all over Florida.
-Outcrops
-depressions
-ponds
-caves
-caverns
-tunnels
-sinks
-solution holes
-springs

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Topography

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is the shape of the lands surface

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Karst Topography

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is the topography of land that is influenced by the dissolving of underlying limestone.

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High-Energy Shores

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have steep slopes with energetic waves

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Low-Energy Shores

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have gentle slopes with little wave action.

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Interior Water that wells up from the ground and is filtered through limestone and sand is......

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alkaline and often as clear as glass

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Water that collects in swampy areas is.....

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acidic and stained a deep red-black by plant acids

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Water flowing down streams from clay hills is......

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clouded with loads of sediments.

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Mycorrhizae

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Dual organs of absorption that are formed when symbiotic fungi inhabit healthy absorbing organs (roots, rhizomes, or thalli) of most terrestrial plants and many aquatics and epiphytes.

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lichen

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The mutualistic symbiotic association of a fungus with an alga or a cyanobacterium, or both. The fungal component of a lichen absorbs water and nutrients from the surroundings and provides a suitable environment for the alga or cyanobacterium. These live protected among the dense fungal hyphae and produce carbohydrates for the fungus by photosynthesis. Owing to this partnership, lichens can thrive in harsh environments such as mountaintops and polar regions. The more familiar lichens grow slowly as crusty patches, but lichens are found in a variety of forms, such as the tall, plantlike reindeer moss. The association between the different organisms in a lichen is so close that lichens are routinely referred to as a single organism, and scientists classify lichens using the name of the fungal component.

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hardpan

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a layer of hard soil cemented by almost insoluble materials that restrict the downward movement of water and roots
solid, unplowed ground
☆ the hard, underlying part of anything; solid foundation

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ecotone

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a transitional zone between two adjacent communities, containing species characteristic of both as well as other species occurring only within the zone

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vegetation strata

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Ecology . (in a plant community) a layer of vegetation, usually of the same or similar height.

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Permeability

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Capacity for transmitting a fluid, measured by the rate at which a fluid of standard viscosity can move a given distance through a given interval of time.

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Serotinous Cones

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Pine cones that remain on the tree for many years and are tightly closed until stimulated by the heat of a forest fire to open and release seeds.

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Species Diversity

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The number and variety of species found in a given area in a region.

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Pioneer Species

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The very first species to grow .. of a soil/ground, that has had a traumatic occurrence .. such as a fire, flood, earthquake

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Succession

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Directional, orderly process of change in a living community in which the community modifies the physical environment to eventually establish an ecosystem which is as stable as possible at the site in question.

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Mutualism

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Interspecific relationship in which both organisms benefit. Example: flower pollination by insects.

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Trophic Level

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Trophic levels are the feeding position in a food chain such as primary producers, herbivore, primary carnivore, etc. Green plants form the first trophic level, the producers. Herbivores form the second trophic level, while carnivores form the third and even the fourth trophic levels.

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Xeric Community

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Describing an organism that requires little moisture or a habitat containing little moisture; dry environmental conditions as compared to Hydric (wet environmental conditions) and Mesic (moderate environmental conditions)

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Florida Highlands

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The Central Highlands Region of peninsular Florida consists of a series of rather localized high grounds, comprising near parallel north-south ridges that are remnants of beach and sand-dune systems associated with Miocene, Pliocene or Early Pleistocene shorelines. The region consists of xeric residual sandhills, beach ridges and dune fields, the whole of which is interspersed with numerous sinkhole lakes and basins caused by erosion of the underlying limestone bedrock. The main axis of the Central Highlands is the Central Ridge, extending from south-eastern Lake County in the north to southern Highlands County in the south. This comprises the Lake Wales Ridge, Winter Haven Ridge, Lake Henry Ridge and Bombing Range Ridge. This is the oldest of the ridge systems. An outlying ridge system to the north-west and extending from Gilchrist County to Polk County comprises the Bell Ridge, Brooksville Ridge, Cotton Plant Ridge and Lakeland Ridge. Slightly to the north-east and ranging from Marion and Putnam counties south to Osceola County are the Mount Dora Ridge, Crescent City Ridge, DeLand Ridge and Orlando Ridge. To the north and extending to the Georgia border is the Trail Ridge (Map 7). To the far east, beginning in the south-eastern tip of Duval County and extending southward along the coast is the Atlantic Coastal Ridge. The latter, the youngest of the ridge systems, is not included as part of the Central Highlands, although it does have some phytogeographic affinities with the Central Highlands. These ridge systems rise above the Polk, Lane, Sumter and Marion Uplands, which have less relief. The general area also encloses large lowlands - the Central and Western Valleys, and the St Johns River Valley. The Lake Wales Ridge, one of the most prominent physiographic features of peninsular Florida, is only a few kilometres wide but more than 150 km long.

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Florida Ridges Region

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a long narrow raised land formation with sloping sides esp one formed by the meeting of two faces of a mountain or of a mountain buttress or spur
2. any long narrow raised strip or elevation, as on a fabric or in ploughed land

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Aquifer

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A geologic sub-surface formation, group of formations, or part of a formation that contains sufficient saturated, permeable material to yield useful quantities of ground water to wells and springs.

A natural underground layer of porous, water-bearing materials (sand, gravel) usually capable of yielding a large amount or supply of water.