50272-101 



REPORT DOCUMENTATION 

 PAGE 



1. REPORT NO. 



FWS/OBS-82/58.1 



3. Recipient's Accession No. 



4. Title and Subtitle 



AN ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE LOWER EVERGLADES, 

 FLORIDA BAY AND THE FLORIDA KEYS 



5. Report Date 



September 1982 



7. Author(s) 



N. Scott Schomer, Richard D. Drew 



8. Performing Organization Rept. No. 



9. Performing Organization Name and Address 



State of Florida 



Department of Environmental Regulation 



2600 Blair Stone Road 



Tallahassee, Florida 32301 



10. Project/Task/Work Unit No. 



11. Contract(C) or Grant(G) No. 



(C) 

 (G) 



12. Sponsoring Organization Name and Address 



Office of Biological Services 

 Fish and Wildlife Service 

 U.S. Department of the Interior 

 Washington, D.C. 20240 



New Orleans 0CS Office 

 Bureau of Land Management 

 U.S. Department of the Intericjru 

 New Orleans, Louisiana 70130 



13. Type of Report & Period Covered 



15. Supplementary Notes 



i6. Abstract (Limit: 200 words) a conceptual model of the study area identifies four major ecological 

 zones; 1) terrestrial and freshwater wetlands, 2) estuarine and saltwater wetlands, 3) Flor- 

 ida Bay and mangrove islands and 4) the Florida Keys. These zones are delineated by differ- 

 ences in basic physical -chemical background factors which in turn promote characteristic 

 ecological communities. The terrestrial and freshwater wetlands support pinelands, sawgrass 

 marshes, wet prairies, sloughs and occasional tree islands. The estuarine and saltwater 

 wetlands support mangrove forests, salt marshes and oscillating salinity systems. Florida 

 Bay exhibits oscillating meso- to hypersaline waters over grassbeds on marine lime mud sedi- 

 ments surrounding deeper "lake" areas. The exposed tips of the mud banks frequently support 

 mangrove or salt prairie vegetation. The Florida Keys support almost all of the above com- 

 munities to some small degree but are characterized by extensive offshore coral reefs. The 

 productivity of these communities with regard to fish and wildlife reflects 1) the diversity 

 and type of habitats available to species that are potentially capable of exploiting them, 

 2) the degree of alteration of these habitats by man and natural forces, and 3) historical, 

 biogeographic and random factors that restrict organisms to specific environments or pro- 

 hibit them from exploiting a potential habitat. 



17. Document Analysis a. Descriptors 



climatology, hydrology, geology, biology, flora, fauna 

 management 



b. Identifiers/OpenEnded Terms 



South Florida, wetlands, coral reefs, seagrasses 



c. COSATI Field/Group 



18. Availability Statement 



Unlimited 



19. Security Class (This Report) 



Unclassified 



21. No. of Pages 



263 



20. Security Class (This Page) 



Unclassified 



22. Price 



(See ANSI-239.18) 



See Instructions on Reverse 



* US GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1982-574 123 



OPTIONAL FORM 272 (4-77) 

 (Formerly NTIS-35) 

 Department of Commerce 



