?/EPA
                               umtea states                 tnviroriseniBi «e»eoivit
                               EnvirorroentaL Protection        Laboratory
                               Agency	Corvallis OR 97333
                               Office of Research and Development
EPA/Q-95/OQ2
                              FLORIDA   REGIONALIZATION
                              PROJECT
n
                        SOUTHEASTERN PUIKS CCOREGION (65)
                          Southern Pine Plains and Kills (SSI)
                          OoughfMjf/Uonorino Plains
                          Til ton Upland/Tallahassee Kills (65fi)
                        SOUTHERN COASTAL PLAIN ECORCGION (75)
                          Gull Coast  rio!*aods (7S«)
                          Soultiiestem floriiio Flotvoods (7St)
                          Ctnlrol riorido Ridqts anif Uplands (75c)
                          [astern florido Flaltoods  J75d)
                          Okcftnoket  Swamps and Plains  (?5e)
                          S<« lilond  Flgtvaods j?5f)

                        SOUTKfRN FLORIDA COASTAL PLAIN  CCORECION (7fi)
                          619 Cyprtss (7Eb)
                          ttianii Ridae/Allanlic Coos to! Strip (76c)
                          Southern Coosl ond Islands (76d)

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       FLORIDA REGIONALIZATION PROJECT



                  Glenn E. Griffith1

                 James M. Omemik"1

                 Christina M. Rohm2

                 Suzanne M. Pierson2
          'U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
            Environmental Research Laboratory
                  200 SW 35th Street
                  Corvallis, OR 97333

                   "Project Officer
                   (503) 754-4458

         *ManTech Environmental Technology, Inc.
       U.S. EPA Environmental Research Laboratory
                  200 SW 35th Street
                  Corvallis, OR 97333
                   August 11, 1994
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LABORATORY - CORVALLIS
      OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
     U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
             CORVALLIS, OREGON 97333

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.1
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                                      ABSTRACT

Ecoregion  frameworks  are  valuable  tools  for environmental  resource  inventory  and
assessment, for setting resource management goals, and for developing biological criteria
and  water quality standards.   In a  cooperative project  with the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection, the  U.S.  Environmental Protection Agency  and other interested
agencies, we have defined ecological regions  and subregions of Florida, and have selected
sets  of stream reference sites within most of the subregions.  The ecoregions and reference
sites  can be  used to  better understand regional  variations  in  stream quality, to  assess
attainable conditions and  to structure  aquatic resource  regulatory programs.  In conjunction
with this effort we have reviewed aquatic classifications of Florida, and have analyzed fish
species distribution patterns.
                                           u

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                           TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT	   ii
FIGURES	   iv
TABLES	   v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS	   vi

1. ECOREGION/SUBREGION FRAMEWORK.	   1
  1,1 INTRODUCTION	   1
  1.2 METHODS	   2
  1.3 REGIONAL DESCRIPTIONS	   4
     Southeastern Plains Ecoregion	   4
        Southern Pine Plains and Hills Subregion	   5
        Dougherty/Maiianna Plains Subregion	   8
        Tifton Upland/Tallahassee Hills Subregion.	,	   11

     Southern Coastal Plain Ecoregion	   14
        Gulf Coast Flatwoods Subregion	  14
        Southwestern Florida Flatwoods Subregion	   14
        Central Florida Ridges and Uplands Subregion	   20
        Eastern Florida Flatwoods Subregion	   22
        Okefenokee Swamps and Plains Subregion	  26
        Sea Island Flatwoods Subregion	  26

     Southern Florida Coastal Plain Ecoregion	   31
        Everglades Subregion....	   32
        Big Cypress Subregion	   32
        Miami Ridge/Atlantic Coastal Strip Subregion	   37
        Southern Coast and Islands Subregion	  37

2. AQUATIC CLASSIFICATIONS OF FLORIDA.	  38
  2.1 INTRODUCTION	   38
  2.2 STREAMS	   38
  2.3 LAKES	  41
  2.4 SPRINGS	  42
  2.5 MARSHES	  42
  2.6 SWAMPS	   42

3. STREAM REFERENCE  SITE SELECTION	  43

4. FLORIDA FISH SPECIES DISTRIBUTION ANALYSIS	  46
  4.1 INTRODUCTION	   46
  4.2 METHODS	   46
  4.3 SELECTED RESULTS AND DISCUSSION	  48

5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS	  53

REFERENCES	".	:	  55
APPENDICES
    A. CANDIDATE STREAM REFERENCE SITES, APRIL 1992	  64
    B. STREAM REFERENCE SITE STATUS, OCTOBER 1992	  80
                                    111

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                                     FIGUHES
Number                                                                         Page

  1 Ecoregions and subregions of Florida.	...insert

  2 Detrended correspondence analysis of 6frh species composition at low flow sites	  50

  3 Box plots of fish species richness at sites sampled 2-4 times in each water body
     type for 2 subregions per ecoregion	  52
                                  PHOTOGRAPHS

  1 Southern Pine Plains and Hills, agricultural and forest land use mosaic, Santa
     Rosa County	   6
  2 Southern Pine Plains and Hills, typical pine plantation	   6
  3 Southern Pine Plains and Hills, East Fork Big Coldwater Creek, Blackwater
     River State Forest, Santa Rosa County	   7
  4 Southern Pine Plains and Hills, Blackwater River, Okaloosa County.	   1
  5 Southern Pine Plains and Hills, clear, Rocky Creek, Walton County	   8
  6 Dougherty/Marianna Plains, agricultural hind with bays and sinkholes, Jackson
     County	.	   9
  1 Dougherty/Marianna Plains, typical red soil farmland, Jackson County	   9
  8 Dougherty/Marianna Plains, Econfina Creek, Bay County	  10
  9 Tifton Upland/Tallahassee Hills, mixed hind use, Gadsden County	  11
 10 Tifton Upland/Tallahassee Hills, suburban karst, near Tallahassee, Leon County.	  12
 11 Tifton Upland/Tallahassee Hills, agricultural area and riparian corridor,
     Hamilton/Suwannee counties	  12
 12 Gulf Coast Flatwoods, Pensacola Bay, Gulf Breeze peninsula, Santa Rosa Sound,
     Santa Rosa barrier island, Santa Rosa/Escambia counties	  15
 13 Gulf Coast Flatwoods, bottomland hardwoods, Chipola River near Honeyvile,
     Gulf County	  15
 id On If Coast Flatwoods, Apalachicola National Forest management practices	  16
 15 Gulf Coast Flatwoods, Sandy Creek at tidal influence, Bay County	  16
 16 Southwestern Florida Flatwoods, Little Manatee River riparian area,
     Hillsborough County	  17
 17 Southwestern Florida Flatwoods, CharHe Creek, Hardee County.	  17
 18 Southwestern Flordida Flatwoods, Green Swamp area, Polk/Sumter counties	  18
 19 Southwestern Florida Flatwoods, cypress swamp, Charlie Bowlegs Creek, Highland
     Hammock State Park,  Highlands/Hardee counties	  18
 20 Southwestern Florida Flatwoods, phosphate ™i™*g near Bartow, Polk County	  19
 21 Southwestern Florida Flatwoods, new citrus groves, Charlotte County	  19
 22 Central Florida Ridge and Uplands, rolling upland near Clermont, Lake County	  20
 23 Central Florida Ridge and Uplands, suburbanization, Polk County	  21
 24 Central Florida Ridge and Uplands, sinkhole hazards, Polk County	  21
 25 Eastern Florida Flatwoods, St. Johns River, Volusia/Seminole counties	  23
 26 Eastern Florida Flatwoods, Econlockhatchee River, Orange County	  23
 27 Eastern Florida Flatwoods, Merritt Island, Brevard County....	  24
 28 Eastern Florida Flatwoods, Canaveral National Seashore, Volusia County	  24
 29 Eastern Florida Flatwoods, citrus groves and canals, St. Lucie County.	  25
 30 Eastern Florida Flatwoods, Kissimmee River canal, Okeechobee/Highlands counties..  25
 31 Okefenokee Swamps and Plains, Pinhook Swamp, Baker County	  27
 32 Okefenokee Swamps and Plains, pine plantation, Hamilton County....	  27


                                          iv

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            33 Sea Island Flatwoods, Pigeon Creek, Nassau County	  28
            34 Sea Island Flatwoods, Pigeon Creek watershed, Nassau County	  28
            35 Sea Island Flatwoods, Amelia Island, Nassau County	  29
            36 Sea Island Flat-woods, Ponte Vedra Beach, St. Johns County	  29

            37 Everglades, edge of agricultural area, Palm Beach County	  33
            38 Everglades, freshwater marl prairie,  Dade County	  33
            39 Big Cypress, aerial oblique, Collier County	  34
            40 Big Cypress, Big Cypress Swamp,  Collier County	  34
            41 Miami Ridge/Atlantic Coastal Strip, urban coast, Palm Beach County	  36
            42 Southern Coast  and Islands, mangrove aerial oblique, Collier County	  36
                                                  TABLES

           Ktrmher

 I           1-1  General characteristics of subregions of the Southeastern Plains
 J               Ecoregion (65) in Florida	 13

 1           1-2  General characteristics of subregions of the Southern Coastal
 j1               Plain Ecoregion (75) in Florida	 30

            1-3  General characteristics of subregions of the Southern Florida
                Coastal Plain Ecoregion (76)	 37

            2-1  Aquatic (mayfly) habitats (Berner and Pescador 1988)	 39

 J           2-2  Water-related natural community categories, groups and types
                (Florida Natural Areas Inventory 1990)	 39

            2-3  A classification  of Florida freshwaters (Steve Walsh, Florida Museum
J               of Natural History)	 39

            2-4  A classification  of Florida's aquatic systems (Frydenborg 1991)	 39

            2-5  Classification of streams, rivers, and lakes (Layfield and Barbour 1991)	 39

 I           4-1  Water body types used to classify sampling sites in Florida Museum of Natural
, I               History fish database	 47

 I           4-2  List of "signature fishes" by subregion.  (Species appearing in more than 16% of the
 |               samples from each subregion.  Numbers indicate actual percentage of sites in the
                subregion at which the species was collected)	 51

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                              ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Support for this project was  provided to ManTech  Environmental Technology, Inc., by the
U.S.  Environmental Protection Agency under contract No. 68-C8-0006.  The authors thank.
Ellen McCamra and Jim Hulbert  of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection
for their support, and  the staff members of the  DEP  district offices  and other Florida
agencies who cooperated in this project.

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                                     SECTION 1
                      ECOREGION/SUBREGION FRAMEWORK

1.1 INTRODUCTION
    Spatial frameworks are important for structuring the research, assessment, monitoring,
and management of environmental resources.  Ecological regions,  defined in general terms
as  regions  of relative  homogeneity  in  ecological  systems  and  relationships  between
organisms and their environments, have been developed in the the United States (Bailey
1976; Omernik 1987),  Canada (Wiken 1986),  New Zealand (Biggs et aL 1990) and  other
countries for these organizational purposes. Ecoregions  are usually defined by patterns of
homogeneity  in a combination of factors such  as climate, physiography,  geology, soils, and
vegetation.  These regions also define areas within which there  are different patterns in
human stresses on  the environment and different patterns in the existing and attainable
quality of environmental resources.  Ecoregion classifications are effective for national and
regional  environmental resource inventory  and  assessment, for setting regional  resource
management goals, and  for  developing  biological criteria and  water  quality standards
(Gallant  et aL, 1989;  Hughes et aL, 1990; Hughes 1989; Environment Canada 1989; U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Science Advisory Board 1991; Warry and Hanau 1993).
    The  development of ecoregions in North  America has  evolved considerably in recent
years (Bailey et al. 1985; Omernik and Gallant 1990). The first compilation  of ecoregions of
the conterminous United  States by the  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was
performed at a relatively  cursory scale, 1:3,168,000,  and was  published at a smaller  scale,
1:7,500,000 (Omernik 1987).  The  approach recognized  that the  combination and  relative
importance of characteristics  that  explain  ecosystem regionally  vary from  one  place to
another and from one hierarchical level to another.  This is similar to the approach  used by
Environment Canada (Wiken 1986).   In describing  ecoregionalization in  Canada, Wiken
(1986) stated:

      "Ecological  land classification is  a process  of  delineating  and  classifying
      ecologically distinctive areas of the earth's surface. Each area can be viewed
      as a  discrete system which has resulted  from  the mesh and interplay of the
      geologic, landform,  soil, vegetative, climatic, wildlife, water and human factors
      which may be  present.  The dominance of any  one or a number  of these
      factors varies with the given ecological land unit. This holistic approach to
      land  classification can be applied incrementally on a scale-related basis from
      very site-specific ecosystems to very broad ecosystems."

    The  ecoregions defined by Omernik (1987) were shown to  be useful for stratifying
streams in Arkansas (Rohm et aL 1987), Nebraska (Bazata 1991), Ohio (Larsen et al. 1986),
Oregon  (Hughes  et al.  1987; Whittier et al.  1988), Washington  (Plotnikoff 1992), and

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Wisconsin (Lyons 1989).  Arkansas, Minnesota, and Ohio have used the 1987 ecoregion map
to set water  quality standards (Arkansas Department of Pollution  Control  and Ecology
1988), lake management goals (Heiskaiy and Wilson 1989), and to develop biological criteria
(Ohio EPA 1988).  Many state agencies, however, have found the resolution of the regions
in the 1:7,500,000 scale map to be of insufficient detail to meet  their needs.   This has led
to several collaborative projects, with states, EPA regional offices, and EPA's Environmental
Research Laboratory in  Corvallis, OR (ERL-C), to refine ecoregions and define subregions at
a larger (1:250,000) scale.  In addition to Florida, these projects cover Iowa, Massachusetts,
the  Coast Range  and  Columbia  Plateau  of Oregon  and  Washington, and  parts of
Mississippi, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia.
    Sets of regional reference sites within an ecoregion or subregion can give managers and
scientists  a better understanding of attainable water body conditions.   The biota  and
physical  and  chemical  habitats characteristic of these regional reference sites  serve as
benchmarks for comparison to more disturbed streams, lakes,  and wetlands  in the same
region (Hughes et aL, 1986; Hughes et aL  1993; Hughes in  press).  These sites indicate the
range of conditions that could reasonably be  expected in an ecoregion or subregion, given
natural Limits and present or possible land use practices.
    In a  cooperative project with  the  Florida  Department of Environmental Protection
(DEP), the U.S. EPA, and other interested parties, we have refined aquatic ecoregions and
defined subregions, and have  selected candidate stream reference sites.   In this section we
discuss the method  and  materials used to  define subregions of the Southeastern Plains
Ecoregion,  the Southern Coastal Plain Ecoregion  and  the  Southern Florida Coastal Plain
Ecoregion and provide descriptions of the significant characteristics in each subregion.
    It is important to note that the regions and  subregions defined are general ecological
regions  and  not special purpose  regions.   During the planning stages  of the  project, a
question was posed to the Florida DEP personnel regarding the type of regional framework
they  desired.   Did they want  special purpose regions reflecting spatial  patterns in the
attainable quality of ecosystem components such as macroinvertebrates or fish, or did they
want a more holistic framework that would not address any single component perfectly, but
would instead be generally useful for many environmental resources?  The answer was that
their immediate needs were for the more general, multi-purpose ecoregion framework.

