23

exaltata covers approximately one quarter of the pond

border. Except for clumps of button bush (Cephalanthus

occidentalis) and cordgrass (Spartina bakerii), the

vegetation of the marsh is the same as that covering the

eulittoral zone of the pond. An oblique view in Figure 8

shows the pond, neighboring islands, and nearby areas of

marsh, with the different communities defined.



 Water Patterns and Biological Responses

 Heavy seasonal rains and the flatness of the land,

cause water to stand on much of the land during several

months of each year. Water fills the shallow aquifer, then

the many ponds and sloughs, before running off to the

Everglades, the estuaries, or the river. A slow flow of

water into the estuaries also takes place through the

aquifer (Parker and Cooke, 1944).

 Each summer all the depressions in southwest Florida

fill and overflow and the low, wet prairies become covered

with water for at least 6 mos. Sloughs, strands, and ponds

hold water longer (U. S. Department of Agriculture Soil

Conservation Service, 1968). In wetter than average years,

or if the rainfall is intense, surrounding higher areas of

slash pine or grasses also flood and may take several weeks

to several months to dry. As the dry season progresses,

the water surface area gradually shrinks with the ponds in

the uplands the first to dry. Sloughs are the last

widespread areas to dry, and, under normal conditions,