INTRODUCTION

 Understanding the structure, functions, spatial

patterns, and temporal variations of ecosystems subjected

to sharply pulsing climatic factors is an important general

problem in ecology. Subtropical freshwater wetlands

receiving seasonally varying inputs of rain are found on

most continents and provide interesting examples of

ecological systems under the influence of climatic pulses.

This dissertation is the study of the subtropical

freshwater wetlands located at the southwest end of the

Florida peninsula. The study simulates and evaluates the

water regimes and energy flows of the regional wetlands

ecosystem by means of analog and digital computer models

and addresses the following questions:

 1) How does periodic expansion and contraction of water
 area control fish and wading bird populations?

 2) How are water volume and water surface area related?

 3) What is the timing of the storage and release of
 water in relation to the timing of the rain?

 4) How does change in surface water area affect energy
 flow?

 5) What are the major pathways of energy flow and how
 is the flow of energy organized in time and space?

 6) How does productivity in a pulsing system compare
 with productivity in systems with more constant
 energy inputs?

 7) What structural features and adaptations of the
 system optimize energy flow?