1.2 METHODS
    In  brief,  the  procedures  used  to  accomplish  the   regionalization  process  include
compiling  and  reviewing relevant  materials, maps, and data;  outlining  the regional
characteristics; drafting  the  regional and subregional boundaries; digitizing the boundary
lines, creating digital,  coverages,  and producing  cartographic  products; and  revising as
needed after review by state managers and scientists.  In our  regionalization  process we

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employ primarily qualitative methods. That is, expert judgement is applied throughout the
selection, analysis, and classification  of data to form the  regions, basing judgments on the
quantity  and quality of reference data and on interpretation of the  relationships between
the  data  and  other environmental  factors.   More  detailed descriptions  on methods,
materials, rationale,  and philosophy  for regionalization can be found in Omemik-(1987),
Gallant et al, (1989), and Omemik and Gallant (1990).
    Maps of environmental characteristics and other  documents  were collected from the
state of Florida and from ERL-C.  The most important of these are listed in the References
section.  The most useful map types  for our ecoregion delineation are usually physiography
or land-surface  form, geology,  soils, climate, vegetation, and land use.  Physiographic and
land surface-form information  were gathered  from many sources including Brooks (1981b;
1982), White (1970), Puri and Vernon (1964), Clark and Zisa (1976), Sapp and Emplaincourt
(1975), Fenneman (1938), and Hammond (1970).  Geology maps included the l:250,000-scale
Environmental Geology Series from the Florida Bureau of Geology, state scale maps (Brooks
198la; Vernon and Puri 1964; Osborne et  al, 1989; Lawton 1977) and national scale maps
such as Hunt (1979) and King and Biekman (1974).  Soils information was obtained from
the Florida Agricultural Experiment Stations and  U.S.  Department of Agriculture's (USDA)
Soil  Conservation Service (SCS) (1962), Caldwell and Johnson (1982), USDA-SCS (1984),
USDA (1973), Perkins  and Shaffer (1977) and preliminary l:250,000-seale SCS State Soil
Geographic Data Base (STATSGO) soil maps.  Additional  soils information was obtained for
some areas from the USDA's county-level soil survey publications.  Climate information was
collected  from Bradley (1974),  Fernald (1981), and Jordan (1984).   For land  use/land cover
we used primarily the l:250,000-scale U.S. Geological  Survey (USGS) maps, 1:500,000-scale
maps for adjacent states (Lineback and Weaver, 1985), as well as the general classification
of Anderson (1970).  The vegetation  and forest cover  maps we used  included Davis (1943,
1967), those in  the state atlases (Fernald  1981; U.S.  Army Corps  of Engineers, 1981) and
the  national  atlas (Kuchler, 1970; U.S.  Forest  Service, 1970), and a recent vegetation
classification  of Landsat Thematic Mapper imagery (1985*1989) developed by the Florida
Game and  Fresh Water  Fish Commission.  In  addition,  a map produced  from composited
mult;-temporal Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) satellite data was also
used to assess boundaries and regional differences.  This .AVHRR data is currently being
used by  the  USGS  EROS Data Center  to characterize land  cover  of the  conterminous
United States (Loveland et al., 1991).
    We used USGS  1:250,000-scale  topographic maps  as  the base for delineating the
ecoregion and subregion  boundaries.   Although some  maps in this series are old, it does
provide quality  in terms of the relative consistency and  comparability of the series across
Florida, in the accuracy of the topographic information portrayed,  and  in the locational
control. It is also a very convenient  scale.  Fifteen of these maps give complete coverage of

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the state.
    The  following  section describes the revised ecoregions and proposed  subregions  in
Florida (Figure 1).  Although these subregions still retain some heterogeneity in factors that
can affect water quality and biotic characteristics, the framework is an improvement on the
earlier national-scale ecoregions, and provides  more  homogeneous units for inventorying,
monitoring, and assessing surface waters than  commonly used hydrologic unit frameworks
or generalized physiographic districts.

1.3 REGIONAL DESCRIPTIONS
"Of coune, no dauificatum lyitem fiti th« IM! rituaticn perfectly, litre are alwayf plot* of land, or water, that don't fit any
category, or teem to fit two categories equally wall,' (Simons 1989, p.58).

SOUTHEASTERN PLAINS ECOREGION (#65)
Subregions:                                                                       States:
- Southern Pine Plains and Hills                                        AL,  FL,  GA, MS
- Dougherty/Marianna Plains                                                 AL, FL, GA
- Tifton Upland/Tallahassee Hills                                                 FL, GA

    In north Florida, the Southeastern Plains Ecoregion  occupies the hilly, pine and mixed
hardwood forest area along the borders with Alabama and Georgia.  The  rolling hills of this
area include  Florida's highest elevation point, 345 feet, in northwest Walton County. The
ecoregion has been characterized as containing  smooth to irregular plains; oak/hickory/pine
and southern  mixed forests; a mosaic of cropland, pasture, woodland and forest; and mostly
ultisol soils (Omernik 1987).
    The  southern boundary  of  this ecoregion has some heterogeneous characteristics, but
the '.weight of mapped evidence supports the placement of our line. General soils and Major
Land Resource Area  (MLRA)   maps,  physiography  maps, geology  maps,  relief  maps,
vegetation maps and regional maps show relatively close agreement for the division.  Areas
of uncertainty do exist however.  In the western panhandle,  the new  ecoregion line has
been  moved  slightly further south  than the  boundary shown  by Omernik  (1987).   In
Okaloosa and Walton  counties, much of the  Eglin  Ridge area was  previously  in the
Southern Coastal  Plain  Ecoregion (#75).   Many of the physiographic,  geologic, soils  and
vegetation maps show  this area  having similar  characteristics with the Florida area to the
north in the Southeastern Plains Ecoregion (#65),  The .AVHRR  imagery, however, shows
the Eglin area within  a more southerly region.  The break between the clay-rich  Miocene
deposits  to the north and the sandy PlioVPleistocene deposits  is not always apparent, but
there are dayhill/sandhill vegetative differences  (Myers 1990).
    There is some uncertainty about where the eastern and southeastern boundary of the
Southeastern  Plains Ecoregion should  be placed in Florida.  Omernifc's 1987 boundary on
the east  extends from Union County north to Lake City and Jasper and into  Georgia.  This

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line occurs at an obvious break in the land use mosaic and follows closely the physiographic
division boundary of Brooks (1981b), and the North Central  Florida Ridge MLRA boundary
(USDA-SCS  1981).   The boundary between the  Central Florida  Ridge MLRA  and the
Southern Coastal Plain MLRA is drawn near Madison in  Madison county, and Hammond's
(1970)  land form  class boundary separating  irregular plains  from flat plains occurs further
west,  roughly  between the  Aucilla River and Monticello  in Jefferson County.   Either  of
these  lines seem suitable for enclosing the  more hilly areas.  The areas  to  the east  of
Madison and around Live Oak are plains of less relief and internal  drainage and  resemble
areas  to the south more  than the hilly region to the west.  While the division between
Florida's Northern  Highlands  and  Central Highlands  is  not prominent  (White  1970),
Omernik's 1987 ecoregion boundary is similar to  the  MLRA's (USDA-SCS 1981), and both
occur   at  a  soil  temperature line  dividing  thermic  from hyperthennic  soil temperature
regimes (Caldwell and Johnson 1982).  The Suwanee River  forms the eastern boundary  of
the panhandle,   according  to Clewel  (1985),  and  forms  a  significant phytogeographic
boundary.  Many species of the panhandle occur no further east, and many other species  of
peninsular Florida occur no  further west (Clewell 1985).
Southern Ping Plfljflg snd Hills •Sybregion (65f)
    Called the  Pine Hills  or Piney Woods in  Mississippi and  Southern Pine  Hills  in
Alabama,  this subregion in  Florida includes the Western Highlands or what Brooks (1982)
refers  to  as  the  Blackwater  Hills  and Escambia  Terraced  Lands.   In Alabama and
Mississippi there is  a  slightly  different mix  of vegetation  and land use in these  southern
plains compared to the Southeastern Plains and "Hills subregion to the north, and streams
tend to be darker and  more acidic as one moves south toward the Florida border.  The oak-
hickory-loblolly/shortleaf pine forest of the north is replaced by the Southern mixed forest of
beeeh-sweetgum-magnolia-lonfleafMash  pine-oak  forest in  this subregion.   Elevations are
generally  200-550 feet,  100-300  feet in the Florida  portion,  with relief of  100-200 feet
between hill  and stream bottoms.  The  hill summits and higher elevations are composed of
the  Citronelle formation,  generally sandy, gravelly,  and porous, and  more resistent  to
erosion than the older underlying Miocene sandstones.  Most of this subregion is woodland
and forest with some cropland and pasture (photo 1).  This area of the Panhandle receives
some  of the  highest mean  annual precipitation  totals (generally 60-75  inches)  and the
coolest mean minimum and mean maximum temperatures in  the state (Bradley 1972;
Fernald 1981).
     In Florida, the main  section of this subregion is confined to Escambia, Santa Rosa,
Okaloosa, and Walton counties.  As recommended by the  DEP district biologist (Don Ray,
DEP-Pensacola, personal communication),  we  have added an extension of this subregion
across Bay, Calhoun, and Liberty counties. Although this could be considered a transitional

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                                                                                                                          1
                                                                                                                          ]
Photo 1
I'hotns 1 and 2.  Forest lana usc/lar.a ci^ur prudnmmaces m the Southern  Pine Plains and Hills,
although some  areas have a lore-it and iimcuiturai luna  use mosaic.  Pine plantations generally
receive intensive  manaKemerH prscw-e- 
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3
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Photr, :•!
Photm. i and 4.  ban civ-bottom ad. blackwater stream1;   .ch as East  F-'rk Bij; Coldwater Creek
(above1 and the Blaekwat^r River ihelnw dre common  n this suhregirjn   The tea-colored waters
are often h«rh in firfranic  acids,  tannins, and lif,Tiitis [e^Lhed  frnm  decomposing plant litter.
 Photo 4

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                                                                                                   3
area,  it  was  felt that the  soils.
surficial    materials,   stream
substrate  and  velocity, made  the
surface  waters here more typical
of subregion 65f rather than  the
coastal fiatwoods region.
                                           un* "i. ('letir, satidv- fiottom streams are also found in this
                                           f,  H'Jcky <'reek in Walton Comity.
Dougherty/Marianna Plains SubregipnjjiSgj
     Most  of  Jackson County,  FL  ana surrounding counties are influenced by  the near-
surface limestone region that Brooks  :I981b) calls the Dougherty Karst District and  Harper
(1914, called the Lime Sink Region.  The subregion extends well into Alabama and Georgia,
but  not  all of it has the distinct karsi type features as found in Florida.  Although called
plains,  the subregion also  has some  rsiline: low hills.  It is. however, generally more fiat
than surrounding areas and has more intensive agriculture (photos  6  and 7).  Portions  of
the  subregion  contain relatively few -mail .surface streams (photo 8).  The general soils and
vegetation  maps  do  not  always  distinguish  this  subregion,  but  the  geologic  and
physiographic  maps do. Clewell (1985  states that some northern plant species found in the
Marianna lowlands  are found nowhere -Ise in Florida,
 ;
 j
D
D
J
a
D
J
3
                                                                                                    1

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  i
  1
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  ;
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Photo
Phnws n and 7, The DuuHnanv/Munanna  -Jlains is a region of muru intensive  apncuiture than nther
parts or tht  PanhandJt;  N'Jtu thu vmKnoits und bav swamcs labnvei in .jacksmn C'ouncy.  Red day
soils are ivpical in mans aroas nr this rvmon.
                             Photo 7

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                                                                                                   1
    There  is  i question of how tar i.jMth to  expend this  subregion into  Florida.   The
Marianna Lowlands meet a belt of  hiirn ?ana  hills  just  south  of Dry Creek in Jackson
Countv  Called the Compass LUKP  riijjniancis  Brooks 1982  or the New Hope Ridge (Pun
and Vprnon 19641. this  area itoes aopear tc- Belong in the Southeastern Plains  Ecoregion
i#65i.  The lake area in  southern Washmsion County, the Crvstal Lake Karst or Greenhead
Slope,  was within Omerniks H987   .'ioutnern  Coastal Plain  Ecoregion f#75), however that
boundarv has  been adjusted to  the south  allowing these  karst lakes to be included  within
the Southeastern Plains  Ecoregion (=65 .   VVhether this lake area should be included in the
Dough en vTVIarianna Plains subregion.  due to  the obvious limestone/karst landscape, or  in
the Southern  Pine Plains and  Hills  =ubre£ion  because of its more hilly nature,  or  in the
Southern Coastal  Plain  ecoregion because  of its  slightly different more  recent geologic
formation could be debated.   On the physiography map by Wolfe et al., (1988) these more
hilly lake areas are considered  part  of the Northern Highlands rather than the  Marianna
Lowlands.  Brooks (1981b) includes them  ail in  his Dougherty Karst District.  Wolfe et al.,
(19881 also note  that  the  karst lake;  of  the  Panhandle fit the  Florida  Natural Area
Inventory's (1990)  Sandhill Upland Lake category better than their  Sinkhole Lake  type. We
include  this  lake  area  in the  Doug-hen:v•.Marianna Plains subregion, but one  could also
consider  it a region within the region.
    The  western  boundary of this .•subregion.  for lack of better  evidence, could follow the
physiographic  district line of Brooks •'('4>l  :J;  north central Walton County, where one does
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see surface water differences between the karst features to the east and the more dissected
hilly  area  to  the  west.    This  line   also  crosses  into Alabama  near the  Covmgton
County Geneva County  line where  Hodgkins  et  al.,  (1976)  drew their Wiregrass  Plains
boundary.
Tifton Upland/Tallahassee Hills Subregion i65hj
    This subregion combines some  heterogeneous hilly and  upland areas,  and it has some
geologic similarities to highland areas further west.  Pine/hardwood forests are extensive on
both  clay and sandv  soils, and some agriculture is found throughout, especially to the east.
At the western  end,  the  biotically distinctive area of the Appalachicola Bluffs and Ravines
grades  into  the Quincy  Hills  and  the  Tallahassee Hills.   Towards the  east,  the  relief
diminishes substantially  with more  rolling  hills,  solution  basins  and lower swampy areas.
This  eastern area is a transition,  with  characteristics similar to the upland areas  to  the
south.  The boundary  with the Okefenokee  subregion is fairly  evident, but the southern
boundary is not easily determined
    The eastern portion  of this subreeion could easily be defined as a separate region, and
its  character is  not  described by  the -ubregion  name of Tifton Upland/Tallahassee  Hills.
From just east of Monticello in Jefferson founty up to Valdosta, GA and then south past
                            Typical mixttd land use nf Ih..- Tifton Upland, Oadsden County.
                                                      11

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i'hfiui Hi.  Suburban  Xcir^t m-ar
                                     --"?   .^ -T • ..turn

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 Photo II. Cropland/Dasmro and noanun •,•-'"jd'.r. HamiU'in-Suwannee counties.
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             Lake City,  it is generally a  low rolling karst plain  with  few streams  present.   There is a
             gradual transition  in the State  Line  Hills,  and Brooks  fl981bi notes  that  the Greenville
             Islands  and  Swamps area in Madison  County is similar to the Tallahassee  Red Hills to the
             west.   The hills become  more isolated, however,  as  one  moves east  toward the more  flat
             karst  plains, and some regional  schemes  show  a distinctive  lime-sink  area  extending  up
             toward  Valdosta  (Harper  1914;   Wharton   1978).     .Although  the  topic  of  dividing  this
             subregion was  discussed, the Florida  DEP participants in  this  project were disinclined to
             make such a division.
              Table 1-1.  General characteristics of subregions of the Southeastern Plains Ecoregion (65) in Florida.
                  Subregion
    Landform
 Potential natural
   vegetation
     Land use/
     land cover
    Soils
             Southern   Pine
             Plains   and   Hills
             (6Sf)
             Dougherty/
             Mariannn   Plains
             (65gt
             Tifton Upland/
             Tallahassee   Hills
Irregular  plains,  50-
75% of gentle slope ts
on upland.  Elevation
100-30(ia.  Relief  100-
200ft.

Flat   plains   to
i rregula r  plains.
Elevation    75-200ft.
Relief 511-100ft.

irregular  plains,  flat
sandy   plains.
Elevation    75-30Qft.
Relief 50-200ft.
Mixed hardwood  and
pines  forest,  lottgleaf
pine  and  xerophytic
oaks
Evergreen   forest,
mixed forest, cropland
and pasture
LQtisols. Entisnls
Mixed hardwood  and   Cropland and pasture.   Ultisols
pines forest,  loDgleaf   mixed  forest,
pine  and  xerophytic   evergreen forest
oaks
Mixed hardwood  and
pines forest,  longieaf
pine  and  xerophytic
oaks
Evergreen   forest.
cropland  and pasture,
mixed forest
Ultisols, Entisols
                                                              13

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SOUTHERN COASTAL PLAIN ECOREGION (#75,
Subregions:                                                                      States:
-   Gulf Coast Flatwoods                                                    AL. FL. MS
   Southwestern  Florida Flatwoods                                                   PL
   Central Florida Ridges and Uplands                                                FL
   Eastern Florida Flatwoods                                                         FL
   Okefenokee Swamps and Plains                                              FL, GA
-   Sea Island Flatwoods                                                        FL, GA

    Within the state, the Southern Coastal Plain Ecoregion covers parts of northern Florida
and all of central Florida.  It is a region of some heterogeneity, including swampy lowlands
along the Gulf and Atlantic  coasts as  well  as an  area  of discontinuous highlands that
include  numerous lakes.   From the national  scale,  Omernik  (1987!  characterized the
ecoregion as  flat  plains (10-50%  covered by standing water);  southern mixed forest (beech,
sweetgum,  magnolia, pine, oak)  and southern floodplain  forest  (oak, tupelo,  baldcypress);
land uses of forest  and woodland grazed,  woodland and  forest with  some  cropland and
pasture, and swamp; and wet soils (aquods, aquents, aquepts,  aquultsl.

Gulf Coast Flatwoods Subregion (75ai
    This subregion stretches from coastal Mississippi into western Pasco County, Florida.
There are heterogeneous areas  and habitats within the subregion, including coastal lagoons
and  mangrove; swamp  and  marsh; the clastic,  non-karst terraces  and  deltas  of the
Appalachicola; limestone plains and rocklands; and paleo sand dune areas.  Along the coast,
the coastal strand and pine scrub vegetation  found on dunes, spits  and  barrier islands  of
the Panhandle, changes to mangrove and coastal marshes from Wakulla to Pasco counties.
In  gejietm,  pine  flatwoods  mixed with  some  hardwood forest and  swamp  vegetation
characterize  the  inland region.    The  Appalachicola  National   Forest and  private  pine
plantations cover a large part of this subregion in Florida.

