ECOLOGICAL COMMUNITY

 NO. 25 FRESHwATEBR ARSH AND PONDS




The Freshwater larsh and Ponds ecological community occurs throughout Florida.
Individual comnities vary widely in size. The largest communities, several
thousand acres in size. generally occur in southeast Florida.

DESCRIPTION

This comnity appears as an open expanse of grasses, sedges, and rushes, and
other herbaceous plants in an areas where the sool is usually saturated or
covered with surface after for to or more months during the year. The
extensive sawgrass marsh that occurs in the Everglades is not included within
thos -comnity, but smaller sagrass areas are.

1. Soils

 Sails commonly associated with this co nity are nearly level and very
 poorly drained wth coarse textured or organic surfaces underlain by clay
 or sand. Representative soils are Basnoger depressional, Brbghton,
 Charlotte pounded, Dania, Everglades, Felda depressional, Iberla, Kalbga,
 Lauderhill, Honteverde, Micco, Ocoee, Okeechobee, Sanibel, Tequesta, and
 Torry. Appendix A contains information on correlation of soil series with
 the ecological community.

2. Vegetation

 Within Florida, eight major different types of freshwater marshes have
 been described. Anyone mrsh may be composed of sections of different
 major types. There is also intergrading of these types. The types are:

 Flag marshes dominated by pickerelweed, Sawgrass marshes,
 Arrowhead mrshes, Fire flag and other non-grass herbs marsh,
 attal marsh, Spike-rush marsh, Bulrush marsh, and Maideneane


 Plants that characterize this community (depending on type or harsh)
 include:

 GASSES ND GRASLIE LANTS Beak rshes, Rh nra spp.; BIue
 maidencane, Amnhic rpu mlenbperia ; Bottlebrush threeawn,
 Aristida piif ; Bulrushes, i s app.; Care sedges,
 Carex app.; Clubhead eutgrass, Leersa he : Commn reed,
 hraeite spp.; Flat sedge, Cye spp.; Maideneane, Panicum
 hemitoon; Rush, Juncs spp.; Sawgrass, Cladium aacense;
 Splke rushes, Eeoecharis spp., Umbrella grass, Fuirena pp.;
 Wild millet, Echinocla spp.;

 HERBACEOUS PLANTS Arrowhead, S itrie spp.; Blue flag, Iris heaon
 savanarum; attail, Typha pp.; Fire flag, Thalia gniculata;