natural coastal communities of florida. floridas 3 zones: highlands/ridgelands/upland plains...
DESCRIPTION
Coastal Zone can also be grouped into the following categories: Mineral based communities Consolidated and unconsolidated substrate in the subtidal, intertidal and supratidal Faunal based communities Sponge bed, coral reefs, worm reefs Floral based communities Algal bed, seagrass beds, tidal swamp and tidal marshTRANSCRIPT
Natural Coastal Communities of
Florida
• Florida’s 3 Zones:• Highlands/Ridgelands/Upland Plains
• Innermost zones• Highlands – mostly clay• Upland plains – sandy clays over deep limestone
(karst topography)• Ridges (Sandy Hills) – remnants of ancient dunes
• Lowlands – exposed only recently• Flatwoods to flats, also display karst topography
• Coastal Zone• Salt marshes and mangrove swamps• Estuaries where salt and freshwater mix
• Coastal Zone can also be grouped into the following categories:
• Mineral based communities• Consolidated and unconsolidated substrate in the
subtidal, intertidal and supratidal• Faunal based communities
• Sponge bed, coral reefs, worm reefs• Floral based communities
• Algal bed, seagrass beds, tidal swamp and tidal marsh
• Consolidated substrate – hard• Coquina – limestone composed of broken
shells, corals, and other organic material• Relic reefs
• Unconsolidated substrate• Beach, mud flats, clay, sand bar, shell
bottom, soft bottom
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/geology/geologictopics/rocks/anastasia.htm
Faunal Based Communities• Coral Reefs
• 2 classes of Cnidarians are reef builders – Anthozoa and Hydrozoa
• 34 different species of corals have been identified on coral reefs found in the Florida Keys
• Barrier reefs – line shore• Patch reefs – dome shaped• Factors affecting reefs:
• Temperature• Light• Salinity• Currents• pH
Hard Corals
Brain coralhttp://reefguide.org/keys/pixhtml/symmetricalbrain2.html
Elkhorn coral, branching coral
Rose coral Star coral
Soft Corals
Sea fanhttp://marinebio.org/oceans/coral-reefs.asp
Sea feather
Faunal Based Communities• Mollusk Reef
• Oyster reef• Expansive concentrations of sessile mollusks• Numerous other sessile invertebrates live on or
around these reefs• Planktonic larvae (spat) require hard substrate
(the reef) to settle• Affected by salinity, disease, etc.
Faunal Based Communities• Sponge Beds• 3 dominating species:
• Branching candle sponge• Florida loggerhead sponge• Sheepswool sponge
Yellow tube spongehttp://reefguide.org/keys/yellowtube.html
Fire spongehttp://www.sms.si.edu/irlspec/Tedani_ignis.htm
Lavender tube sponge
Faunal Based Communities• Worm Reefs – Sabellariid Reefs
• Large conglomerates of tubes of Sabellariid worms of species, Phragmatopoma lapidosa
• Threatened by beach restoration• Provide shelter to a number of species
http://www.floridarambler.com/florida-best-beaches/best-snorkeling-in-florida/
Floral Based Communities• Algal Beds
• Examples are Sargassum, Oscillatoria• Blooms can cause problems with other species
Floral Based Communities• Seagrass Beds• Turtle grass, manatee grass, shoal grass• Light penetration greatly affects seagrass
growth
http://www.flmapr.com/grass.html
Floral Based Communities• Tidal Marsh• Expansive of grasses, sedges, and rushes• Most abundant in Florida north of the
frostline• Typical animals: osprey, fiddler crabs,
periwinkle, catfish, red drum, killifish, snapper
Osprey
http://www.wildflorida.com/wildlife/birds/Osprey.php
Fiddler crab
http://www.jaxshells.org/0024aa.htm
Periwinkle
http://www.iloveshelling.com/blog/category/periwinkles/
Red drum
https://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/RedDrum/RedDrum.html
Killifish
Least killifishhttps://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/southflorida/everglades/marshes/glossary/leastkillifish.html
Snapper
http://www.floridasportsman.com/sportfish/muttonsnapper/
Floral Based Communities• Tidal Swamp – Mangrove Forrests• Shorelines of low wave energy along
southern Florida• Red Mangrove, Black Mangrove, White
Mangrove
• Both tidal marshes and mangrove swamps serve as nursery grounds for many of Florida’s important recreational and commercial fish and shellfish
Red Mangrove
http://www.pbcgov.com/erm/natural/mangroves.htm
Black Mangrove
http://www.sfrc.ufl.edu/extension/4h/ecosystems/_plants/Black_mangrove/index.html
White Mangrove