An Inventory of the Plant Communities in the Levee-28 Tieback Area, Big Cypress National Preserve
Gunderson LH and Loope LL. 1982. An Inventory of the Plant Communities in the Levee-28 Tieback Area, Big Cypress National Preserve. SFRC T-664. South Florida Natural Resources Center. Homestead, Florida
The Big Cypress Swamp and the Everglades are the two largest physiographic units in south Florida (Davis, 1943, Craighead, 1971). The border between the units is an abrupt transition of plant communities. The forested, cypress-dominated landscape of the swamp is in distinct contrast to the wide open vista of marshes, prairies and hardwood tree islands in the Everglades. The eastern edge of the Big Cypress Swamp is characterized by an extensive forest of dwarfed pondcypress (Taxodium ascendens) with interspersed tropical hardwood hammocks. Davis' (1943) vegetation map of southern Florida depicts cypress heads, domes, and hammock forests in the swamp. Craighead (1971) describes this western bank of the Everglades as a "Hammock and cypress ridge." Dominant plant communities in the Everglades area include sloughs, ponds, and lakes, spare sawgrass marshes and tree islands - bayheads (Davis, 1943, Craighead, 1971).
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Gunderson, Lance; Loope, Lloyd
- Date of Issue
- 1982-05
- Publisher
- South Florida Natural Resources Center
- Units
- BICY
- Keywords
- Big Cypress, Leeve, Plant, SFNRCTRS, Tieback