Southwestern Florida Flatwoods Subregion (75b?
    This flatwoods subregion includes barrier  islands and  peninsulas, Gulf coastal lowlands
and valleys,  as well as higher  elevation  areas such as the De Soto  Plain and the Polk  or
Bone Valley  Upland.  This subregion contains most of the forested Green  Swamp  area,
extensive  areas of  pasture  and  rangeland, spreading  urbanization,  disturbed lands  from
phosphate mining, and citrus.groves to the south.
    South  of the Caloosahatchie valley  the  flatwoods  grade into the  Big Cypress  area.
Davis (1943  p.47) notes the difficulty of denning a southern boundary for this region  as it
nears the  Big Cypress.  He suggested his "western flatlands" region would be divided into a
northern and southern part by  the Caloosahatchie valley, with the southern part being less
well drained, with thin sand soils over marl and limestone or calcareous sandstone.  These
conditions give rise to "cabbage palm hammocks and other  plants that prefer near-neutral

                                          14

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                       Photo 12. Pensacrjla Bay, Gulf Breeze
                       peninsula. Santa Rosa Sound and
                       barrier island. =ama Rosa and
                       Escambm counties. Gulf Coast
                       Flatwoods
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Photo 13.  Bottomland bardwrvidn. (Jhiptjia Rivur nc-ar Hnney\'Ule. Gulf Couniy. Gulf Coast Flatwoods subregion.


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      J'hocr- 14.  ApaJachicoia National Fnre^i iriuT3uurbmeni gracciccs  fiulf Coast Flat woods
iu ifl. .-andv Cretk ai ndal influenct
 ilnuntv. llulf Cna.-E Fldtwraids suhrem
                                                          16
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Photo 16. Littlt Manatee  River ripanan
area  Hillsborough County, Southwestern Florida
Flacwoods sub re EH™.
                               Phofri 1"  Charlie *'rt*k.  Hardu't' I'l.unlv.
                               Southwestern Plonda  r"iiiiwnixts  Miforuinnn

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                 fjtf.  Its Th« (Ireer) Swamp =irea. I'.M'K Mimt^r counties. Southwestern Florida Flatwoods subrepon.
Photo 19, I'ypress swamp, Charlie  BowleBS I'

Highland Hamtii'jck State Park, Hichkmdi

                   m Flnnda FlatWrt»wfas  -.
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                                       ><: itid 21.  Typical land diHturranct.^ in cha ?-ouinwes«>rn Florida Fiat woods subregioD

                               include  onrjspnatu rnmina ahun: '''
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or alkaline soil conditions." (Davis 1943..  The  southern section was also  characterized by
Davis as having a great number of marsh, swamp, and open water depressions.

Central Florida Ridges  and Uplands Subregion -75ci
    The area  from the  Lake  Wales  Ridge/Intraridge  Valley  in  the south,  through the
highland dune area of Ocala National Forest, and into the Trail Ridge  area in the  north,
may comprise  the longest smooth line of genetically  associated lakes in  the United States.
according to White {1970;.   The sana hill karst  area characterized by  xeric  hills and
solution basins is the  principle  recharge area of the  Floridan aquifer.  The  soils tend to be
thick,  acidic,  sandy,  and excessively  to  moderately  drained.   The natural  vegetation
consisted of forests of longleaf pine, turkev oak and wiregrass (Davis 1967),  and the current
land  cover  includes citrus  orchards,  herbaceous  rangeland,  cropland  and  pasture, and
urban/built-up  land.
    In  delineating  this  area,  several  questions  were   raised  about  the  dominant
characteristics  and  proper areas to include in  ihe subregion.  It was debated whether  to
define one central ridge/uplands subregion.  several disjunct units of the  same subregion,  or
several upland subregions.  As  White  =19^0  notes  and the USDA-SCS MLRA is drawn, the
general area  also encloses  large  !o\viana^   Unt  could  define  a subregion  of the most
prominant ridge; and highlands, ana aiiotnr-r that covers the lower sandy  uplands.   When
does d highland  or ridge become a iowUmu'1  For example,  in the Brooksville/Weeki Wachee
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            t'hotn H. Hotting upland with L-onnr--iim ir-m ciinis iu pina, nuar (Itfrmont, Laka (Bounty, Central
            Kli>ndu "ItdL'e1- aria Uplands Mitiri-s." >n

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                              Photos 23 and 24. Increasing urban/suburbanization itccasionaDy meets geologic hazards such as

                              sinkholes. Pnlk County, CenLrai Flonca liid^BS and Uplands,

  i
                              Photrj 2
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area in Hernando County and  down into Pasco County there  are sandy areas with karst
features, longleaf pine/turkey oak vegetation like the highlands, but elevations are less than            »
75 feet.  How do the ridges differ from one another? While there is heterogeneity in all the            ]
subregions, are the various highland ridge lake areas that different from one another?
Davis'  (1967) natural vegetation map shows a difference between the Lake District areas            I
(longleaf pine and xerophytic oak)  and the upland areas (e.g., Sumter Upland,  classified as
hardwood forests).  Near Gainesville and the Western Valley or Haile Limestone  Plain,           -*
there are karst plains  with low hills,  originally with  hardwood  forests.   Should this  be            J
included in the Ridges  and Uplands subregion, and what would be  considered upland vs.
lowland in this area?                                                                              1
    These questions and others like  them  were not always answered  easily,  highlighting
the fact that  there are heterogeneous characteristics and subtle gradations within a central           -.
ridge and upland subregion.  When one generalizes, either/or decisions (upland or lowland)            f
are made that always leave room for debate, but the attempt for  this  subregion  was to
include most  all of the upland xeric, sandy well drained areas and prominant ridges.  The            |
STATSGO soils maps, county soil surveys, and physiographic maps were useful  in this
effort.
                                                                                                J
Eastem_Florida_Elatwoo-ds--5ubEggign (75d)
    Originating from  sequences  of barrier islands and  lagoons in Pliocene and Pleistocene            |
time, the  subregion is ribbed by sand ridges and some intervening swampy lowlands.  Sand,           -
silt and clay soils are mostly of poor drainage, but it is a  diverse  area of coastal strips,
valleys, ridges,  and plains.   Land uses include cropland  and  pasture, pine plantations, non-            |
forested wetlands, and urban/suburban.  On our first draft map we  delineated a St. Johns
marsh  area  containing  characteristics  from both ecoregion  75 and  76.   While  historically            |
this area had similar features such  as muck soils  and sawgrass marshes as found in the
Everglades area,  much  of the area has been transformed, and the  DEP district biologists
suggested that it  not be defined as a separate area  from the flatwoods subregion.                      f
    There is no  strong evidence  for a  well-defined boundary between  the Southwestern
Florida Flatwoods and the Eastern Florida Flatwoods subregions in the Glades County area.            I
Our first  draft  map had a  boundary similar to Brooks'  (1981) physiographic division across            3
the  northeastern part  of Glades  County,  and similar to  where Davis (1943) drew  the
western boundary of his Istokpoga-Indian Prairie Basin. DEP  biologists  suggested that the            J
streams in   Hendry  and  Glades  counties  resembled  streams in  the  Eastern   Florida
Flatwoods more than  the Southwestern Florida Flatwoods, and that the boundary should be            I
moved further west.   Much  of this area is described as  prairie, including  the palm  savanna            J
and freshwater marsh  Indian  Prairie  reported  by Harper  (1927)  and  the wet  and  dry
prairies depicted by Davis (1943, 1967).  Our revised boundary  is drawn to include  most of            {
                                          22

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                             Photo 25. st Johns Riv«r,  Vfilusia/Sfermnnk- •viuntie-.  Eastern Florida Flatwnods subregion.
                              Photo  26. Econlockhatchee River, Orange I'nunty, Eastern Florida Flatwoods subrepion.
                                                                         23

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Photo 27
f'hntfjs ^7 dnd US. Only d few cria.sted  drua.s .if (.he Easmrti flnnda  FliCM'oods subregion remain
relatively undisturbed hv human deiuldDmsint.  Ahnvc.  Memtt  Island National Wildlife Refuge,
Rrevara  (Inutrtv; helmv  '"dtiavera: ,\(Uitin
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                              Photos 1!9 and HO. The sniuhem port inn nf the  c, an tern  Florida Ratwnnds has heun trans termed
                              to citrus KTOVOS  and jrraztat; lund, with «XLBnsiv« -jandiztition.  St. Lucie County (above).
                              Kissimmee River L-atiai, Okeathnhuu/Highlands muncies  i below I.
                              Photo
                                                                         25

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the prairie areas in the  Eastern  Florida Flatwoods.   Although this  boundary placement is
not as far to the west and southwest as some biologists recommended (Rick Cantrell, DEP-
Tallahassee, personal communication), it at least puts Fisheating  Creek and Gator  Slough
in the Eastern Florida Flatwoods.

          s Plains and Swamps_SubTegion_C75eJ
    Containing the headwaters of the Suwannee and St. Marys Rivers, this region contains
plains or terraces and basins of peat  and muck deposits with marsh and swamp forests.
Although not recognized  on several types of maps  (MLRA, and some physiographic region
maps), this area has different topography, soils, mosaic of land use, and vegetation  than
surrounding subregions.   The swampy  areas  grade into  poorly drained  flatwoods.   The
subregion in Florida is not substantial in size; it  includes the Pinhook Swamp area, the
Osceola National Forest, and extends  south  near Lake  City in Columbia  County and the
Baker County/Union County line.  The boundary is similar to the  one  defined by Brooks
(1981b) down to the Lake  City Ridge,  and the southern boundary can be  determined from
the STATSGO  soils maps.  For Georgia, it is  a  larger  and more important subregion.
Although our region in Georgia would  generally be confined to the more hydric bog swamp
Okefenoke area, Veatch  and Stephenson's (1911} physiographic map of the Georgia coastal
plain  shows an Okefenokee Plain  region extending from  Florida to the  South  Carolina
border.

Sea Island Flatwoods Subregion _(_75fl
    In Georgia and part of Florida, this is an area  mostly of clastic sediments where fluvial
processes of eastward-flowing streams  and rivers help shape the landscape.  Broad coastal
barrier  islands,  salt marshes, plains,  and ridges create some ecological habitat diversity.
This  flatwoods subregion includes  Trail  Ridge, which differs  in  character  from  north to
south.  Differences in drainage  and  soils create  flatwoods  on the  northern part of  Trail
Ridge and longleaf pine/turkey oak  to the south.  The subregion also contains upland plains
of flatwoods with marshes, swamps,  and lakes.   The soils  in this  area are characterized
generally as poorly drained spodosols.
    The boundary between the Sea Island Flatwoods and the Eastern Florida Flatwoods to
the south is  vague and uncertain.   Brooks' (1981b) physiographic district  boundary is
slightly  further to the south than the  division indicated  by the soils maps.  The  DEP
district biologist (Lee  Banks, DEP- Jacksonville,  personal  communication) recommended a
more  northerly boundary line and our division tends to follow the break indicated by soils.

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                             Photo 'i\  The extensive Pinhonk ""-'.vamc- Rak',-r i^nuniy Okofenokee  swamps and Plains subreglon.
Phnto 32. Pine plantation. HamiHi>;i i'i>unty, ' Jkol'unnkee Swamps and Plains subregion.
                                                                         27
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Phot/) 33


Photos 5)3 and 34. Pigeon i're«k ana -vatersned, Nassau founty, Sea Inland Flatwpods suhreElon.
                                    •'hotc-
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                                             w   and. Nassau ('nuniv  - ^ island'Fiaovotids
Hfi  f''intu \i.'dra U«ach. St. .l"bn~ ' "
Klatwnrds subrefnon.

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Table 1-2.  General characteristics of subregions of the Southern Coastal Plain Ecoregion (75) in Florida.
      Subregion
                              Landform
                         Potential natural
                          vegetation
                              Land use/
                            land cover
                             Soils
Gulf Coast
Flatwoods (7Ga)
Southwestern
Florida Flatwooda
(75b)
Central Florida
Ridges and Uplands
(75c)
Eastern Florida
Flatwoods (75d)
Okefenokee
Swamp* and Plains
(75e)
Sea Island
Flatwoods (750
Flat plain,  10-50%
and >50% covered, by
standing water.
Elevation 0-12Qft
Relief 0-lOOft.

Plat plain,  10-50%
and >50% covered by
standing water.
Elevation 0-200ft
Relief 0-100ft

Generally flat plains
or rolling plains with
sandy highlands and
ridges. Elevation 50-
200ft. Belief 2Q-100ft

Flat plain,  10-50%
and >50% covered by
standing water.
Elevation 0-150ft.
Relief 0-75ft
Flat plain, >50%
covered by standing
water. Elevation 100-
175ft Relief 0-oOft.

Flat plain, 10-50%
covered by standing
water. Elevation 0-
250ft Relief 0-1
Pine Qatwoods.
swamp forests
Pine Datwoods,
grasslands of prairie
type
Longteaf pine forests
and Kerophytic oaks
Pine flatwoods,
grasslands of prairie
type, freshwater
marshes, swamp
forests
Swamp forest, pine
llaiwoods
Pine flatwoods
Evergreen forest,
forested wetland,
mixed forest land,
cropland and pasture
Cropland and pasture,
herbaceous rangeland,
orchards and groves
Orchards and groves.
cropland and pasture,
evergreen  forest,
urb&n/liuilt up
Cropland and pasture,
herbaceous raageland,
evergreen forest,
forested and
nonforested wetland,
orchard/groves

Forested wetland,
evergreen forest
Evergreen forest.
forested wetland,
cropland and pasture
Spodosols, Ultisols
Spodosols, Entisols
EntUols, Alfisols
Spodosols, Entisols,
Histosols
Inceptisols, Spodosols
Spodosols, Ultisols,
Inceptisols, Rntisois
                                                          30

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SOUTHERN FLORIDA COASTAL PLAIN ECQREGION (#76)
Subregions;
- Everglades
- Big Cypress
- Miami Ridge and Atlantic Coastal Strip
- Southern Coast and Islands

    The  Southern  Florida Coastal Plain  Ecoregion has been characterized generally as flat
plains  with wet soils, marshland  and swamp  land cover with everglades and  palmetto
prairie vegetation types  (Omernik 1987).   Southern Florida contains some distinctive
ecological subregions, however, and relatively slight differences in  elevation and  landform
have important consequences for vegetation and  the  diversity of habitat types.  The climate
is considered subtropical to tropical with a pronounced summer wet season.  It  is also  a
region  where humans have  caused extensive hydrological and biological alterations (e.g.,
McPherson et al, 1976; Wilson and Porras 1983).
    In addition  to the usual thematic component maps, there  are  several general regional
schemes  of south  Florida that tend  to  reinforce  the group  of subregions listed above.
Harper's map  (1927  p. 32) captures these general regions, though not all boundaries were
shown  "...because too little known at present,"   Davis (1943) includes a more precise map,
and McPherson et  al., (1976), Snyder et al, (1990) and Craig (1991) follow the same general
regional breakdown.
    The  Southern Florida  Coastal Plain ecoregion boundary  (Omernik 1987)  has been
moved further  south, closer  to Lake Okeechobee, and is  similar to  the MLRA  boundary.
Omernik's 1987 ecoregion  Line followed closely  Hammond's (1970) landform class ("more
than  50% covered  by  standing water"), extending up  the  Eastern Valley.    However,
nrr.err.ik's (1987) ecoregion line appears  to divide some distinct regions such as the prairie
areas  north  of Lake  Okeechobee  (Harper  1927),   or  the flatwoods areas  [ie.,  western
flatlands and eastern flatlands of Davis  (1943),  the  flatwoods regions of Harper (1927), the
Eastern  and Southwestern  physiographic districts of Brooks (1981),  and  the  flatlands
physiographic regions shown in McPherson et al (1976)].   The more  dramatic changes  one
sees in moving from central Florida into southern Florida generally occur at or below Lake
Okeechobee.   The  evidence, in  addition to the  sources cited above, also include  the
vegetation maps of Kuchler (1966)  and Davis (1943), the AVHRR-NDVI  data, the soils and
MLRA map of  Caldwell and Johnson (1982), and  certain thematic  maps  in the  Atlas of
Florida (Fernald 1981).   An  examination of U.S. elevation data (USGS EROS Data Center
 1990) shows an elevation class boundary similar to our boundary for the Southern Florida
Coastal Plain Ecoregion.   (The elevation map  also shows a close correlation and partial
explanation for the ecoregion/subregion divisions throughout EPA Region 4).  There is also
6 evidence from several mapped characteristics of similarities between the St. Johns Marsh
area and the Everglades to the south.  As White (1970) notes it is a  transition area, and  it
                                          31

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makes for a broad fuzzy ecoregion boundary.                                                       *"!

