land cover zonations for the Keys 

 (Figure 56), although in both re- 

 ports the distal islands (Tortugas, 

 Marquesas, and Boca Grande groups) 

 were not included. One additional 

 study of importance is Small's 

 (1913) survey of the Florida Keys 

 flora. Although the species nomen- 

 clature is, in some cases, outdated 

 (Avery and Loope 1980), the species 

 placement geographically (upper, 

 lower, and Sand Keys) and ecologi- 

 cally (hammocks, shorelines, lime- 

 sink, waste area, etc.) provide a 

 valuable historical perspective on 

 changes in the Keys vegetation. 



Shoreline or intertidal habitat 

 zonation in the Florida Keys has 

 been well studied by several auth- 

 ors. Stephenson and Stephenson 

 (1950) have surveyed the plant and 

 animal ecology of the rocky interti- 

 dal platform communities surrounding 

 Soldier Key (Biscayne Bay) ; Zischke 

 (1973) has reported on the inter- 

 tidal and shallow-water marine com- 

 munities of Pidgeon Key (middle 

 Keys); and Getter et al. (1981) have 

 assessed shoreline communities from 

 Biscayne Bay to the Dry Tortugas. 

 The first two studies deal primarily 

 with rock platform communities. The 

 third (Zischke 1973) although ad- 

 dressing a broader spectrum of 

 shoreline communities is restricted 

 geographically to one small island 

 of the middle Keys (Pidgeon Key). 

 The framework outlined by Getter et 

 al. (1981), is used here in the 

 discussion of intertidal habitat 

 communities. Shoreline classifica- 



tion is based on more than eighty 

 biological sampling and survey sites 

 in the Keys and includes both man- 

 made and natural shoreline habitats. 

 Table 38 summarizes the eleven 

 shoreline types delineated by Getter 

 et al. (1981). 



The marine environment of the 

 Florida Keys can be broken down into 

 five relatively distinct natural 



1. Exposed, vertical rocky shores and seawalls + 



2. Exposed rock platforms *+ 



3. Fine-grained sand beaches 



4. Coarse-grained sand beaches * 



5. Mixed sand and gravel beaches and fill * 



6. Gravel beaches and riprap * 



7. Exposed tidal flats 



8. Sheltered rocky shores and seawalls 



9. Sheltered tidal flats 



10. Mangroves * 



11. Sheltered mangroves 



Also addressed by (*) - Zischke (1973) 



(+) - Stephenson and Stephenson (1950) 



Table 38. Shoreline types in the 

 Florida Keys (adapted 

 from Getter et al. 1981). 



subdivisions. These are: (1) la- 

 goonal areas (e.g.. Coupon Bight, 

 Big Pine Key); (2) transitional 

 areas (e.g., Bahia Honda Channels); 

 (3) inner shelf areas (e.g.. Hawk 

 Channel and White Bank); (4) outer 

 shelf margin (e.g., Carysfort Light 

 Reef); and, (5) shelf margin slope 

 (e.g., submarine slope environment 

 bordering the Straits of Florida) 

 (Ginsburg 1956, Enos 1977, Multer 

 1977). Within each of these sub- 

 divisions, one or more habitat 

 zonations occur, depending on the 

 classification scheme used. The 



habitat zonation scheme proposed by 

 Enos (1977) has been adopted as a 

 basis of presentation for this 

 report. Other zonation frameworks, 

 primarily those of Multer (1977), 

 Marszalek (1977, 1981), and Jaap 

 (1982), may be used to provide a 

 more site specific character to 

 Enos' (1977) overall zonation. Enos 

 (1977) groups the organisms into 

 habitat communities based on: (1) 

 the substrate on which the charac- 

 teristic assemblages live; and (2) 

 on circulation and bottom morpho- 

 logy. The following habitats are 

 recognized: 



177 



