Multiple Demands on Wetlands Author(S): Katherine C
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Multiple Demands on Wetlands Author(s): Katherine C. Ewel Source: BioScience, Vol. 40, No. 9, Ecosystem Science for the Future (Oct., 1990), pp. 660- 666 Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1311433 Accessed: 21-11-2017 14:43 UTC REFERENCES Linked references are available on JSTOR for this article: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1311433?seq=1&cid=pdf-reference#references_tab_contents You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://about.jstor.org/terms American Institute of Biological Sciences, Oxford University Press are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to BioScience This content downloaded from 128.227.24.141 on Tue, 21 Nov 2017 14:43:34 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Multiple Demands on Wetlands Florida cypress swamps can serve as a case study Katherine C. Ewel n a world with a rapidly increas- Characteristics of ing population and a shrinking Determination of best cypress swamps resource base, it is becoming in- creasingly difficult to make uncontro- use must be made to Two forms of cypress trees are gener- versial land-use decisions. Demands ally recognized. Bald cypress trees for such consumptive land and uses as preserve the benefits (Taxodium distichum) are relatively food production and industrial devel- fast-growing and are common where opment conflict with nonconsumptive flowing water brings in nutrients and uses such as preservation of biodiver- much of the impetus toward halting ameliorates reducing conditions in sity and watershed protection. Unfor- wetland destruction. Most resource the soil. Bald cypress is often found tunately, land-use decisions are often managers now appreciate the many with a variety of hardwood trees in made in response to a specific pro- ways in which large wetlands can floodplain forests. Monospecific posal and without regard for alterna- benefit society. stands of bald cypress are found in tive uses. Because today so little Small wetlands and wetlands of backwaters on these floodplains and latitude remains for irreversible mis- only regional importance have re- along the edges of lakes. takes, consideration of all the conse- ceived relatively little attention, often Pond cypress trees are considered quences of such decisions is neces- because their value is less apparent by some botanists (Brown and Montz sary. or not easily measured. As more be-1986, Elias 1980, Little 1979) to Wetlands are particularly vulnera- comes known about the significance comprise a separate variety (T. disti- ble because they often represent the of hydrologic, biogeochemical, and chum var. nutans) and by others only undeveloped land in an area, biodiversity functions of many (Clewellof 1985, Godfrey 1988, and the tradition of converting wet- these wetlands, it is becoming clear Wunderlin 1982) a distinct species lands to more intensive terrestrial or that the smaller areas can also pro- (Taxodium ascendens). They are aquatic land uses is still prevalent in vide a number of benefits. However, common in small stillwater swamps many countries. Sensitivity to the as active exploitation for some ofsuch as cypress ponds, which are also importance of wetlands increased these benefits increases, demands forcalled domes or heads (Figure 1). Cy- dramatically during the last two dec- both consumptive and nonconsump- press ponds range from 0.5 ha to ades as scientists became aware of tive uses may conflict. It is ironic 15-20 ha and are widely distributed the nature and magnitude of losses that where the values of wetlands throughout Florida. They are also resulting from conversion of large are best understood, differences of common in the Atlantic coastal zone wetlands to agriculture or urban opinion are likely to arise about the north into Virginia and the Gulf development. Early efforts to out- most appropriate use of a given wet- coastal zone west into Louisiana. Cy- line the value of intact wetlands- land. press ponds are largely ombro- such as river swamps (Wharton Cypress swamps, a common type trophic; rainfall and runoff are the 1970), salt marshes (Gosselink et al. of wetland in the southeastern major sources of water (Heimburg 1974), and mangrove swamps United States, provide a variety 1984), of and normally there is no sur- (Odum and Heald 1975)-provided benefits with and without overt ex- face outflow. Their geological struc- ploitation. Because of this, cypress ture is simple (Figure 2): organic mat- swamps are therefore useful for dem- ter accumulates in the basin and is Katherine C. Ewel is a professor in the onstrating the kinds of land-use con- underlain by sands and eventually Department of Forestry, University of Flor- flicts that may arise and for outlining clay. considerations that are useful in re- ida, Gainesville FL 32611-0303. ? 