Everglades Subregion_(76a)
    This subregion includes Lake Okeechobee, the Everglades Agricultural Area, the water            1
                                                                                                  J
conservation  areas, and the sawgrass and sloughs of the national park.  For  some water
quality studies,  one would  want  to  further divide this subregion.   The  Everglades          n
Agricultural  Area would  be an  important cultural  overlay because  land use and water            I
quality are different from  the rest of the Everglades.
    There  is also a question  about the characteristics to use  in determining  the  eastern            1
boundary of  the Everglades along the Atlantic coastal strip/Miami ridge:  current land use
and hydrologic  realities or presettlement conditions?  Our line  tends to follow the land use          ' l
and hydrologic  canalization influences but is  somewhat rounded and generalized especially          „ J
in a few places where  the wetter  less developed  areas  occur  at the western  edge of the
built-up urban/suburban and agriculture area.                                                       1
    The  Everglades is an important and unique ecosystem, with the park designated as an
International Biosphere Reserve  and a World Heritage Site, but its integrity is threatened            ~j
by the processes of agriculture and urbanization that surround the "River of Grass."                  j

Big Cypress, Subregion_176b)                                                                       1
    Boundaries of the Big Cypress  subregion  are not easily determined.  Davis  (1943, p.48)
noted  that, "No one has  definitely  defined or circumscribed this region," and  (p.  47) that            |
"...it is difficult to  define  the  exact  northern  boundary of the  Big Cypress region,"  so that          ,j
"only an arbitrary line" between  the area and the western flatlands could  be drawn. There
is also some fuzziness in  the  eastern boundary, and  the mix  of  vegetation along the            1
boundary has  changed in  recent  decades as  shown  by mapped evidence. "The  eastern
boundary of the  Big Cypress extends  over into  the Everglades basin,  but these  cypress            i
forest  areas, even if in the Everglades basin, are not considered a part of the  Everglades,"            J
(Davis 1943, p.48).  The SCS  Soil Survey  of Hendry  County  notes  that the  boundary
between  the Everglades  and adjacent  physiographic provinces has  been  defined using            J
vegetation  and is placed where the  characteristic  sedges of the  Everglades,  including
sawgrass,  are  replaced by  true  grasses, pines, or cypress.  It is interesting  to note the          - »
changes  in areas of green tint ("woodland" or "woods-brushwood") from the  1956  edition of           j
the  Miami  1:250,000 USGS topographic  map to  the  1988  edition  along this  eastern
boundary,  or the  change  from the  1956 West Palm Beach 1:250,000 map to the  1985 Ft.            |
Lauderdale  1:100,000 map.   The  woodland/nonwoodland interface   has  generally moved
several miles to the west on the newer maps.   The SCS, in developing their STATSGO soil            »
map, followed the 1956 green tint/white tint interface almost exactly to separate association            J
208 from 213.
                                           32

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n
  i
  i
  i
  i
o




  i
D
 J
a

 j
      —
  irijiy-- ijj'.i-
  mjfr--m— ------ -  -. —	
1' oto :i"  Ed^e ot' Everc)adt;> Ajrnruj
                                                   aire Jeauh County, Everglades suhregion.
F'hotfi -IS. Freshwater marl prairiu.  [luciu ('••unLV, tlvurelades subregion.

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                                                                                                                       j
-'to ana 4H.  3ip s '.TUSS  -.wnmt. ' ..ilk-T i  
-------
1
1
0
D
0
0
D
    Maps by Craig (1991) and Brooks (1981) recognize Devil's Garden, Immokalee Rise, and
Corkscrew Swamp to the north of the Big Cypress, while Snyder et al., (1990), has a more
northerly  Big Cypress Swamp.  All three areas have some  cypress swamp, wet prairie and
flatwoods.  Davis  (1943) extends his Western Flatwoods into the northern part of Collier
County,  Harper  (1927) shows a  very vague (no) boundary between  the flatwoods and Big
Cypress.   One  could  consider  a  Big  Cypress subregion,   with  some  heterogeneous
characteristics,  extending  almost to the  Caloosahatchee  Valley.    Even  on  the USGS
1;250,000  topographic maps, this area is labeled as Everglades and one could include this in
Ecoregion 76.  The headwaters of the Big Cypress watershed (Drew and Schomer 1984) are
different from the areas to the south, however, and there are some similarities between the
Immokalee Rise and the De Soto  plain across the Caloosahatchie.
    The western  boundary of the Big Cypress  subregion trends due south near Estero Bay,
generally  staying three to seven miles inland  from the coast down toward Naples.  This is
supported by somewhat similar  regional boundaries shown by Craig  (1991),  McPherson
(1976),  Davis (1943), and  Snyder et al., (1990),  as well as  other  thematic  maps.  DEP
biologists  have  also  suggested  that  the  streams such  as  the Estero, Imperial, and
Cocohatchee Rivers are  different from the freshwaters found in the Big Cypress  to the east
(Richard   Cantrell,   DEP-Tallahassee;   Ford   Walton,  DEP-Punta   Gorda,   personal
communications }.
       Ridge/ Atlantic Cpastal Strip Subregion (76c)
    At  27 degrees  latitude, where the Florida Atlantic  coast starts to trend from  the
northwest  to  due south, the  convergence  of  boundaries  of the  Southern  Coastal  Plain
Ecoregion (#76), the Atlantic Coastal Strip subregion and the Eastern Flatwoods subregion
creates  some  uncertainty about where  the  lines should cross  the  coastal ridges.  Brooks'
(1981) physiographic district boundary skirts the east side of the  Loxahatchee Slough  and
extends to the ocean near  Juno, just north of Lake Worth.  The Atlantic  Coastal  Ridge
region shown  by Craig (1991) ends just below Jupiter Inlet.  Soils and vegetation maps tend
to support the Eastern Flatwoods extending south to near Ft. Lauderdale.  The Miami Rock
Ridge is somewhat  different from the Atlantic  Coastal Strip,  however the proliferation of
pavement  from  South Miami  to West Palm Beach (80+ miles)  tends to create  a more
homogeneous  area.  Snyder et al., (1990) provides an informative discussion of the  South
Florida Rockland, which  includes limestone outcrop areas outside of this subregion.
    The western boundary  area of this subregion, especially west  and northwest of Miami,
was previously more characteristic  of  the  Everglades  subregion  with wet to  dry prairie
marshes on marl and rockland, and sawgrass marshes (Davis 1967).  Much of it is now in
agriculture and pasture with advancing suburbanization.
                                                    35

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                                                                                                                         .1
                                                                                                                         n
                                                                                                                           !
                                                                                                                           i
                                                                                                                           i
                                                                                                                           i
                                                                                                                         j
                                                                                                                         D
41  In- urhiin ji.a--:,  " L]TV
                                                   hdt;e/AllanUi  '' iasta.1  Stnp subregion.
                                                                                                                           ]
.•i  r 'r.Hitr i 'nuncy, ^uuihern Cnasi and Islands suhrepion.
                                                                                                                          D
                                                                                                                           J
                                                                                                                          D
                                                                                                                           J

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South
                      Islands Subreion f76d)
     This subregion includes the low coastal areas of the Tea Thousand Islands and Cape
Sable, the  islands of Florida Bay, and the Florida Keys.  Fresh surface  water habitats are
generally  limited  or non-existent in  this subregion.   There  are  differences between  the
various types of keys and islands, but in considering general regions for  a state as large as
Florida, this  inclusion still  keeps  the region sufficiently  homogeneous.   The diversity  of
island types relates mainly to  origin and structure, such as the coral reefs of the Keys, the
vennetid reefs of the Ten  Thousand  Islands, and  the  low  non-rocky sediment-trapped
islands in  Florida Bay.  The subregion has the greatest areal extent  of mangroves in the
state and several large areas of saltwater marsh.
Table 1-8.  General characteristic* erf nbregfons of the Southern Florid* Coastal Plato Beoragioa (78).
      Bnbr*giosi
                         L*adform
 Potential natural
                                                                                     Soil*
Everglade* (76*)
Big Cypress (76b)
Miami ItidfiW
Atlantic Coastal
Strip (7«c)
BoBtfaarn Coast and
Island* (7Bd)
                    Fiat plain,, >60%
                    covered by standing
                    water. Elevation 0-
                    SfifL B*lfaf 0-10ft

                    Flat plain, >fiO%
                    covered by standing
                    water. Elevation 6-
                    8Qft Relief 0-1 Oft.
                    Flat plain,
                    covered by standing
                    water. Eev«tjon 0-
                    20ft lUUef 0-lfift.

                    Fbt plain, >60%
                    eoratvd by standing
                    waUr, tidal dou^u,
                    npeo lagoon, low
                    iMS-cO) ridge deposits,
                    ami roofs and
                    island*. Elevation
                    <«ft itoiief 
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                                     SECTION 2
                    AQUATIC CLASSIFICATIONS OF FLORIDA
'A duHficattam abfluld b* ibdfnid in- • *p*a&c pupatr. it wffl mnljr MTV* two diff««nt paipe*»* equally w«D," (Grig?
1965).

2.1 INTRODUCTION
    One goal  of this project is to stratify the  considerable biological variability of Florida
through the uae of a hierarchical set of ecological regions and water body types.  Water
body types are usually classified using physical, chemical,  or  biological criteria or some
combination of the three.  The classification of Florida water body types is a challenging
task due to the complexity and  uniqueness of the state's hydrologic systems.  One must
approach such a  task  cautiously and humbly,  because  our collective  knowledge  of the
processes and  distributions of natural features  is fragmentary, and because  the complexity,
diversity and  subtle gradations  of these  systems  can  make  even  a seemingly  good
classification ineffective  and less useful.  We also need respect for and an understanding of
previous classification attempts, thus this short review of  aquatic classifications in Florida
might be useful
    Comprehensive classifications that  attempt to  cover all the water body types can be
found from several  sources.   Berner  and  Pescadores (1988)  classification was used to
describe mayfly habitats (Table 2.1).  The Florida Natural  Areas Inventory's hierarchical
classification of natural communities (Natural  Community Categories, Groups, and Types)
has three  Categories, based on  hydrology and vegetation,  that  cover water  body types:
Palustrine, Riverine and Lacustrine (Table 2.2). The Florida Museum of Natural History is
using seventeen freshwater types  for their fish  database (Table 2.3). A Florida Department
cf Environmental  Regulation biologist  (Frydenborg 1991)  uses  a  classification of aquatic
systems for development of an  "eco-unit concept" (Table 2.4). Layfield and Harbour (1991)
proposed a stream and  lake classification for their  community bioassessment project (Table
2.5).

2.2 STREAMS
    For streams, Beck (1965) aimed "to propose a uniform  classification of the lotic habitats
of Florida."  He reviewed similar  previous classifications (ie., Rogers 1933;  Can- 1940; Hobbs
1942; Berner  1950;  and  Herring  1951)  and defined "five chemically,  physically,  and
biologically distinct stream types." These are:

           Sand-bottomed stream
           Calcareous stream
           Larger rivers
           Swamp and bog stream
           Canals
                                          38

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Table *-l. Aquatic (aMyftr) habitat*
 (Burner and Peacador lt88) _

iBtetfavlttont Creeks
Farwuneot Croaks
   Sand-bottomed creeks with little vegetation
   Sand-tottamed cnwks dioked with vegetation
   SnUjottoroed creeks with MttJe vegetation
   ait-bottomed melt* choked with vegetation
Hirer*
   Stagnant rivers
   Slow-flowing deep riven
   Larger calcareous stream*
MtdiaB aad Pool*
   Road* dfl ditches
   Boot* (transitory)
Table 14. A
 «M»n W*1*K Florida Hi
                     «t Florida trachvaten
                     imrnvm of Natural Hlrtory)
   Snkbole poods
   Fluctuating ponds
   Temporary woods pood*
   Sporadic poods
   Jmme rink
   Stnami flowing into lake
   Streams flowing oat of lake
   Stream t flowing in and oat of lake
   Landlocked lake
   KtveriM take (St. Jofani River)
   faponnded lake
  IVEB8 AND BTREAMS
   Baavy flow (>160 eb) with awlimant bottom
   Lam flow (»-lSO «&} with aadimant bottom
   •fodante How (1-UJ eft) with «ed1SO A) with ealonoot bottom
        flow (»-150 A) with eakanotu bottom
           Bow U-19.B c&) with eakanou botto
Large flw
Moderate
   Low flow <<1 c&) with talearwtu bottom
                Cypn»»
                lakes
   ant-bottomad lakes
   Disappearing lakes
H*r*hM
   Florida Keys
B8TUARINE
   BnckJib
Swamps
   Cyprus cwunps
                                                              Table S-t. A (dMBdfloatton of Florida't
                                                                              (Fiyd«Bbor«
Table *•£. Water-ralated natural
 o»t«KOriM, group* and! type* (Florida
 Natural Armms Inventory lt»0)


LAJCUBTRINE
   Clastic Upland Lake
   Coaita] Done Lake
   Coattal Rocklaod Lake
   Mver Fkndplain Lake and Swamp Lake
   Handbill Upland Lake
RIVERINE
   ADnvial Stream
   Blackwatar
   Seepage
   SpriDg-ran Slnani
PALU8TBJNE
  WETFLATLANDS
   Bydric Hamroock
   Marl Prairie
   Wet Flatwoods
   W«t Prairie
  SEEPAGE WBUANDS
LENTIC
   Karit solution lake
   Rabet Mtwiry lake
   Streaawaipture lake
   Ftotfaed a-ndfer lake
   Ofiwn
     Marsh
     Swamp
     Temporary pond
     Coastal dona pond
Ltmc
   ADvvial rivar
   Bladrwatsr atraam
     Bog-fed stream
   Floridu aquifer-fed atream
   BnrBdal aquifer*)
BBTUARINE
       _
   Had flats
                                                              fwMe M. CVutttkation
                                                                   tohaa (Layflaid an
                                1M1)
   BottmUand Forejit
   Flocdplain Formt
   FloodplaiD Marsh
LAKES
   Karrt
   Tectonic
                  Swamp
   otnuid
   Swale
  BASIN WETLANDS
   ButoUanh
   Badn Swamp
   Bog
   DfpranloQ llanb
   DOOM Swamp
   Bverfbm
«TBEAHS AND BIVEBB
   Tannic
     Ssnd boiUan
     Bead bottom with aprlof InflmaoM
     Swamp and nog
   Alluvial
   CakarsoM and apring
                                                      39

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    Clewell (1991) Tnai«tf»tna there has been no concerted  effort to categorize Florida's
diverse  streams,  and criticized  Beck's classification  for being  inconsistent  in the use of
characteristics to  diatinquish stream types.  "Two stream types were based on the nature of
bottom  sediments (sand-bottomed streams and swamp-and-bog  streams), one  on dissolved
solids (calcareous streams), one on size (larger rivers), and one  on channel origin (canals),*
(Clewell 1991).   Doubting that  a consistent, multipurpose classification could be  devised,
Clewell  instead  offers  a characterization of contrasting  stream types for attaining  an
appreciation of Florida streams.  The four contrasting stream types he describes are:
           Blackwater streams
           Spring runs
           Alluvial rivers
           Tidal rivers.
    For panhandle blackwater streams, Wolfe et  al, (1988) combined  Beck's sand-bottomed
stream  with  the  swamp and  bog stream, "because the latter is  merely a slower moving,
lower volume version of the former; the swamp and bog stream ... grades downstream into
a sand-bottomed  stream  if the drainage  system is  large enough."  Their text goes on,
however, to explain how the two stream types differ.
    That Beck was inconsistent in the use of characteristics to  distinguish stream types is
of less  concern than the ultimate utility of the  classification.  Similar  to defining regions
where the  determining characteristics and their relative  importance may vary from one
area to  another,  the  criteria  to classify streams may be  different to get the most useful
separation  of stream  types.  This idea may be difficult to accept by  a strict  taxonomist.
For  resource  managers,  however, that have  a  good understanding of the nature  and
variability  of these aquatic  systems and realize there are  many shades of gray, it may be
at.t,c|>taule  to use  different characteristics  and  careful  identification  to  obtain  a  more
meaningful classification.
    Nordlie (1990) discussed  Florida  stream classification efforts, concluding that  Beck's
was  the most widely used.  He believed that the Florida  Natural Areas Inventory scheme
suffered from the same disadvantages that other systems do and offered  no additional
advantages.  One of Nordlie's concerns was the difficulty of giving a single classification to
a stream because there may be several sources of inflow  along its course that changes its
character.  Some rivers originate from artesian springs and then  become brown and acidic
from swamp discharge and surface runoff, e.g., the Aucilla  River.  Others originate as acidic
brownwater streams but receive spring input in  their midreaches, e.g.,  the  Suwannee and
Waccasassa, Others may be extensively altered by engineering  or pollution.  Nordlie went
on to classify  thirty-three  major Florida waterways using Beck's system.    Although he
recognized  that different sections of a  river should have different  classifications, he did not
attempt to  do so.
    Estevez et al, (1984) divided Florida rivers into  alluvial, spring-fed, and  blackwater

                                           40

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     , but also noted that many rivers (e.g., the Suwannee) show characteristics of all three
types in different reaches or at different times of the year.
    One can see some similarity in the different stream classifications devised for Florida.
Initial group discussions with the DEP district biologists and other personnel, however, did
not  lead   to  any  consensus  on   an   appropriate   stream  classification   for   the
regionalization/reference  site project.  Some efforts are underway to develop a more site-
specific classification that includes factors such  as stream size, Telocity, substrate, energy
source and  pH.  In the interim, a relatively simple scheme ouch  as  sand bottom, sand
bottom  with  spring influence,  swamp  and  bog, alluvial,  and  miscellaneous will  be
considered.

