BULLETIN FLORIDA MUSEUM NATURAL HISTORY VOL. 38 PT. 1 (3)


differ from those described above in that they are adjacent to or imbedded within
flatwoods (Laessle 1942). Pond WE-5 was located in an area of Placid fine sand,
depressional, downslope from longleaf pine/turkey oak sandhills. Pond WE-6 was
also downslope from longleaf pine/turkey oak sandhills but was bordered on one
side by upland hardwoods such as Chapman's oak (Q. chapmanii) and myrtle oak
(Q. myrtifolia) which are associated with sand pine (P. clausa) scrub habitat. The
soil mapped here was Pomello fine sand, which is a flatwoods soil with an organic
pan below the surface. Pond WE-11 was a flatwoods pond mapped with Pomona
fine sand, a poorly drained sand over a loamy subsoil (Puckett 1982). It was near a
xeric hammock located on deep sands and containing live oak (Q. virginiana) and
longleaf pine.

 Ocala National Forest.-- Lake Delancy Pond, located in a section of the ONF
in southern Putnam County, is an area of sand pine scrub managed by the USDA
Forest Service for timber production. It is located on moderately well drained
Pomello sand (T. Bailey pers. comm), and the natural vegetation of the area is sand
pine, slash pine, scrub live oak (Q. geminata), myrtle oak, and saw palmetto
(Serenoa repens). Approximately 2 km to the east is a sand ridge of Astatula soils
that supports forests of longleaf pine and turkey oak. Just prior to the initiation of
this study, the forest surrounding the pond had been clear-cut, bedded and re-
planted with sand pine. A thick layer of muck and algae were present in this pond
and it held water through-out the period of this study without drying.

 Climatic conditions.-- Average daily temperatures, annual precipitation, and
weather patterns are similar between the Putnam County study sites and the ANF
in Leon County (USDA, 1984; Readle, 1990). The average daily temperature for
both areas in summer is 270 C and in winter ranges from 11 C (ANF) to 120 C
(Putnam County). Annual precipitation ranges from approximately 142 cm per
year (Putnam County) to 152 cm per year (ANF). Most of the precipitation occurs
in the summer as a result of convective thunderstorms. October and November are
the driest months. Rain occurring in the winter results from frontal depressions
that originate in the northern U.S. and Canada. Water tables in uplands of north
and north-central Florida have seasonal highs in the winter and lows in the
summer.


 Field Methods

 Single linear transects were established in each pond by taking a compass
heading of 0 N at the center of each pond and walking perpendicular to the
topographic gradient to the surrounding upland edge. The 1989 sampling of BP
and GP deviated from this compass heading. A random compass direction was
selected for these two transects. Sampling points were begun at the center of each