Discovering the

Ghosts of the

Western Glades

Just Northwest of

Everglades National

Park lies probably the wildest, least disturbed natural area in all of

Florida.

Referred to as the

Western Everglades (or

Western Glades), it

includes Fakahatchee

Strand State Preserve and Big Cypress National Preserve.

Environmentalists that pushed for the creation of Everglades National Park originally wanted

this area included in it.

But politics and lack of funds prevented this.

Several decades passed before Big Cypress National

Preserve was born in 1974.

Preserves have slightly less restrictive national parks.

• rules
• than

So how is the Big Cypress Swamp

distinct from the Everglades?

Even though both habitats have many similarities (sawgrass prairies & tree islands, for instance), the Big Cypress Swamp is generally 1-2 feet higher in elevation.

Also, it has a mainly southwesterly flow of water, dumping into the “ten thousand islands” area on

Florida’s Gulf of Mexico coast and serving as an

important watershed for the River of Grass to the south.

Then, of course, there are the cypress trees.

Cypress Trees

Not surprisingly, of course, is the fact that the Big Cypress Swamp has about 1/3 of its area covered in cypress trees.

Mostly they are the small

“dwarf pond cypress” trees.

(“Big” refers to the large mass of land not the size of the trees.)

A few locations, however, still do boast the impressive

towering “bald cypress” trees

but most of those were logged out between the years 1913 - 1948.

Ridge & Slough Topography

Topography simply means the relief (or elevation variances)

of any particular area of land. Water moving very slowly over peat soil where there is a very gradual incline can create what is called ridge & slough topography.

The Western Glades is just such an area.

Ridges

Tree islands and areas of higher land are called “ridges.”

Most of the time the ridges are fairly free of water and so more conducive to permanent plant growth.

Pine Flatwoods

• Pine
• flatwoods
• are

dominated by Florida slash

pine and saw palmetto and

are home to a variety of animals. This is an ideal habitat for the pileated woodpecker, the Big Cypress fox squirrel, the endangered indigo snake and many others.

The Florida slash pine has

adapted to be very drought

and fire-resistant. Fires from lightning strikes are common natural occurrences and can actually keep the habitat healthy.

Hardwood Hammocks

Hardwood hammocks form on elevated ground, with a

diverse community of broad-

leafed trees like oaks and maples, as well as cabbage palms and saw palmetto. The dense canopy means lots of shade and sparse undergrowth. It also keeps the forest cool and humid.

Hammocks are favorite

habitats for Florida’s two cats: The bobcat and the Florida Panther.

Sloughs

In ridge & slough topography a pattern of high and low land levels can be clearly seen. In the lows (called sloughs) slow flowing water

• almost
• always

drying exists,

• out
• perhaps

completely only once every

10 years or so.

Sloughs are generally from 1 to 3 feet lower than the adjacent land.

Most sloughs have a width of roughly 100- 500 feet and can be miles long.

Cypress Strands and Cypress Domes

“Strands” form around the

long, narrow sloughs. Here

the limestone has eroded away and filled with organic soil which has been deposited over time. This

allows larger swamp trees to

grown up in it. The Fakahatchee Strand is

the world’s longest cypress

strand swamp, stretching approximately 25 miles long by about 5 miles wide.

Strand swamps tend to be dominated by

temperate swamp

trees like pond

• cypress,
• bald

cypress and pop

ash.

The strand swamps of South Florida and the Western Everglades, however, are often also populated with tropical swamp trees like the

pond apple.

Cypress “dome” habitats are similar to strands except that instead of forming along linear

• sloughs,
• they
• form

around isolated ponds. Many of these ponds are excavated by alligators and are important oasis during the dry season.

Larger cypress trees usually grow in the deeper water towards the center of the pond where the muck layer is also deeper, providing the larger trees with more nutrients. Because the larger trees are usually towards the center, the profile of the cypress dome is usually dome shaped.

The Fakahatchee Strand

• The
• Fakahatchee

Strand, now its own separate Preserve, is actually considered the

“State”

largest and most interesting of The

Big Cypress Swamp’s

strand environments.

Fakahatchee Strand is perhaps the best place in the whole

Western Glades to capture why this habitat is so critical…. And, not to mention, so “ghostly!”

….For here exists a myriad of rare plants and animals…from the illusive “ghost orchid” and many other

exotic epiphytes to the endangered Florida panther,

Everglades mink, mangrove fox squirrel, Florida black bear and more.

Cypress Domes and Cypress Strands

Video adventure

Quiz- T&F

1. National parks have more restrictions for visitors than

national preserves do.

True

2. The Big Cypress Swamp is a national park not a national preserve.

False

3. “Bald cypress” trees never grow to great heights. False 4. The Fakahatchee Strand is the world’s longest cypress strand

swamp at roughly 25 miles long.

True
True

5. The rare “ghost orchid” is an epiphyte.

Epiphytes

The word “epiphyte” is used to describe a plant that grows upon other plants (like a larger tree) without

necessarily harming its host plant.

Epiphytes are often called “air plants” because they obtain their moisture from the air or from rain that collects on the

surface of the host plant.
They are also

“autotrophs”

that rely on photosynthesis for energy.