2.3 LAKES
    In the Water Resources Atlas of Florida,  Estevez et al., (1984, p.  96) classifies lakes
simply as acid dear, acid colored, or alkaline clear. Also in the Atlas, Palmer (1984, p.62)
discusses the  lake types as impoundments, solution lakes (two basic types),  lakes in relict
sea bottom depressions, and lakes formed by erosion and sedimentation  processes in rivers.
He also shows the percentage of total  hikes classified by stream connection, ie,,  no  inlets
and outlets, inlets and outlets, outlets  only, inlets only.  The Florida Museum of Natural
History used  this common straightforward hydrologic classification  (Table 3) but at least
70% of Florida's 7800+  lakes are  of the  landlocked" type (no inlet or outlet).  A more
useful  classification  would require subdividing  this one class,  Berner and Pescador (1988)
used bottom type, sand  or silt, for  their  lakes  and several criteria  for  ponds, but did not
make a dear distinction  between  a lake and a pond.
    Huber et  al., (1982) undertook  a trophic state index classification of Florida's lakes in
response to the requirements of the  EPA's  Clean  Lakes  Program.   Lakes were  first
classified as nitrogen limited, phosphorus limited, or nutrient balanced.   573 lakes were
classified  by  an average  trophic  state  index  (TSI)  as well as  by  several  subindkes.
Hydrologic lake types  (inflow, outflow, inflow-outflow, seepage, unspecified) were found to
not be a major factor influencing  TSI values.
    Myers and Edmiston's (1983)  Florida lake classification  project grouped lakes into
"poor" or "lair to good*  classes using trophic state index.  They then prioritized  lakes for
restoration using a quantitative scheme based on the trophic state, recreational use, public
interest, impaired use, nutrient loading, and the importance as a public water body.  They
listed the top 50 lakes in  Florida  in  need of restoration.  Most all occurred in central
Florida and were affected by  cultural eutrophication.  Myers and Edmiston also formulated
&  ranking  scheme  for the  top  50  lakes  in Florida  most  deserving protection and
preservation (ie., those  with good  quality,  public interest, recreation use, importance  as
water body), and these were located throughout the state.
                                          41

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2.4 SPRINGS
    Springs have been categorized by Whitford (1956).
          Soft freshwater
          Hard freshwater
          Oligohaline
          Mesohaline
          Sulfide
          Salt sulfide
    Slack and Rosenau (1979) divided first magnitude springs (average flow >100 cubic feet
per second) from second magnitude springs (average flow 10-100 cubic feet per second) and
mapped the chemical types  of Florida  springs as calcium-magnesium-bicarbonate, sodium
chloride,  mixed, and calcium sulfate,   Rosenau et aL, (1977)  provides the most detailed
state publication on the springs of Florida.

2.5 MARSHES
    Marshes of Florida have been summarized comprehensively  by Kushlan (1990).  He has
categorized the freshwater marshes into five major groups based on factors that "vary from
one physiographic  region  to the  next."  The  distribution of marshes  may  be explained
through a combination of  local and regional topography, rainfall, evaporation and geology.
The major groups from higher to lower elevation are:
          Highland marshes
          Flatwoods marshes
          Kisaimmee marsh complex
          St. Johns marshes
          Everglades

    Kushlan  further divides marshes  into  "six  major categories" or  predominant plant
associations: water lily  marsh, submersed  marsh, cattail marsh,  flag  marsh, saw grass
marsh  and wet prairie. He also discusses invertebrates, fish, and other "inrsh a"imalg

2.6 SWAMPS
    In classifying surface waters,  consideration of forested wetlands, or  swamps, highlights
the difficulty of distinquiahing between  land and water in Florida,  One cannot understand
the biological  integrity  of a water body without considering  closely integrated adjacent
swamp ecosystems. Ewel (1990)  summarizes the current knowledge of swamp ecosystems
in Florida, and uses two broad divisions of a classification based on the National Wetlands
Inventory: River Swamps (whitewater floodplain forest,  blackwater floodplain  forest, spring
run swamp) and Stillwater  Swamps (bay swamp, cypress pond, cypress savanna, cypress-
strand, gum pond,  hydric hammock, lake fringe swamp, malaleuca swamp, mixed hardwood
swamp, shrub bog).

                                         42

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t '
                                                SECTION 3
                                 STREAM REFERENCE SITE SELECTION
'              To  develop biological criteria and evaluate impaired  water bodies, it is important to
           establish reference conditions  that  are  suitable  for comparison.   A key function of an
;          ecoregion framework  is  its use  in  selecting regional  reference sites and facilitating  the
           assessment  of regionally  attainable  conditions.   Ideally,  control  aites for  estimating
           attainable conditions should be as minimally disturbed  as  possible yet representative of the
'          streams for which they are to be controls (Hughes, et aL,  1986). Although no two streams
           are alike, we hypothesize that streams within an ecoregion or subregion will have generally
,          similar characteristics as compared to all streams within a state or larger  area.  Because of
 !          the variety  of stream types,  extent of  karst topography  and  relative lack of elevatkmal
           differences in Florida, as compared  to much of the conterminous United  States, it is also
;i          important to  classify  stream  types and  to  consider  groundwater  influences.   Different
           stream types can  occur in each  subregion and groundwater influences may tend to  mask
           regional differences.  Additional classifications or hierarchical levels may be needed to sort
           out differing stream segments and habitat types.
               General guidelines for selecting  reference sites have been given in Hughes et al, (1986)
•          and  by Gallant et al., (1989).   The process, however, is being refined  as experience is
           gained in current and ongoing ecoregion/reference site projects (e.g., Alabama/Mississippi,
           Iowa, and EPA Region III).  For  any given project it may  be necessary to  modify or expand
           general procedures;  due to varying characteristics or objectives in  different  areas, it is
           difficult to follow strictly a detailed rule-based  approach that will be  applicable to all
i          regions. Our process of selecting candidate reference sites  in Florida is outlined below:

           1).  We defined regions  and subregions within which  there is apparent homogeneity in  a
           combination of geographic characteristics  that  are likely to be associated with resource
           quality, quantity, and types of stresses.
i •
           2).  We generally characterized disturbance (such as area!  or nonpoint source pollution, and
           local or point sources of pollution} in each ecoregion and subregion and analyzed geographic
           characteristics to better  understand representative or  typical conditions.   What comprises
           disturbance may vary considerably from one region to another. In  regions with nutrient-
?          rich  soils,  poor drainage, but  great agricultural potential, all streams  may  have been
         .  channelized  at one time  or another, and  all watersheds  may have  a high'percentage of
           agricultural  land use.  Reference streams in such a region comprise those with few if any
           point sources, lack of recent  channelization activity, and  riparian zones  with a relatively
           large percentage of woody vegetation.  Regions with nutrient-poor soils, lacking agricultural
r          potential,  and containing a  different set  of identifying landscape  characteristics such  as
                                                     43

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coniferous forests and clear streams and lakes, are likely to be affected by different types of
stressors.   Relative lack of sHvicuitural  activities or heavy recreational usage may be
important  criteria  in  selecting minimally-impacted, representative reference  streams in          i
these regions.                -                                                                   J

3).   A set of stream  sites with approximated surface watersheds that  appear relatively           |
undisturbed and completely within the ecoregion or subregion was chosen.   The actual
number of sites/watersheds selected was a function  of the  apparent  homogeneity or           .
heterogeneity of the region, the size of the region, hydrologic characteristics, and  simply           J
how many stream sites/watersheds were available for selection.  The  point of diminishing
returns, regarding the number of streams necessary to address regional attainable quality           l;
and within-region variability, may be reached with only a few sites in regions that are
relatively  homogeneous and/or small.   Complex regions, on the  other hand,  are likely to
require a  large  number of sites.  Another consideration was  access, ie.,  do roads  get the
biologists  near enough to the  stream section for sampling?   Disturbance and typicalness
were  interpreted from information shown on l:250,000-scale and l:100,000-scale USGS           i
topographic maps,  land use  and  soils maps, and  Landsat  imagery.   The   existence of
populated  areas, industry, agricultural land  use, forestry,  mining, catfish  ponds,  fish
hatcheries, transportation routes, etc., were all interpreted from mapped information.  The
1988  and 1990  Florida Water Quality Assessment 305(b)  reports were  also  consulted for
each  potential  site to  assess  water  chemistry/quality, and  point- or  non-point  source
pollution impacts.  The number of preliminary candidate sites per subregion varied,  ranging           1
from  only eight  in subregion 75C, the Central Florida Ridges and Uplands where relatively
few streams are found, to twenty sites in subregion 75D, the Eastern Florida Flatwoods. A
list of the candidate sites was developed that included the subregion, site number,  stream
name and location, major basin, county, l:100,000-scale map name, DEP district, estimated
watershed area  (if determinable), and  additional comments.   This was given  to the  state
biologists  along with photocopies of the exact site locations.
                                                                                                  i

4).  Each  set of sites was reviewed by state biologists, and sites were visited during ground
reconnaissance to get a sense  for the usefulness of the regions, the characteristics that
comprise  reference  sites  in  each region,  the  range  of characteristics and types of
disturbances in  each region, and how  site characteristics and stream types vary between
regions.   In this  process, sites  that were  found unsuitable  were dropped (because of
disturbances not apparent on  the maps or due  to anomalous situations) and other sites
could be added.
                                          44

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5j  Aerial reconnaissance was conducted to identify disturbances not observable from the
ground, to get  a better sense for the  spatial patterns of disturbances and geographic
characteristics in each  region, and to photograph typical characteristics, site  locations, or
disturbances for use in briefings and publications.

     It should be remembered that all of the reference sites have some level of disturbance.
There  are no  pristine, unimpacted watersheds in Florida,  or, considering  atmospheric
deposition  of contaminants, anywhere else in  the U.S.  The  least or minimally impacted
sites  were looked   for,  but  levels of impact  are  relative on a  regional   bask.    The
characteristics of appropriate reference sites will be different in different ecoregions  and
subregions and for different waterbody and habitat types-  I* *& desirable, therefore, to have
a large number of  candidate reference  sites for each region to help define the different
types of streams, to illustrate the natural variability within similar stream types, and to
clarify the factors that characterize the best sites from factors present in the lower quality
sites.
                                           45

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                                    SECTION 4
                    FISH SPECIES DISTRIBUTION ANALYSIS

4.1 INTRODUCTION
    The natural regions delineated for the state of Florida characterize areas of similarity
with respect to environmental factors that affect aquatic resources.  Specifically, the regions
subsume broad scale  differences in the physical-chemical environment that influence the
types of fishes found.    Differences in  factors  such  as  gradient, clarity,  productivity,
temperature and dissolved oxygen affect the suitability of waters for various fishes and tend
to be  integrated and represented by the delineated regions.   Water  body  type and
watershed area will also influence the distribution of particular types of fishes.
    As part of the  regionalization project, we  used information on the distribution of fish
species collected throughout the state (Burgess and Walsh  1991) to examine differences in
fish  assemblages  and the degree to  which the differences corresponded to the  delineated
regions. We did not attempt to delineate fish fauna! regions.   Such an  endeavor would
require incorporation of additional background information beyond the  scope of this  study
(e.g., present  and  historical  connections  between drainage basins,  species introductions,
changes in  sea level, and community dynamics  life**  competition  and predation).   Our
purpose was to focus on the characteristics of the current physical-chemical environment
that vary regionally and affect the suitability of fish habitats.

4.2 METHODS
    Catalogued material from the Florida Museum of Natural  History fish collection was
used to characterize the fish assemblages throughout the state.  Written descriptions of
sampling sites were used by museum personnel to identify water body types (Table 4-1) and
site locations on 1^250,000-scale USGS maps.   Locations were digitized by ERL-C personnel
to provide exact latitude and longitude coordinates and subregion classification.
  Sampling methods and the degree to which methods were documented for the samples in
the collection were not consistent.  For this reason the fish assemblages were characterized
in terms  of fish species presence or  absence rather than actual abundances.   A more
quantitative  analysis  would be  inappropriate given  the  lack  of uniformity in sampling
methods.  In many  instancM, more than one sample was collected at a particular site. The
number of samples was tabulated and data were combined to characterize the fishes at
each site.
    A  master  database was designed with one  record  for each  site.  The,fish species
occurring  at that site were flagged.  All data were  double entered and  verified  prior to
production of site-by-species matrices for statistical manipulation.
                                         46

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Table 4-1.  Classification of Florida Freahwaters:  the water body types used to
classify each sampling site in the Florida Museum of Natural History database.

LAKES
(1)  Streams flowing into a lake
(2)  Streams flowing out of a lake
(3)  Streams flowing in and out of a lake
(4)  Landlocked lake
(5)  Riverine lake (St. Johns River)
(6)  Impounded lake

RIVERS AND STREAMS
(7)  Heavy flow (>150 cfs} with sediment bottom
(8)  Large flow (20-150 da) with sediment bottom
(9)  Moderate flow (1-19.9 cfs) with sediment bottom
(10) Low flow (<1 cfs) with sediment bottom
(11) Heavy flow O150 cfs) with calcareous bottom
(12) Large flow (20-150 cfs) with calcareous bottom
(13) Moderate flow (1-19.9 cfs) with calcareous bottom
(14) Low flow (<1 cfs) with calcareous bottom

LARGE MARSHES
(15) Everglades-Big Cypress

SUBTROPICAL PERIPHERAL
(16) Florida Keys

ESTUARINE
(17) Brackish
    Several types of multivariate statistical methods have been shown particularly effective
in depicting regional differences in fish  assemblages.  We employed two basic statistical
approaches.  The first was to display  cites in multi-dimensional  apace,  based on the
similarity of the fish species present, and compare site groupings with groupings based on
subregion membership.  We used clustering and ordination techniques for this purpose and
color-coded the sites in the resulting plots by subregion membership.  Correspondence
between similar species groupings and subregion membership were then evaluated.
    The  other basic approach employed  was to classify  sites a priori, by subregion, and
evaluate  subregional differences in characteristics of the fish assemblages.  We  constructed
ordered tables of dominant species ("species signatures1') and  box-plots of species richness
for each subregion and then evaluated differences between the subregions.
    It should be noted that species richness will vary, regardless of subregional  differences.
In proportion to both sampling intensity  and watershed  size.  For this reason, plots were
drafted using only sites sampled more than once (generally 2-4 times) and sites were pooled
based  on major water body types sampled (as a crude surrogate for watershed area; see
Table 4-1).

                                         47

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4.3 SELECTED RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
    Extensive  detrended  correspondence  analyses  of  the  database,  partitioned  both
geographically and by water body type, indicated some subregional differences.  Analysis of
all of the  low  flow  sites  sampled  more than  once throughout the  state  yields  a
representative summary  of these  analyses (Figure 2X   Sites from subregion 65f, the
Southern Pine Plains gnH Hills, appear the most tightly clustered (similar in terms of fi«h
species composition), followed by those from subregion 75e, Okefenokee Swamps and Plains.
Sites from the Southeastern Plains Ecoregion (65) generally appear to the left of sites from
the Southern Coastal Plain Ecoregion (75) with the exceptions of subregions 75a (Gulf Coast
Flatwoods)  and 65h (Tifton Upland/Tallahasee Hills) which overlap the sites of the opposite
ecoregion significantly.
    Cluster analysis of the  Panhandle portion of the database, the portion which had
revealed  the clearest subregional separation, yielded a large number of distinct clusters.
The  degree  of  separation  by  subregion  was   analogous  to  that  of  the detrended
correspondence analysis with a slightly stronger separation of the clusters of sites from the
Southern Pine Plains and Hills subregion (650.
    The ordered table  of characteristic  species  illustrated that while there are some species
generally common to most subregions, there are definite shifts in the characteristic species
from one subregion to the next (Table 4-2).  In order to achieve this level of distinctiveness,
the criterion for inclusion in the table was adjusted to species found at greater than 16% of
the sites in the subregion.
    Preliminary  analyses  of species richness, by subregion, had  indicated  that distinct
differences  might exist between regions.   After  sites were partitioned  to correct  for
potentially  confounding  effects  of sampling intensity  and  watershed size, box plots  by
subregion did reveal differences (Figure 3).   Most  noticeable is the fact that  the  most
frequently  sampled water body types  differ by subregion.   It remains  to be determined
whether these differences in water body type are truly representative of waters within the
regions or merely arti&cta of the way in which sampling sites were  chosen.  Regardless, it
appears that fish assemblages  in low flow  sites in the Southeastern Plains Ecoregion (65)
seem most diverse, contrasted with low flow sites in the Southern Coastal Plain  Ecoregion
(75).  Species richness was low in the  sampled sites of the Southern Florida Coastal  Plain
Ecoregion (76), particularly in subregion 76d.
    In summary, our analysis of the fish collection of the Florida Museum of Natural
History indicates that there are some regional  differences  in the  types of fishes found
throughout  the  state of Florida.    Differences an  most  evident  between  sites of the
Southeastern  Plains Ecoregion  (66) and  the rest  of the  state.   Variation  in  species
composition among sites within the same subregion is quite high. A large amount of this
                                          48

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variation  is  suspected  to  result from the lack of controlled  site selection and sampling
processes;  the museum fish database  contains whatever  specimens were of interest  to
investigators for a variety of reasons.   It is expected that standardized  survey techniques
employed to  sample sites selected as truly representative of those in each suhregion would
yield more pronounced regional differences.
                                           49

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J
]
:l

-------
      o
      o
      CD
CO
"x
<
      O
      O
      o
      o
      OJ
      o  -
• 65f   9 75a   « 76a

© 65g   * 75b   * 76b

• 65h   • 75c   % 76c

         • 75d   *76d
              ~T


               0
                            75f
              100
200
300
400
500
600
                                                                  Axis I

                                  Figure 2.  Detrended correspondence analysis of fish species composition at low flow sites in

                                         Florida sampled more than once (minus three outliers).

