occur v/ithin the northwest end of Bic Cypress Bay, except by way of boat, 

 only the much more readily accessible pond f^roupir.r; located within the 

 southeast end of the bay was sampled and is reported on here. The north- 

 east bay area ponds v;ere visited, hov;ever, and appear to be very similar 

 vegetationally to those ponds located at the southeastern end of the bay, 

 which are discussed below. Further, the smaller ponds, or sinks, which i 



occur in areas outlyin- the bay itself, are briefly discussed. j 



A word should be mentioned here regarding the abundant evidence that j 

 existed within the pond and bay ve^etational connunities, pointing to the 

 frequent occurrence of, and important role of past fires in naintaining 

 serai vegetation .coamunities, and in shaping the ultimate species conpo- 

 sition of these connunities, j 



Southeastern bay area pond communities — { 



The ponds found near the southeast end of the Big Cypress Bay are 

 relatively steep-v/alled, and contain water which is seasonally as much 

 as 5ni or more in depth. Vegetation surrounding the open water of" the 

 pond is quite obviously associated into zones, or comnunity types, 

 presur.ably based upon hydroperiod and/or seasonal water level fluctua- 

 tions, within the ponds. V/ater levels within the ponds, although they 

 varied as much as ^,^m during the period of field reconnaissance, are 

 fairly constant throughout the yesir, the ponds being spring-fed. Large 

 cireas of relatively deep, open water predominate towards the center of 

 the ponds, with vegetation occurring zonally in the shallow water and 

 pond rin areas as follows: 



1) V/ater lily — banana plant, Nymphaea odorata — Nymphoides anuatica . 

 Water lily, either alone or in combination with banana plant, occurs 

 in the shallow water rim areas of the ponds, with the zone being 

 more or less constantly inundated. Towards the outernost (shallowest) 

 areas of this zone, or community type, duckweed ( Lemna valvidiana ) 



and purple bladderwort ( Utricularia purpurea ) may assume some importance, 



2) Spike rush; marsh pennywort, Sleocharis sp.; Hydrocotyle unbellata . 

 This is the first emergent zone, and typically consists of spike 

 rush or marsh penneywort as single dominants, and occasionally as 

 COdominants, Various other herbaceous species, such as sedges 

 ( Cyperus sp.), proserpinaca ( Proserpinaca rectinata ) , and winged- 

 stem seedbox ( Ludwigia decurrcns ) commonly occurred within this 

 zone, which is seasonally inundated during periods of high water. 



3) Pond grass. Sacciolepis striata. This pond grass zone occurs 

 sporadically throughout the pond rim area, at times being absent, 

 or singly dominating large patches. This zone may intrude upon 

 those emergent herbaceous zones located above or below it in the 

 pond rim vegetational sequence. 



4) St, John's wort, Hypericum sp. This outermost herbaceous 

 zone usually extended from the grassy zones below it to the dense 

 shrub thicket encircling the pond above it, being some 1 to 2.5m 

 in v/idth. St. John's wort was occasionally displaced within this 

 zone by some other herbaceous species, such as Virginia chain fern 

 ( Woodwardia vir~inica ). In addition, scattered shrubs, such as 

 button bush ( Cephalanthus occidentalis ) , water willow (Decodon 

 VGrticillatusT ^ and dahoon ( Ilex cassine ) , were frequently encoun- 

 tered within this zone. 



Zones 2 through k were often found intermixed according to local 

 nicrotopography in the occasionally extensive flats lying betv.'een 

 pond areas, with St. John's v/ort often dominating large areas, 



42 



