LACLAIRE: UPLAND TEMPORARY POND VEGETATION IN FLORIDA


Table 2. Wetland Indicator Status and Ecological Index Values (EI) (Reed 1988; Wentworth et al. 1988).

 Category Symbol Definition El

Obligate OBL Plants that occur almost always in wetlands under 1
Wetland natural conditions (estimated probability > 99%).
Facultative FACW Plants that usually occur in wetlands (estimated 2
Wetland probability > 67% to 99%) but also occur in non-
 wetlands (estimated probability 1% to 33%).
Facultative FAC Plants with a similar likelihood of occurring in both 3
 wetlands and nonwetlands(estimated probability
 33% to 67%).
Facultative FACU Plants that sometimes occur in wetlands(estimated 4
Upland probability 1% to 33%), occur more often in non-
 wetlands (estimated probability > 67% to 99%).
Obligate UPL Plants that occur rarely in wetlands (estimated probability 5
Upland < 1%) but occur almost always in non-wetlands under
 natural conditions(estimated probability > 99%).



 Percent cover data from each pond transect were used in conjunction with the
wetland indicator status of each species to determine the total percent cover in each
pond basin of OBL, FACW, FAC, FACU, and UPL species. These data were
compared by hydrologic status of each pond as expressed by months since each
pond had held water.
 Species richness, Shannon's Index, and evenness were calculated for each set
of pond transect data. These data were also compared by hydrologic status at each
pond as expressed by months since each pond had held water. Species richness is
the total number of species found along each pond transect. Shannon's Index, H',
is a measure of the average degree of "uncertainty" in predicting the species of an
individual chosen at random from a collection of S species and N individuals in a
population (Shannon and Weaver 1949). As diversity increases, Shannon's Index
will also increase. The equation describing Shannon's Index is as follows:


H' = Z (pilnpi)


pi = proportional abundance of each
 species; estimated from the
 proportion of the number of
 individuals of a species to the total
 number of individuals in the
 sample.


Evenness, E, was calculated as the ratio of H' to the natural log of species richness.
Evenness would be maximum when all species were equally abundant and would
decrease toward zero as the community diverged from evenness.