LAKES
ANDREW MATOS
facts of lake butler
lake butler
lake butler
abiotic
SUBSTRATE: Dominantly sandy with beds of clay, phosphatic mudstone, and peat; usually underlain by limestone.
TOPOGRAPHY/HYDROLOGY: Most Florida lakes formed by dissolution of limestone bedrock, subsequent groundwater flow into subterranean caverns, and collapse of surface layers. 7800 lakes greater than 1 acre; most are small, shallow, and in central, sandy ridge part of state; Okeechobee produced by an uplifted sea-floor depression, is by far the largest.
VEGETATION/ALGAE: Density and diversity of microalgal species dependant on trophic level; aquatic plants, macroalgae, mosses, and floating flowering plants particularly important in Florida's numerous shallow lakes.
FAUNA: Molluscs, crustaceans, larval and adult insects common; about 40 species of native fishes.
PROCESSES/DYNAMICS/ABIOTIC FACTORS: Trophic (nutrient) status varies; most lakes are poorly to moderately supplied with nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients and have low to medium densities of microalgae and aquatic plants.
HUMAN IMPACTS: Discharge of nutrients and other pollutants from human activities; siltation from forest clearing; exotic plant species, such as water hyacinth and hydrilla, clog waterbodies and change their chemical composition; native fish experience competition from 21 established exotic fish species.
biotic
Florida green water snake
Scientific Name:
Nerodia floridana
Description:
The Florida green water snake is a large, harmless semi-aquatic snake. It has scales between the eyes and the lip plates and varies in color from olive-green to a brownish-green with a creamy white underbelly. Green water snakes are excellent swimmers, often diving off a log or tree limb into the water at the slightest disturbance. They bear their young alive and can have litters as large as 100! The green water snake preys upon fish, frogs, salamanders, and crawfish.