five year component seems to be most pronounced in the area along the eastern coastal 
ridge, disappearing in areas west and north-west of it. The results of this analysis are 
considered with respect to changes in the elevation of freshwater table due to man's 
influence, the natural rise in sea level due to deglaciation, and the mechanism effecting 
changes in estuarine and near shore salinities. 
1974 0 
Wanless, H. R. (1974) Mangrove sedimentation in geologic perspective. Environments of 
South Florida: Present and Past. Memoir 2. P. J. Gleason (ed.). Miami Geological Society, 
Coral Gables, FL. 190-200. 
[DATE OF SAMPLING UNKNOWN OR NOT APPLICABLE.] Coastal mangrove swamps are a 
passive sedimentary environment, offering some resistance to erosion in which peat 
accumulates predominate if the area is protected from strong physical agitation and 
detrital sediment influx. Coastal swamps have produced transgressive, regressive, 
oscillating and equilibrium (non-migrating) accumulates on the South Florida and Bahama 
Platforms during the postglacial, Holocene, sea-level rise. The varied patterns of 
coastal swamp sedimentation are related to the complex pre-existing and evolving co¬ 
existing topography through its influence on wave and current patterns, detrital 
sediment influx and freshwater drainage. Physical and chemical attributions of 
mangrove swamps can strongly influence the character of adjacent sedimentary 
environments. 
1974 - 1975 
Kushlan, J. , and D. White (1977) Nesting wading bird populations in southern Florida. Fla. 
Sci. . 40:65-72. 
Wading birds, including ibises, herons, and storks, which once nested in southern 
Florida by the millions have decreased because of habitat destruction. A 1974 - 1975 
survey located 41 colonies and 129,800 wading birds nesting in southern Florida. White 
ibis and cattle egret were most abundant: populations of great egrets, little blue 
herons, Louisiana herons and snowy egrets were lower than expected. Wading birds 
nested year round but individual species had more circumscribed nesting seasons which 
differed seasonally and between inland and coastal colonies. 
1974 - 1980 
Iverson, R. L., and H. F. Bittaker (1986) Seagrass distribution and abundance in eastern 
Gulf of Mexico coastal waters. Est. Coastal Shelf Sci. . 22:577-602. 
The marine angiosperms Thalassia testudinum, Syringodium filiforme, and Halodule 
wrightii form two of the largest reported seagrass beds along the northwest and 
southern coasts of Florida where they cover about 3000 square km in the Big Bend area 
and about 5500 square km in Florida Bay, respectively. Samples were taken from 1974 
to 1980. Most of the leaf biomass in the Big Bend area and outer Florida Bay was 
composed of T. testudinum and S. filiforme which were distributed throughout the beds 
but which were more abundant in shallow depths. A short-leaved form of Halodule 
wrightii grew in monotypic stands in shallow water near the inner edges of the beds, 
while Halophila decipiens and a longer-leaved variety of H. wrightii grew scattered 
throughout the beds, in monotypic stands near the outer edges of the beds, and in 
deeper water outside the beds. Halophila engelmanni was observed scattered at various 
depths throughout the seagrass beds and in monospecific patches in deep water outside 
the northern bed. Ruppia maritima grew primarily in brackish water around river 
mouths. The cross-shelf limits of the two major seagrass beds are controlled 
nearshore by increased water turbidity and lower salinity around river mouths and 
offshore by light penetration to depths which receive 10% or more of sea surface 
photosynthetically active radiation. Seagrasses form large beds only along low energy 
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