-------
;
i
.
I


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            Table 4-2. List of "signature fishes" or those  species appearing in more than 16% of the
            samples taken from each subregion.  Numbers  indicate actual percentage of sites in the
                   ou at which the species was collected.
j
j
65F 65G 65H 75A 75B 75C 75D 75E 75F 76A 76B 76C 76D
PTERON2 46.1
ETHEOS1233.3
FUNDUL9 33.3
NOTURU1 26.2
ERIMYZ2 26.2
ICHGAG 23 . 4
NOTROP5 22.7
LEPOMI5 20.6
ERIBUC 17.7
CYPRIN3 24.3 21.4
ETHEOS3 24.1 22.3
NOTROP4 23.2
ETHEOS1 17 . 6
NOTURU3 52.5 23.2
FUNDUL5 18.4 30.4 16.9
NOTROP9 56.7 32.1 23.2
PTERON1 66.6 26. B 22.5 16.6
PERCIN1 70.9 2B.6 35.2 16.0 23-3
APRSAY 26.2 26.8 25.3 23.3 34.6 21.0
ESSOX1 22.7 35.7 17.6 22.8 34.6
LEPOMI1 34.5 24.4
CENMAC 22.3 19.0 34.6
ElxASSOl 17.6 20.7 42.3
LEPOMI4 29.5 27.6 16.6 37.1
LEPOMI6 21.1 16.4 16.7 30.6
NOTROPB 17.6 16.7 19.8 IB. 6
ENNEAC2 17.6 16.0 16.2 21.2 21.0
ERIMYZ1 16
ETHEOS4
GAMBUE1 34
LABSIC
Liti-vm^
LEPOMI3
LEPOMI7 42
MICROP4 21
NOTCRY
HETFOR
JORFLO
FUNDUL2
FUNDUL8
FUNDUL11
ACAPOM
NOTURU2
LEPOMM
ENNEAC3
NOTROP2
POELAT
LUCIAN1
AMEIUR3
FUNDUL3
LEPISO3
LUCIAN2
'CYPVAR
MENID:I
FUNDUL6
HENIDI2
.3 22.3 17.6 17
16.6 16.4 24
.0 50. 9 42.3 42.1 50
36.4 35.9 23.0 31
^J.7 29.6 21.3 36
40.2 41.5 21.5 31
.6 28.6 IB. 3 26.4 2B
.3 33.9 31.0 28.0 23
24.1 29.6 20
16.0 37
26
31







36
23








.2
.1
.0
.9
.2
.9
.4
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.7
.1
.4
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.2
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16
40
21
21
34

26
15
17

21
16
19






18









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.7
.3
.3
.7

.0
.3
.3

.3
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.7








16.
16.
39.
29.
24.
27.
19.
21.
21.
25.

19.

19.





27.
26.








2
7 19
2 36
6 25
8 25
3 17
2
3 17
5
1

0
28
2
19
17
25
32

6
B
17








.2
.5
.0
.0
.3

.3




.8

.2
.3
.0
.7



.3







17.4 16
19
43.0 65
34.9 21
22.1 54
22.1 37
26.7 56
27.9 37
17.4 32
54
45
43






21.0
53
48
33
12
30





.1
.4
.5
.0
.6
.1
.1
.1
.3
.6
.2
.5







.2
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.9
.9
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69

46
23
30

23
46
53
53







46
53
23
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.2

.2
.1
.B

.1
.2
.6
.6







.2
.8
.1
.B








27.9 31.3

19.1














20.6 29.2
20.6

20.8

29.2
22.9
20. B
IB. 8
16.7
                                                     51

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Table 4-2  (cont.)  KEY TO SPECIES ACRONYMS:
PTERON2     Pteronotropis signipinnis
ETHEOS12    Etheostoma  (Ulocentra) n. sp
FUNDUL9     Fundulus olivaceus
NOTURU1     Noturus funebris
ERIKYZ2     Erimyzon tenuis
ICHGAG      Ichthyomyzon gagei
NOTROP5     Notropis longirostris
LEPOMI5     Lepomis megalotis
ERIBOC      Ericyrnba buccata
CYPRIN3     Cyprinella venusta
ETHEOS3     Etheostoma edwini
NOTROP4     Notropis harper!
ETHEOS1     Etheostoma bifacia
NOTURU3     Noturus leptacanthus
FUNDUL5     Fundulus escambiae
NOTROP9     Notropis texanus
PTERON1     Pteronotropis hypselopterus
PERCIN1     Percina nigrofasciata
APRSAY      Aphredoderus sayanus
ESOX1       Esox americanus
LEPOMI1     Lepomis auritus
CENMAC      Centrarchus macropterus
ELASSO1     Elassoma evergladei
LEPOHI4     Lepomis marginatus
LEPOMI6     Lepomis microlophus
NOTROP8     Notropis petersoni
ENNEAC2     Enneacanthus gloriosus
ERIMYZ1     Erimyzon sucetta
ETKEOS4     Etheostoma fusiforme
GAMBUS1     Gambusia holbrooki
LABSIC      Labidesthes sicculus
LEPOMI2     Lepomis gulosus
LEPOMI3     Lepomis macrochirus
LEPOMI7     Lepomis punctatus
MICROP4     Micropterus salmoides
NOTCRY      Notemigonus crysoleucas
HETFOR      Heterandria formosa
JORFLO      Jordanella floridae
FUNDUL2     Fundulus chrysotus
FUNDUL8     Fundulus lineolatus
FUNDUL11    Fundulus seminolis
ACAPOM      Acantharchus pomotis
NOTURU2     Noturus gyrinus
LEPOMH      Leptolucania ommata
ENNEAC3     Enneacanthus obesus
NOTROP2     Notropis chalybaeus
POELAT      Poecilia latipinna
LUCIAN1     Lucania goodei
AMEIUR3     Ameiurus natalis
FUNDOL3     Fundulus confluentus
LEPIS03     Lepisosteus platyrhincus
LUCIAN2     Lucania parva
CYPVAR      Cyprinodon variegatus
MENIDI1     Menidia beryllina
FUNDUL6     Fundulus grandis
MENIDI2     Menidia peninsulas
flagfin shiner

blackspotted topminnow
black madtom
sharpfin chubsucker
southern brook lamprey
longnose shiner
longear sunfish
silverjaw minnow
blacktail shiner
brown darter
redeye chub
Florida sand darter
speckled madtom
russetfin topminnow
weed shiner
sailfin shiner
blackbanded darter
pirate perch
redfin pickerel
redbreast sunfish
flier
Everglades pygroy sunfish
dollar sunfish
redear sunfish
coastal shiner
bluespotted sunfish
lake chubsucker
swamp darter
eastern mosquitofish
brook silverside
warmouth
bluegill
spotted sunfish
largemouth bass
golden shiner
least killifish
flag fish
golden topminnow
lined topminnow
Seminole killifish
mud sunfish
tadpole madtom
pygmy killifish
banded sunfish
ironcolor  shiner
sailfin molly
bluefin killifish
yellow bullhead
marsh killifish
Florida gar
rainwater killifish
sheepshead minnow
inland silverside
gulf killifish
tidewater silverside

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 1
  !
Figure 3.  Box plots of fish  species richness at sites sampled 2-4 times in each  water body
type lor two subregions  per ecoregion.   Water body  types displayed indicate  those  most
frequently sampled in each subregion.  Water body codes are as in Table 4-1.
  j
 D


J
 :
 !
                               Lentic
                                   Low Row
            *
                        -
                        Moderate to Heavy Flow
                       uj.S
                       O.B
                       Z pi
                       Si
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         if
         G.
         _l
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        2
                                             .0.
                                                                                        0
                                                                      (T4B
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                                           CO!
                                                             (T413)-
                                                                    <** it]
                                          (10)
                                                     (M)
                                                                            |l»
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                          M.rshes
                                                   botlocn
                                                             Mod«r*it la
                                                             fWWH^Jf nOW
                                                             *ni«KJ bottom
                                                                                 30
                                                                                 25
                                                                                 20
                                                                                 15
                                                                                 10
                                                                                 5
.30
.25
.20
.15
 10
                                                .30
                                                .25
                                                .20
                                                .15
                                                 10
                                                -  5
                                                1 °
                                                .30
                                               J5
                                               .10
                                               - 5
                                               - 0
                                               .30
                                               .25
                                               .20
                                               .15
                                                10
                                               .  5
                                               .30
                                               .25
                                               .20
                                               .15
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                                                                                   m
                                                                                   O
                                                                                   m
                                                                                   CO
                                                                                                 O

                                                                                                 m
                                                                                   **dirncnt bonom
                                                        52

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                                     SECTIONS
                    CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
    The definition of an ecoregion framework for Florida was not a simple task, due in part
to the complex mosaic of landscape characteristics and the subtle  changes in this mosaic
from one place to another, relative to other areas of the United States.  Compared to other
states, however,  Florida does seem to have a rich collection  of maps, books, documents and
databases describing  its  physical features  and biotic distributions.   This abundance  of
material  provided  some confidence  in our decisions for regional delineations.   Despite the
volumes  of  written material, the multitude of maps and graphs, and the gigabytes  of
government  agency data,  the spatial distributions and variations in quality  of terrestrial
and  aquatic habitats and associated biota  are not as well known  or  documented  as  is
needed for  effective  management  or regulatory  practices.   With increasing population
growth and  landscape alteration, there may be uncertainty about just what is being lost;
hence, it becomes imperative to find appropriate areas or biotic communities to  use for
comparisons of resource quality.
    Our  ecoregion framework for Florida is a general framework for the state to be  used
for environmental resource assessment  and management.   Because regions are  mental
constructs and boundaries are defined with certain purposes in mind, the interest in «*2h n
framework  should not be  in  its  absolute truth but in  its  utility. Does  it provide a
mechanism to better understand spatial  variations in ecosystem potential or in the nature
and  quality  of environmental resources?  We believe  that  the framework  along with the
selection  of stream reference sites can help build the foundation for a better understanding
of regional differences.  The ecoregion map is a hypothesis, a potentially useful framework
to be debated, tested, and improved.
    One  need this project helped to highlight, but failed to completely  reconcile, was the
development of a useful classification  of streams.   While this report included a review of
aquatic classifications  used in  Florida, and several  group discussions about  stream types
were  held with  DEP district biologists and others,  a consensus could not be reached  on
classes of streams that had relevance across the state yet were reflective of local conditions
and processes.  For the sake of agreement and to begin assessment  of reference site data, a
general classification was adopted  (EA  Engineering,  Science,  and Technology and  Tetra
Tech, Inc. 1994).  The need for comparison and extrapolation may show that this general
stream typing is not  adequate to  represent certain  stream characteristics.  Because the
topic was not easily resolved, there may be some reluctance to revisit the  issue, but  DEP
staff- should  continue  to discuss  and  develop the  classification  if there  are  obvious
shortcomings with the one currently adopted.
    Although  the mapping of water  body  types  was one of the  original tasks  for this
project, it became clear that what  could be mapped with the data available was not very
                                          53

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useful to the biologists and water quality managers.  We did convert some of the lake data
bases,  such as  the  Florida  Lake Gazetteer and Huber's (1982) Classification of  Florida
Lakes, to ARC/INFO files and produced draft maps of some of the physical feature types,
but for stream types, data  on the geographic extent is scarce.   Once the DEP biologists
reach a consensus on an effective classification scheme for characterization and typing of
the reference streams, an effort should be made extend this work to other stream reaches.
This must be viewed as a long-term project,  but much of this  information may  already
reside in the minds  of the district biologists, and it should be relatively straight-forward to
mark reaches on an  agreed scale of map for later digitization.
    Along with  the  classification of reference sites, more  effort should be made to assess
their representativeness.  This is  difficult in a state like  Florida, where regional patterns
are often composed of complex mosaics and many systems appear unique.  Because classic
topographic watersheds have little meaning in much of Florida, more work needs to be done
in characterizing land patterns and hydrologic flows that affect the  reference sites  and
would influence  comparisons with  other streams.  There also  should be more analysis and
evaluation  of the larger river  biological  station reference sites that  were chosen by a
different process than the other stream reference sites (Layfield and Barbour 1991). Until
more  is known  about these  sites  and the  relative contributions of multiple  regional
influences, we recommend that these reference site data bases  be kept separate.
    In  addition  to the use  of reference sites for  assessing attainable water quality, the
ecoregion  framework could  also be  used  to organize  and analyze  the current status of
surface  water conditions.   Current  status could  be determined by sampling a  random
selection of streams  within the regions.  The EMAP grid could be  used  to select these sites,
and, if  sampled  regularly, the values  could be compared to those of the reference  sites to
Ltl>. oaacao cumulative impacts and temporal trends.  Although the amount and distribution
of least-impacted and most-impacted  surface water varies from  one region to another, a
logical scheme for inventorying the  extent  of surface water  resources  and their  quality
(relative degradation) would couple an ecoregion reference site framework with a systematic
EMAP  grid.   Data from  sets  of regional reference sites representing least* and most-
impacted conditions  (selected qualitatively) would be compared and grouped with data from
randomly selected sets of EMAP grid sites.
     To make conclusions about this regionalization project does not imply that the  work is
completed.  The hypothesis that a regional framework and sets of regional  reference sites
can give managers  and  scientists a better understanding of the spatial variations in the
chemical, physical and biological components of streams in Florida is intuitive but must be
tested.  Significant  time  and effort  is required for the collection and analysis of  data to
more fully understand attainable surface water quality.  To use that knowledge to actually
improve the quality of waterbodies across the state wfll be a  continuing challenge in
overcoming narrow interests and institutional barriers.

                                          54

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                                    REFERENCES

Anderson, J.R.  1970. Major land uses. Map scale 1:7,500,000. In: The national atlas of the
United States of America. U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA. pp.158-159.

Arkansas Department of Pollution  Control and Ecology. 1988. Regulation establishing water
quality standards for surface waters of the State of Arkansas. Little Rock, AR. 77p.

Bailey, R.G. 1976. Ecoregions of the United States. (Map). U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Forest Sendee,  Ogden, UT.

Bailey, R.G., S.C. Zoltai, and E.B. Wiken. 1985. Ecological -regionalization in Canada  and
the United States. Geoforum 16(3):265-275.

Bass, D.G., Jr. and D.T.  Cox.  1985.  River  habitat  and fishery resources  of Florida. In:
Florida Aquatic Habitat and Fishery Resources.  W.  Seamon Jr.,  (ed).   Florida Chapter,
American Fisheries Society, Kiaaimmee, FL. pp. 121-187.

Bazata, K 1991. Nebraska stream classification study. Water  Quality Division, Nebraska
Department of  Environmental Control, Lincoln, NE.

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                                    APPENDIX A

                                   Florida Streams
                           Potential Candidate Reference Sites
                                    Ecoregion #65
                             ERL-C/US EPA
                                     4-1-92
 65F Southern Pine Plains and Hills
65F01 McDavid Creek at Hwy. 99
     Perdido Basin
     Escambia County
     Bay Minette 1:100,000
     Northwest District

65P02 E. Pork Big Cpldwater Creek
     BLackwater Basin
     Santa Rosa County
     Crestview 1:100,000
     Northwest District

65P03 Big Juniper Creek
     Blackwater Basin
     Santa Rosa County
     Crestview 1:100,000
     Northwest District

65F04 Sweetwater Creek
     Blackwater Basin
     Santa Rosa County
     Crestview 1:100,000
     Northwest District
Appros. Size

    24 mi2
    35 mi3
    30 mi*
                                             29 mi3
     Blackwater Basin
     Okaloosa County
     Crestview 1:100,000
     Northwest District

65F06 Big Creek
     Yellow River Basin
     Okaloosa County
     Crestview 1:100,000
     Northwest District

65P07 Turkey Gobbler Creek
     Yellow River Basin
     Okaloosa County
     Crestview 1:100,000
     Northwest District
    23
    lOrni*
Agricultural headwaters
may raise coliform
counts.  WQI=21
                   Near state forest bdy.
                   or upstream at Hwy. 4.
At Hwy. 191 or could be
combined with 65P4 and
sampled below Sweet-
water Cr,
Above Cedar Creek May
want to move downstream for
larger watershed at
Hwy. 4 or next road down south
of Munson.

