Building Specific Galleries - Wetlands Gallery
Florida Aquifer (Overhead Exhibit)
- Great underground river.
- Florida ’s major fresh water source
Florida Springs
- Crystal clear 72 degree Fahrenheit fresh water springs to the surface.
- Source of seeps, streams and rivers.
- More than 300 springs and 8 billion gallons of freshwater flow daily.
Florida Streams (Ducks)
- Spring-fed, seeps result in sand “boils”.
- Fast-flowing currents create streambed zones.
- Plants and animals adapt to flow in physical form and behavior.
Common species that can be found in Florida Streams:
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Florida redbellied turtle
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Florida softshell turtle
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Longnose gar
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Hooded merganser
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Ruddy duck
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Chain pickerel
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Spotted sunfish
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Brown bullhead catfish
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| Green winged teal
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Florida gar
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Florida Saw Grass Marshes (Alligators)
- River of grass sustained by cycle of high and low water.
- Summer – thin sheet of water floods saw grass marshes.
- Winter – floods ebb and the ground dries.
- Common species that can be found in Florida Marshes:
- American alligator
- Saw grass
- Cattail
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- Florida redbellied turtle
- Dollar sunfish
- Hat-rack cypress
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Florida River (Otters)
- Vary in color, clarity, depth, flow, direction, and water quality.
- Changes to flow and water quality threaten Florida’s unique habitats, wildlife and people.
- Common species that can be found in Florida Rivers:
- North American river otter
- ( Florida manatee)
- Saw palmetto
- Poison ivy
- Cabbage palm
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- Florida softshell turtle
- Suwannee bass
- Alligator gar
- Alligator snapping turtle
- Channel catfish
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Florida Hammocks
- Island hardwood forests on patches of high ground.
- Mixed tropical and temperate plant species.
- Common species that can be found in Florida Hammocks:
- Strangler fig
- Southern toad
- Gumbo Limbo
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- Cabbage Palm
- Royal Palm
- West Indian mahogany
- Florida box turtle
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Florida Cypress Swamps (Stumps are A/C Ducts)
- Dependent on flood-drought-flood cycle (look for watermarks).
- Slow-flowing rivers or low-lying areas flooded by rising water table.
- Dark water caused by tannins (acids leached from leaf and bark litter).
- Water is purified by roots giving off oxygen and taking up nutrients.
- Knees (specialized roots) and buttresses may support tree or help it to breathe.
- Common species that can be found in Florida Cypress Swamps:
- Eastern mosquito fish
- Mosquito
- (Egrets and herons)
- Bald cypress
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- Red-ear slider
- Wood duck
- Blue-winged teal
- Yellow bellied slider
- Least killifish
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Florida Bogs and Branches (Plant Wall)
- No nutrients-rich soils and limited nitrogen so the plants are carnivorous (eat insects and spiders) or find food elsewhere.
- Cypress , oak and buttonwood are covered with epiphytes – plants using trees as anchors and getting nutrients from wind and rain.
- Hooded pitcher plant
- Spanish Moss
- Pitcher plant
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- Shell orchid
- Wild pine
- Sphagnum moss
- Orchids
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Florida Mangrove Forests
- Live in the estuarine intertidal zones in tropics with changing water levels, temperatures and saltiness.
- Roots trap mud and silt, stabilize shorelines and protect the shore from currents, storms, and waves by holding soil in place.
- Fertile estuaries form where salt and fresh waters mix.
- Nutrients wash into estuaries from upstream, and larvae and young fish are delivered by tides.
- Some animals in estuaries are lifelong residents - others live in mangroves while young and then move out to sea, and others fly in seasonally to raise young.
- Estuaries are nursery grounds for fish and shellfish, storm breaks and shoreline stabilizers, valuable waterfront property and productive wetlands.
- 75% of Florida’s game fish and 90% of its commercial fisheries are dependent upon estuaries and mangrove forest.
- Common species that can be found in Florida Mangrove Forest:
- Red mangrove
- Black mangrove
- White mangrove
- Roseate spoonbill
- Striped burrfish
- Great barracuda
- Nurse shark
- Black-necked stilt
- Florida diamond back terrapin
- Gray or mangrove snapper
- Double-crested cormorant
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- Atlantic needlefish
- Upside-down jellyfish
- Snook
- Atlantic Stingray
- Sailfin molly
- Horseshoe crab
- Mangrove snake
- Red drum or redfish
- (Oysters, crabs, snails, worms)
- (Egrets, herons, white ibis)
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