Florida Lakes
By: Amanda Perreault & Yaire Torres
How Much Do You Know About Florida Lakes?
(This is Lake Alice in Gainesville Florida)
Abiotic Fun Facts!
- It is an aquatic ecosystem
- Sand is the type of soil in lakes
- The annual high temperature is 79.5 and the annual low temperature is 57.6, and free flowing.
- Lakes in Florida are usually fresh water, but if there is a weather storm, and if some water from the sea is picked up, than the lakes would have some salt water in them
- 68% of humidity of lake Alice
- If there is a wind storm, then water can be picked up, and taken away from the lakes. If there was a weather storm involving water, than it can go into the lakes and put more water in them.
- Lakes don't receive much water at all at the the bottom, so plant's can't live there
- In healthy lakes, nutrients are needed for the growth of algae, and help with the food chain. Nitrogen and phosphorus
- The most common way of pollution in lakes would probably be oil and gas leaking from boats. Humans use boats to cross and go fishing in lakes, but they need gas and oil to run, and they might leak into the lakes and kill off fish. If a fish breaths in the polluted water, then a bigger fish its the fish with the pollution in it, it will get affected, Then when a bird eats it, it will be infected too. it affects the whole cycle of life in lakes!
Biotic Fun Facts!
Flora:
Cattail
Algae
Water Lily
Sedges
Tape Grass
Pondweed
Bladderwort
Coontail
Duck Potato
Lemon Bacopa
Hygrophila
Marigold
Duckweed
Lotus
Sawgrass
Fauna:
Alligators
Different species of birds - Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, White Ibis, Wood stork, Bald Eagle, Hawks, Vultures, Wood Ducks, Mallard, Cranes
Different species of snakes
40 species of fish
Amphibians
Reptiles
Mollusks
Crustaceans
- Larval and adult insects
Positive & Negative Human Impacts on Lakes
- Humans can help lakes by taking chemical tests and sending it off to a lab to see if everything is going right
- We recycle some trash and try to make it so trash doesn't get into the lakes and kill fish and birds
- We can help clean off turtles shells because they have so much algae on their shells, we can help them and keep them healthy
Negative:
- An increase in human activity is posing a threat to natural aquatic ecosystems
- Damming can be a great renewable resource for power, but it may destroy river ecosystems downstream
- Modifying a stream or river into a pattern other than what may be its natural meandering. This can have a major effect on flood plains.
- Any chemical, such as car oil or antifreeze, poured down a storm drain will flow directly into the river.
- Careless disposal of trash and waste.
- Pet waste can also be a problem, but they are more likely to impact the wildlife of the river by chasing or hunting.
Crescent Lake
Blue Cypress Lake
Lake Pointsett
Endangered Species
The Eastern Indigo Snake is endangered! It is federally listed as a threatened species. This snake lives in a variety of habitats. The Eastern Indigo Snake is on the U.S. Endangered Species List. It is classified as threatened in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina. Habitat destruction and commercial collecting for the pet trade have taken a toll on this snake, and it is vanishing in the wild. The Indigo's favorite retreat, which it shares with rattlesnakes, is a Gopher Tortoise burrow. The practice of pouring gasoline down these burrows in order to flush out rattlers has reduced the Indigo's numbers.
Food Web of Florida Lakes
Resources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crescent_Lake_(Florida)
http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/lake-city/florida/united-states/usfl0255
http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recnum=AR0095
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/southflorida/everglades/marshes/threatened.html