Some agricultural land
use, primarily in headwaters.
Some agriculture.
Laurel Hill ?
Need some representation
of sandy Eglin Ridge streams.
Which  ones are
least disturbed? Air
Force base access?
                                          64

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65F08 Little Alaqua Creek
     Choctawhatchee Bay Basin
     Walton County
     Crestview 1:100,000
     Northwest District

65F09 Rocky Creek ab. Little Rocky
     Choctawhatchee Bay Basin
     Walton County
     Crestview 1:100,000
     Northwest District
 24 mi1
Eglin AFB access?
 38 mi3
District addtion. Eglin AFB. What
is non-
forested area in upper reaches?
Shrub and brusbland?
65F10 Mitchell Creek
     Escan-bia River Basin
     Escambia County
     Bay Minette 1:100,000
     Northwest District
lOmi1
District addition.
 * Big Pine Barren Creek and Canoe Creek in Escambia County should also be considered
 although they include significantly more agricultural activities.  Some representation of the
 agricultural areas might be desired.  Canoe Creek has had reported fish declines, cedirr.er.t,
 turbidity and pesticide problems, but has some ongoing SCS watershed projects. The size
 of Big Pine Barren and human impacts in the upper reaches indicate some likely problems,
 but the lower reaches and tributaries appear mostly forested.
                                           65

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 65G Dougherty/Marianna Plains
65G01 Sandy Creek ab. W. Sandy
     Choctawhatchee River Basin
     Walton County
     Crestview 1:100,000
     Northwest District

65G02 Parrot Creek
     Choctawhatchee River Basin
     Holmes County
     Marianna 1:100,000
     Northwest District

65G03 West Pittman Creek
     Choctawhatchee River Basin
     Holmes County
     Marianna 1:100,000
     Northwest District
Approx. Size

   24 mf
    15 mi8
    30 mi2
Most all sites in this subregion
have agricultural land use in the
watersheds.
65G04 Reedy Creek
     Choctawhatchee River Basin
     Holmes County
     Marianna 1:100,000
     Northwest District

65G05 Limestone Creek
     Choctawhatchee River Basin
     Holmes County
     Marianna 1:100,000
     Northwest District
6SG06 Hard Labor Creek
     Choctawhatchee River Basin
     Washington County
     Marianna 1:100,000
     Northwest District

65G07 Econfina Creek
     St. Andrews Bay Basin
     Washington/Bay Counties
     Panama City/Marianna 1:100,000
     Northwest District
   20 mi2
    4 mi*
    60 mi2
   >90mii
Crossed by powerline, railroad,
and interstate.
How significant are these small
calcareous streams? WQI=17.
Catfish Branch and Paul Branch
to the west may be less impacted.
How small should we go for
reference sites?

Sedimentation from roads and
site preparation reported for Flat
Creek Cumulative impacts may
require search for least impacted
reaches.

Pina wata

Hwy 20 or above.
                                         66

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65G08 Wrights Creek east of Noma
     Choctawhatchee River Basin
     Holmes County
     Marianna/Dothan 1:100,000
     Northwest District

65G09 Spring Branch
     Chipola River Basin
     Jackson County
     Marianna 1:100,000
     Northwest District

65G10 Pelt Creek
     Chipola River Basin
     Jackson County
     Marianna 1:100,000
     Northwest District

65G11 Tenmile Creek
     Chipola River Basin
     Calhoun County
     Marianna 1:100,000
     Northwest District

65G12 Ocheesee Creek
     Apalachicola River Basin
     Calhoun/Jackson County
     Bainbridge/Marianna 1:100,000
     Northwest District
35 mi1
12 mi*
Check with Vicki Bauer, AL.
DEM,
AtHwy 2
 4 mij
30mia
Above confluence with Dry Creek.

New Hope Ridge.



At Road 274 west of Chason,

New Hope Ridge.
25 mi2
                                         67

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 tt&M lift on Upland/Tallahassee Hills

        N,aj"p/Ix)cation         Arox. Size
      Comments
65H01 Crooked Creek
     Apalachicola River Basin
     Gadsden County
     Bainbridge 1:100,000
     Northwest District

65H02 Sweetwater Creek
     Apalachicola River Basin
     Liberty County
     Bainbridge 1:100,000
     Northwest District

65H03 Mule Cretk at Hwy 12
     Ochlockonee River Basin
     Liberty County
     Bainbridge 1:100,000
     Northwest District

65H04 Rocky Comfort Creek
     Ochlockonee River Basin
     Gadsden County
     TaHah assee/Bainbridge
       l:100,000's
     Northwest District

65H05 Black Creek
     St. Marks River Basin
     Leon County
     Bainbridge/Tallahassee
      ^1:100,000*8
     Kuruiwest District

65H06 Welaunee Creek
     Aucilla River Basin
     Jefferson County
     Perry 1:100,000
     Northeast District?
  16 mi'
   13 mi!
   11 mis
   30 mi2
   11 mi!
   10 mi2
Apalachicola Blufis area may be
too unique, not representative of
subregion. Flat Creek has
Interstate thru the length of
watershed.

Unique?
More typical soils than Bluff
sites.
Agricultural area but appears to
have good riparian cover. Spring
may be located above Turkey
Creek and Road 65b bridge.
Flows into unnamed creek then
disappears into Copeland Sink.

Questionable.
West of Lake lamonia.
68

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                                   Florida Streams
                           Potential Candidate Reference Sites
                                    Ecoregion #75
                                                                       ERL-CAJSEPA
                                                                               4-1-92
 75A Gulf Coast Flatwoods
75A01 Black Creek
     Choctawhatchee Bay
     Walton County
     Fort Walton Beach/Panama
     City/Marianna 1:100,000*3
     Northwest District
Approi. Size

  37 mi1
  (26 mi8
  above Camp
  Cr.)
Is this a reasonable
substitute for Lafayette Cr. which
may have agric. impacts, and
includes some areas in 6SF?
(Lafayette deleted by district).
75A02 Big Crooked Creek
     St. Andrews Bay
     Bay County
     Panama City 1:100,000
     Northwest District

75A03 Sandy Creek
     St. Andrews Bay
     Bay County
     Panama City 1:100,000
     Northwest District

75A04 Kennedy Creek
     Apalachicola River Basin
     Liberty County
     Panama City 1:100,000
     Northwest District

75A05 New River
     New River Basin
     Liberty County
     Tallahassee 1:100,000
     Northwest District

75A06 Sopehoppy River
     Ochlockonee River Basin
     Wakulla County
     Tallahassee 1:100,000
     Northwest District
   20mis
   20 mi2
   20
   16+mi3
  at Vilas,
   50+mi2
  below Bay
  Creek.

   48 mi8
  (USGS) at
  FS road
  7,9mi nw
  of Arran.
At Hwy 388.
Pine plantation impacts?
Above Mule Creek.

May be marginal.
At Cotton Landing Recreation
Site.
May be less disturbed above Vilas
at Hwy 65.

"One of the blackest of the
black-water streams."

Either crossing above Monkey
Creek

OFW waterbody.
                                          69

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75A07 Juniper Creek ab. New River
     Neve River Basin
     Liberty County
     Tallahassee 1:100,000
     Northwest District

75A08 Econfina River
     Steinhatchee River Basin
     Taylor County
     Perry 1:100,000
     Northeast District

75A09 Spring Warrior at Rd 361
     Steinhatchee River Basin
     Taylor County
     Cross City 1:100,000
     Northeast District

75A10 Eightmile Creek
     Steinhatchee River Basin
     Dixie County
     Cross City 1:100,000
     Northeast District

75A11 Rocky Creek ab Gulf of Mexico
     Steinhatchee River Basin
     Dude County
     Cross City 1:100,000
     Northeast District

75A12 Waccasassa River at Hwy 24
     Waccasassa River Basin
     Levy County
     Ocala 1:100,000
     Northeast District?

75A13 Wekiva River  at Rd  326
     Waccasassa River Basin
     Levy County
     Ocala 1:100,000
     Northeast District?
36 mi2
198 mi2
(USGS)at
crossing
above Hwy
98.

 30-nni2
 30+mi*
May want to move upstream
depending on silviculture impacts.
Adverse wq trends reported.
Some elevated levels of nutrients,
chlorophyl-a and bacteria
reported.
WQI only fair. Some high
bacteria counts. Is this typical of
area? What are small square
ponds on map?
                 Small coastal stream at Road
                 361.
                 Some silviculture activities.
                                           70

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 75B Southwestern Florida Flatwoods

 Stl"Eflm NflPP/Location                    ApproT. Size

75B01 Little Withlacoochee River                ?
     Withlacoochee River Basin
     Sumter/Hernando Counties
     Inverness 1:100,000
     Southwest District

75B02 Withlacoochee River, Hwy.471         '    ?
     Withlacoochee River Basin
     Pasco/Sumter/Polk Counties
     Tarpon Springs/Kissimmee
      l;100,000's
     Southwest District
75B03 Pithlachascotee River east of
      Moon Lake
     Crystal River to St.
Petersburg Beach Basin
     Pasco County
     Tarpon Springs 1:100,000
     Southwest District

75B04 Anclote River on private road
      3.2mi nw of Odessa
     Crystal R.-St.Pete.Bch. Basin
     Pasco County
     Tarpon Springs 1:100,000
     Southwest District
>150 mia
(USGS)
68.1 mi2
 (USGS)
                At Hwy. 50 or above. Silviculture
                and agriculture impacts, low DO,
                Land use impacts, weed
                problems, plus naturally
                water quality.
Swamp or river?
Includes 75C?
Questionable site.
                       poor
Multiple impacts. May want to
move upstream of South Branch.
 [Would upper Hillsborough River above Crystal Springs (and preferably above the airport
 tributary) be a suitable and comparable swamp-and-bog type reference stream? Access?]
75B05 Little Manatee River ab.S.Pk
     Little Manatee River Basin
     Hillsborough County
     St. Petersburg 1:100,000
     Southwest District

75B06 South Fork Little Manatee R,
     Little Manatee River Basin
     Manatee/Hiilsborough Counties
     St. Petersburg 1:100,000
     Southwest District
  88 mi1
Elevated bacteria and nutrients.
Any new phosphate mining?
  35 mi1
                                          71

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0
          75BO? Charlie Creek above Little Charley
              Bowiegs Cr., Hwy 64
               Peace River Basin
               Hardee County
               Barlow 1:100,000
               Southwest District

          75B08 Oak Creek ab. Charlie Creek
               Peace River Basin
               Hardee County
               Arcadia  1:100,000
               Southwest District

          75B09 Manatee River at Hwy 64
               Manatee River Basin
               Manatee County
               Sarasota/St. Petersburg
          l:000,000's
               Southwest District

          75B10 Myakka River ab Myakka City
               Myakka River Basin
               Manatee County
               Sarasota 1:100,000
               Southwest District
          75B11 Horse Creek at Hwy 70
               Peace River Basin
               De Soto/Hardee Counties
               Arcadia 1:100,000
               Southwest District
                 Josnua Creek at Hwy 31
               Peace River Basin
               De Soto County
               Arcadia 1:100,000
               Southwest District
          75B13 Prairie Creek at Hwy 31
               Peace River Basin
               De Soto County
               Arcadia 1:100,000
               Southwest District

          75B14 Shell Creek above Prairie Cr.
               Peace River Basin
               Charlotte County
               Fort Myers 1:100,000
               South District
                Better downstream?
  55 mi2
Agriculture impacts.
  60mis
  60 mi2
May have too many impacts.
Phosphate rnioing in North Fork
headwaters? May want to delete.
Sluggish, marshy blackwater. No
flow here?
  140 mi2
  >70 mi2
Status of proposed phosphate
mining?
Agriculture and cattle.
  233 mi2
(USGS)
Better quality downstream?
                 Affected by impoundment?
                                                    72

-------
 75C Central Florida Ridges and Uplands

 (A characteristic of this subregion is that there are few streams. There are some short lake
 inlets or outlets, and also a few  spring runs. The sites below may be some of the better
 streams in the subregion, however the uniqueness of several of them raises the question of
 comparability.)

 gfrpftarr| frfapr^/Location                    Appror. Size            QQirtmen^g

75C01 Cabbage Creek ab.L. Orange Cr.        15 mi*
     Oklawaha River Basin
     Putnam County
     Saint Augustine 1:100,000
     Northeast District

75C02 Deep Creek ab.Gum Cr, Hwy  315         6 mi*
     Oklawaha River Basin
     Putnam County
     Saint Augustine 1:100,000
     Northeast District

75C03 Acosta Crk. Hwy 309 n. Welaka           6 mia          May be marginal.
     Lower St. Johns River Basin
     Putnam County
     Saint Augustine 1:100,000
     Northeast District

75C04 Juniper Creek (Ocala N.F.)                ?            Spring run.
     Upper Si Johns River Basin
     Marion County
     Daytona Beach 1:100,000
     Central District

75C05 Alexander Sp. Cr.(0cala N.F.)              ?            Where to sample?
     Upper St. Johns River Basin
     Lake County
     Daytona Beach 1:100,000
     Central District

75C06 Black Water Creek at Hw/ 44A            ?
     Upper St. Johns River Basin
     Lake County
     Orlando 1:100,000
     Central District

75C07 Tiger Cr. ab Lake Weohyakapka           ?
     Kissimmee River Basin
     Polk Counly
     Bartow 1:100,000
     Central District
                                          73

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75C08 Livingston Cr. ab LkArbuckle
     Kissimmee River Basin
     Polk County
     Barlow 1:100,000
     Southwest District
75D Eastern Florida Platwoods

Stream Name/Location
Approi.Size
Comments
75D01 Rocky Creek e. of La Crosse
     Santa Fe River Basin
     Alachua  County
     Gainesville 1:100,000
     Northeast District

75D02 Hatchet Creek at Hwy 26
     Oklawaha River Basin
     Alachua  County
     Gainesville 1:100,000
     Northeast District
  22 mis
Agricultural NFS impacts?
  30
Landfill? Channelization?
Fairbanks and Waldo
development. WQI=20's.
 [Need discussion about Orange Creek, Cabbage Creek, Little Orange Creek in Oklawaha
 basin. High quality waters but flow through two different subregions].
75D03 Silver River
     Oklawaha River Basin
     Marion County
     Daytona B,/Ocala l:100»000's
     Central District

7&D04 Daisy Creek
     Oklawaha River Basra
     Marion County
     Daytona Beach 1:100,000
     Central District

75D05 Simms Creek ab. Etonia Cr.
     Lower St. Johns River Basin
     Putnam County
     Saint Augustine 1:100,000
     Northeast District
  NA
  14 mi1
  35 mi3
One of a kind in 75D?
Tourist springs in 75C.
Probably small flow. Turf farm
along Hwy 315 may impact
quality.
Upstream titanium mining? How
does poor water quality
downstream in Etonia & Rice
Creeks affect biota in Simms
Creek?
                                          74

-------
75D06 Moses Creek w.of Crescent Bch
     Upper East Coast Basin
     St. Johns County
     Saint Augustine 1:100,000
     Northeast District

75D07 Pellicer Creek
     Upper East Coast Basin
     St. Johns/Flagler Counties
     Saint Augustine 1:100,000
     Northeast District

75D08 Upper Middle Haw Creek near
      Relay
     Lower St. Johns River Basin
     Flagler/Volusia Counties
     Daytona Beach 1:100,000
     Northeast/Central Districts

75D09 Bulow Creek blw. st.monument
     Upper East Coast Basin
     Volusia County
     Daytona Beach 1:100,000
     Central District

75D10 Cow Creek ab. Deep Creek
     Upper St. Johns River Basin
     Volusia County
     Orlando 1:100,000
     Central District

75D11 Tootoosahatchee Creek at road
      2 mi s. of Hwy 50.
     Upper St. Johns River Basin
     Orange County
     Titusville/KisaimmeelilOO.OOO
     Central District

75D12 Jim  Creek at rd e. of Hwy 520
     Upper St. Johns River Basin
     Orange County
     Cape Canaveral/Kissimmee
      l:100,000's
     Central District

75D13 Wolf Creek, rd e. of Hwy 419
     Upper St. Johns River Basin
     Osceola County
     Cape Canaveral 1:100,000
     Central District
  9 mi3
 40+mi* at
Hwy 1
  45-1- mi9
OFW waterbody.
Some cattle. Swampy. Naturally
low ph, DO.
  12+mi2
                 Questionable, though appears less
                 disturbed than Spruce Creek        !
                 south of Daytona.                  *
Not an encouraging name.
   14 mi1
Low DO, high color.
Metals?
  25 mi2
Low DO, high color.
High inorganic toxics?
                 Agricultural area. Canalization.
                                          75

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75D14 Bull Creek at Hwy 441
     Upper St. Johns River Basin
     Osceola County
     Kissimmee/Bartow/Vero Beach/
      Cape Canaveral l:100,000's
     Central District
               Downstream access?
75D15 Blue Cypress Creek above Cow
  Log Creek
     Upper St. Johns River Basin
     Osceola County
     Vero Beach 1:100,000
     Central District

75D16 Padget Branch at Hwy 60
     Upper St. Johns River Basin
     Indian River County
     Vero Beach 1:100,000
     Central District
23 mi1
               At rd east of Hwy 441. Is this
               one of the better agricultural
               streams in this area? A typical
               impacted stream?
Little Gumbead Marsh?
 [Are there any small streams, sloughs, canals in the Kissimmee Basin that should be
 considered as reference sites? If so, are there systems that would be comparable to them?}
75D17 South Fork St. Lucie River
     Southeast Florida Basin
     Martin County
     Fort Pierce 1:100,000
     Southeast District
7«mis NWfc  Fnrk Loxahatchee River
     Southeast Florida Basin
     Martin County
     Fort Pierce/West Palm Beach
l:100,000's
     Southeast District

75D19 Northwest Fork Loxahatchee R,
     Southeast Florida Basin
     Martin/Palm Beach Counties
     West Palm  Beach 1:100,000
     Southeast District

7SD20 Econlockhatchee R  at Hwy 420
     Upper St. Johns River Basin
     Orange County
     Orlando/Kissimmee l:100,000's
     Central  District
               Impacted, but perhaps slightly
               less than North Fork. Estuarine
               influence?
               Too small?