1990 Pond cypress trees also grow in flat, American Institute of Biological Sciences. solving them. poorly drained savannas. There, 660 BioScience Vol. 40 No. 9 This content downloaded from 128.227.24.141 on Tue, 21 Nov 2017 14:43:34 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms growth is especially stunted, and the trees are called dwarf cypress or hatrack cypress. Pond cypress trees are also common in cypress strands in which water moves slowly along a central slough (Figure 3). In shallow peripheral areas, water movement is virtually impercep- tible. Some ponds become strands in particularly rainy years when shallow, normally dry channels fill and join adjacent ponds. In large strands, such as the National Audubon Society's Corkscrew Swamp in southwest Flor- ida, the deep, central slough is domi- nated by bald cypress and the periph- Figure 1. Profile of a cypress pond in a young north Florida pine plantation. Photo by J. Marois. eral, shallow areas by pond cypress. Although many individual pond cypress trees appear to be morpholog- out completely (Figure 5). In south cies have specific habitat require- ically distinct from bald cypress, par- Florida, where cold fronts seldom ments, and numbers of both species ticularly in leaf and bark characteris- penetrate during the winter, most of and individuals are dwindling tics (e.g., C. A. Brown 1984), these the rain falls during the summer, and throughout the state. Careful atten- differences may be slight. Individuals swamps normally are wet from late tion therefore must be paid to evalu- that grow where the two kinds of spring to midfall. ating the importance to wildlife of trees intergrade, such as in strands, Gross primary productivity in cy- remaining natural areas. may be especially difficult to differen- press swamps is closely related to rate Cypress ponds do not support a tiate. of nutrient inflow (Brown 1981), and unique fauna (Harris and Vickers The evolution of cypress into two aboveground net primary productiv- 1984), but they are used extensively forms may be due in large part to the ity tends to be highest in swamps with by animals that range throughout action of fire (Harper 1927). Pond intermediate hydroperiods (Mitsch neighboring upland communities cypress trees with their shaggier bark and Ewel 1979), approximately six and by rare and endangered species are found in stillwater swamps, which months. Cypress ponds appear to be such as limpkins and wood storks. accumulate peat and may burn during intermediate among Florida swamps They have a diverse community of a dry season (Figure 4). They are in both gross and net primary produc- benthic invertebrates (e.g., Bright- better able to survive fire than many tivity (Ewel in press); net productivity man 1984), which are a major source of the hardwoods that grow at the as measured by tree growth rates is of food for vertebrates. Insect popu- edges of these swamps (Ewel and not related to size of the cypress lations in the canopy may comprise a Mitsch 1978). Bald cypress trees are swamp (Ewel and Wickenheiser more important food source than is less exposed to fire. On floodplains 1988). generally recognized (McMahan and and at the edges of lakes there is Only within the past decade has the Davis 1984). Fish populations vary insufficient fuel to carry a fire. Greater full range of values of cypress ponds in composition and importance, be- moisture retention protects bald cy- begun to be recognized. Without any cause most swamps regularly dry press in the center of a strand, overt management, for instance, cy- out. Reptiles and amphibians tend to whereas the edges, where pond cy- press ponds provide wildlife habitat, dominate the fauna in summer, press trees grow, burn more fre- recharge groundwater, and play a whereas birds are more common in quently. role in regional flood control. In ad- winter (Harris and Vickers 1984). Water levels fluctuate in all cypress dition, interest is growing in use of swamps. This fluctuation is impor- swamps to collect runoff from urban CYPRIES'S POIE$ tant, because cypress seeds will not areas and to recycle wastewater, and 0 germinate under standing water, and trees are commonly harvested from ;;lr:. O~. ....... .A high water is necessary to reduce cypress swamps. This article reviews competition from more rapidly grow- the importance of these uses, both ..~......,..,.::.................:: ing vegetation. Most cypress ponds in consumptive and nonconsumptive, as o. i iiii iiii ?ii~i! sN CLAYE@ !iii SM ii!! ii i iiiiiiiiijii ii!!i ii Florida are dry from three to seven well as their intercompatibilities, to uJ........................