               Jonathan Dickinson State Park
               Where does Orange Co. Easterly
               WWTP effluent enter? Move
               upstream?
                                          76

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7SE Okefenokee S wam
75E01 Rocky Creek
    Upper Suwannee Basin
    Hamilton County
    Okefenokee Swamp 1:100,000
    Northeast District

75E02 Deep Creek
    Upper Suwannee Basin
    Columbia County
    Lake City 1:100,000
    Northeast District

75E03 Robinson Creek/Branch
    Upper Suwannee Basin
    Columbia County
    Lake City 1:100,000
    Northeast District

75E04 Little Suwannee Creek
    Upper Suwannee Basin
    Columbia County
    Okefenokee Swamp 1:100,000
    Northeast District

75E05 Moccasin Creek
    St. Marys Basin
    Baker County
    Okefenokee Swamp 1:100,000
    Northeast District

75E06 Calkins Creek at Rd  127
    St. Marys Basin
    Baker County
    Lake City 1:100,000
    Northeast District
Approx. Size

   20+mi*
                                                         Cypress Or. WMA{?)
                                           35+mi1
    22+mi*
                                                          Some cropland/pasture,
    >40 mi*
    15 mia
                                                          Perhaps better for
                                                          Georgians to sample
                                                          near Hwy. 441/CD.
                                                          Or for larger basin
                                                          sample North Prong St.
                                                          Marys at Hwy. 2/94.
                                                          Too small?
                                        77

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 75F Sea Island Flatwoods
75F01 Pigeon Creek at Hwy 1/23
     St, Marys River Basin
     Nassau County
     Fernandina Beach 1:100,000
     Northeast District

75F02 Cabbage Creek at Rd. 121A
     St Marys River Basin
     Nassau County
     Fernandina Beach 1:100,000
     Northeast District

75F03 Little Dunn Creek at Rd.121
     St. Marys River Basin
     Nassau County
     Okefenokee Swamp/Fernandina
     Beach l:100,000's
     Northeast District

75F04 Deep Creek at Hwy 108
     St. Marys River Basin
     Nassau County
     Fernandina Beach/Okefenokee
     Swamp l:100,000's
     Northwest  District

75F05 Lofton Creek at Hwy A1A/200
     Nassau River Basin
     Nassau County
     Fernandina Beach 1:100,000
     Northeast District

75F06 Alligator  Creek ab. New R.
     Santa Fe River Basin
     Bradford County
     Lake City 1:100,000
     Northeast District

75F07 RFkBlack Or ab. Boggy Br.
     Lower St, Johns River  Basin
     Clay County
     Jacksonville/St. Augustine/
      Lake City l:100,000's
     Northeast District
Approx. Size

     6 mi'
    12 mi2
    11 mi'
    17mia
    25mi!
    Comments

WQI=22 (1988 305b).
Hampton Lake on lower reach
may make it atypical. Powerline
and railroad cross watershed.
Might be more swamp than
creek.
The most northerly of the three
Deep Creeks flowing into the St.
Marys  in Nassau County.
                   May be too impacted. Where is
                   landfill? Silviculture NFS. Would
                   Plummer Creek be better?
Probably too impacted.
Is New River ab. Alligator Cr.
still cattle-trampled?
At road up from Hwy 218.
Development impacts. Mine
tailings effects from Trail Ridge?
Flow from Kingsley Lake?
Questionable site.
                                          78

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75F08 Big Branch ab.N.FkBlack Cr
     Lower St. Johns River Basin
     Clay County
     Jacksonville 1:100,000
     Northeast District

75F09 Ates Creek ab.S.FkBlaek Cr
     Lower St. Johns River Basin
     Clay County
     Saint Augustine 1:100,000
     Northeast District

75F10 Greens Cr. ab.S.FkBlack Cr
     Lower St. Johns River Basin
     Clay County
     Saint Augustine 1:100,000
     Northeast District

75F11 Fivemile Creek ah. New R.
     Santa Fe River Basin
     Union County
     Gainesville 1:100,000
     Northeast District
11 mi8
Road access may be marginal
34 mi1
35 mi"
16 mia

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                                 APPENDIX B
             Florida Stream Reference Site Status - October 1992
   sampled in '92
   added candidate site
 NORTHWEST DISTRICT (PENSACOIA)
 *65F01
  65F02
  65F03
  65F04
 *65F05
  65F06
  65F07
 *65F08
  65F09
 *65F10
+*65F11
+*65F12

 *65G01
  65G02
  65G03
  65G04
  65G05
  65G06
 *65G07
  65G08
  65G09
  65G10
 *65G11
  65G12
 +65G14
        McDavid Creek at Hwy 99
        E,  Fk.  Big Coldwater Cr.
        Big Juniper Creek
        Sweetwater Creek
        Panther Creek
        Big Creek
        Turkey Gobbler Creek
        (Substitute) Alagua Cr. ab Davis-
        Rocky Cr. ab. Little Rocky Cr.
        Mitchell Creek
        Big Horse Creek at Hwy 2
        Pine Log Creek at Hwy 2

        Sandy Cr. ab. W. Sandy Cr.
        Parrot Creek
        West Pittman Creek
        Reedy Creek
        Limestone Creek
        Hard Labor Creek
        Econfina Creek
        Wrights Creek e, of Noma
        Spring Branch
        Pelt Creek
        Tenmile Creek at Hwy 73
        Ocheesee Creek
        p-r-M^ Creek at Hwy 71
        Farley Creek
 *65H01
 *65H02
        Crooked Creek
        Sweetwater Creek
        Mule Creek at Hwy 12
        Rocky Comfort Creek
        Black Creek
        Welaunee Creek
4*65H07 Lloyd Creek
4*65H08 Flat Creek
 *65H03
  65H04
  65H05
  65H06
 *75A01
  75A02
 *75A03
  75A04
  75A05
 *75A06
  75A07
+*75A14
Sampled summer '92.
Deleted. Poor habitat.
OK site. Won't be sampled in
OK site. Won't be sampled in
Sampled summer '92.
OK site. Won't be sampled in
OK site. Won't be sampled in
Sampled summer '92.
OK site. Won't be sampled in
Sampled summer '92.
Sampled summer '92.
Sampled summer '92.

Sampled summer '92.
Deleted.
Deleted.
Deleted.
Deleted. Too small.
Deleted. Clear cuts.
        Black Creek
        Big Crooked Creek
        Sandy Creek
        Kennedy Creek
        New River
        Sopchoppy River blw. Monkey Cr.
        Juniper Creek ab. New R.
        Little Crooked Creek at Hwy 79
                              '92,
                              '92.

                              92,
                              '92,

                              '92
Sampled summer
Deleted. Agric.
Deleted. Dammed
Deleted.
Sampled summer
OK site. Won't
Sampled summer
OK site. Won't
                '92.
                & cows,
                up.
               '92.
               be sampled in '92,
               '92.
               be sampled in '92,
Sampled summer
Sampled summer
Sampled summer
OK site. Won't
Deleted.
Sampled summer
Sampled summer
Sampled summer
               '92.
               '92.
               '92.
               be sampled

               '92.
               '92.
               '92.
in '92
               '92.
               cuts.
Sampled summer
Deleted. Clear
Sampled summer '92.
Deleted. Swamp/no flow.
Deleted.
Sampled summer '92.
Deleted.
Sampled summer '92.
                                     80

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+*75A15 S. Fk.  Bear Creek
+*75A16 Dean Creek
+ *75A   McBride Slough
Sampled summer  '92.
Sampled summer  '92.
Sampled summer  '92.
NORTHEAST DISTRICT (JACKSONVILLE)

 *75A08 Econfina River
  75A09 Spring Warrior at Rd.361
  75A10 Eightmile Creek
  75A11 Rocky Creek ab. Gulf
 *75A12 Waccasassa River at Hwy 98
  75A13 Wekiva River at Rd.326

  75C01 Cabbage Creek ab. L.Orange Cr.
  75C02 Deep Creek ab. Gum Cr. Hwy 315
  75C03 Acosta Creek at Hwy 309

 *75D01 Rocky Creek e. of La Crosse
  75D02 Hatchet Creek at Hwy 26
  75D05 Simms Creek ab. Etonia Creek
  75D06 Moses Creek w. of Crescent Bch.
  *??D07 Pellicer Creek
 *75D08 Upper Middle Haw Cr. near Relay

  75E01 Rocky Creek
 *75E02 Deep Creek
 *75E03 Robinson Creek/Branch
  75E04 Little Suwannee Creek
 *75E05 Substitute North Prong at Hwy 2
  75E06 Calkins Creek at Rd. 127

 *75F01 Pigeon Creek at Hwy 1/23
  75F02 Cabbage Creek at Rd. 121A
  75F03 Little Dunn Cr. at Rd. 121
  75F04 Deep Creek at Hwy. 108
  75F05 Lofton Creek at Hwy A1A/200
  75F06 Alligator Creek ab. New R.
  75F07 N.Fk. Black Cr. ab. Boggy Br.
  75F08 Big Branch ab.N.Fk.Black Cr.
  75F09 Ates Creek ab. S. Fk. Black Cr.
 *75F10 Greens Cr. ab. S. Fk. Black Cr.
 *75F11 Fivemile Creek ab. New River
  PLUS BIOLOGICAL SITES
     4 sites on Suwannee River
     2 sites on Santa Fe River
     1 site on Aucilla River
Sampled  summer  '92,
Deleted. No water.
Deleted. Clear  cut.
.Deleted. Tidal.
Sampled  summer  '92.
OK  site. Won't  be sampled  in  '92.

Deleted. Mining impact.
Deleted. Mining.
Deleted. Access problem.

Sampled  summer  '92.
Deleted.
Deleted. Mining.
Deleted. Tidal.
Deleted. Tidal.
Sampled  summer  '92.

Deleted. Need boat.
Sampled  summer  '92.
Sampled  summer  '92.
Deleted. Locked gate.
Sampled  summer  '92.
Deleted.

Sampled  summer  '92.
Deleted.
Deleted.
Deleted. Access problem.
Deleted. Tidal  at rd.  above A1A.
Deleted. Impacted.
Deleted. Atypical.
Not sampled. Access  problem.
Deleted.
Sampled  summer  '92.
Sampled  summer  '92.  Future mining?
                                     81

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D
J
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   CENTRAL DISTRICT (ORLANDO)

    *75C04 Juniper Creek  (Ocala N.F.)
     75C05 Alexander Sp. Cr.  (Ocala N.F.)
    *75C06 Black Water Creek at Hwy 44A
    *75C07 Tiger Cr. ab. Lake Weohyakapka
    *75C08 Livingston Cr. ab Lake-Arbuckle
                                          Sampled summer '
                                          Deleted.  Access,
                                          Sampled summer '
                                          Sampled summer '
                                          Sampled summer '
                                                  92.
                                                   Redundant.
                                                  92.
                                                  92.
                                                  92.
    *75D03
     75D04
     75D09
     75D10
     75D11
    *75D12
     75D13
     75D14
     75D15
     75D16
    *75D20
    *75D21
    *75D22
     75Dxx
        Silver River
        Daisy Creek
        Bulow Creek
        Cow Creek above Deep Creek
        Tootoosahatchee Cr.
        Jim Creek at rd. e.  of Hwy 520
        Wolf Creek,  rd e. of Hwy 419
        Bull Creek at Hwy 441
        Blue Cypress Cr. ab Cow Log Cr,
        Padget Branch at Hwy 60
        Econlockhatchee River, Hwy 420
        Tomoka River at llth St.
        Orange Creek ab. Little Orange
        Wekiva River at Wekiva Landing
                                - Sampled summer '92.
                                - Deleted. Impacted.
                                - Deleted. Replace with Tomoka R.
                                - OK site. Won't be sampled in '92
                                - OK site. Won't be sampled in '92
                                - Sampled summer '92.
                                - Deleted. Agriculture impacts.
                                - OK site. Won't be sampled in '92
                                - Deleted.
                                - Deleted. Agriculture impacts.
                                - Sampled summer '92.
                                - To be sampled summer '92.
                                - Sampled summer '92.
                                - Won't be sampled summer  '92.
  PLUS BIOLOGICAL SITES
        St,  Johns River at Astor
        St.  Johns River at Lake Washington
        Ocklawaha River at Eureka

SOUTHWEST DISTRICT (TAMPA)
    *75B01
    *75B02
  75B04
 *75B05
  75B06
 *75B07
 *75B08
 *75B09
 *75B10
 *75B11
  75B12
 *75B17
Little Withlacoochee River      - Sampled
Withlacoochee River             - Sampled
r-LLJiiachascotee River           - Sampled
Anclote River                   - Deleted.
Little Manatee R. ab. S. Fk.    - Sampled
South Fork Little Manatee River - Deleted,
Charlie Cr. blw Oak Cr. Hwy 634 - Sampled
Oak Creek nr Sweetwater,Hwy 634 - Sampled
Manatee River at Hwy 64         - Sampled
Myakka River ab Myakka City     - Sampled
Horse Creek at Hwy 72           - Sampled
Joshua Creek at Hwy 31          - Deleted,
Hillsborough River              - Sampled
                                                  summer
                                                  summer
                                                  summer
        92
        92
        92
{two sites)
summer '92.

summer '92.
summer '92.
summer '92.
summer '92.
summer '92.  (Ford Walton)
 Agriculture impacts.
summer '92 (two sites).
                                         82

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SOUTH DISTRICT (PUNTA QQRDA)

  75B13 Prairie Cr.  at Hwy 31 or below  - Won't be sampled summer '92.
  75B14 Shell Creek above Prairie Cr.    - Won't be sampled summer '92.
 *75B15 Orange River above Buckingham   - Sampled summer '92.
 *75B16 Telegraph Creek                 - Sampled summer '92.
 •75D23 Fisheating Creek                - Sampled summer '92.


SOUTHEAST DISTRICT (POET ST. LUCIH)

 *75D17 South Fork St. Lucie River      - Sampled summer '92.
 *75D18 North Fork Loxahatchee River    - Sampled summer '92.
 *75D19 Northwest Fork Loxahatchee R.    - Sampled summer '92.
  75Dxx Blakesly Creek                  - Deleted.
                                     83

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         DRAFT   ECOREGIONS/SUBREGIONS   OF   FLORIDA
               Glenn  E.  Griffith1,  Jomes  M.  Omernik1,  ond  Suzonne  M.  Piersort1
               'UonTecli  Environmental  technology,  Inc.
                Corvollij. Qnqon
'U.S. EtmronmEntol Proletlion
 Corvotli;, Oregon 97JJ3
     SOUTHEASTERN  PLAINS ECORE6ION  (E5)
     mm Southtrn  Flue  PHins and Hills  [690
     l~l Oooghtrtjf/Morionns  Ploini (55gJ
     =] Tifton Uplaid/Tillriuiii  Hllla  (Hb)

     SOUTHERN  COASTAL PLAIN ECORESION  (75)
     Cin Gulf  Coast Flotioods  (75o)
     E23 SauthvegUra  Florida Flotioods  (75b)
     i~~l C«ntral Florida  Ridgsi  and  Uploads (75cJ
     l~~1 Eoitern  Florida Flotwood* (75d)
     BB Ok*f«noki«  Siomps  and  Plains  (75g)
     C=3 S«u  Island Flattocds (75f)

     SOUTHERN  FLORIDA  COASTAL  PLAIN ECOREGION  (76)
           Efsrglodei (76o)
           8!g  Cypress  (76b)
           yiam!  Rldgt/Atlantlc Caaital  Strip (76c)
           Southern  Cooit and lilandt  (76d)

             — Ecoriglan  h on injury
             — Sttbr«sion  boundary
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