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- Permanent Link:
- http://dpanther.fiu.edu/dpService/dpPurlService/purl/FI14090865/00001
Subjects
- Subjects / Keywords:
- Corkscrew Swamp
- Spatial Coverage:
- Collier County (Fla.)
Notes
- Scope and Content:
- Source: Corkscrew Swamp 1
Length of Segment: 00:01:15
Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Collier County, Florida protects old-growth bald cypress swamp habitats and the creatures that rely on them. In 1912, the National Association of Audubon Societies employed a guard to protect wood storks, egrets, and other birds. In 1954, fourteen organizations led by the National Audubon Society acquired 6,000 acres and in 1968, another 5,000 acres to protect the swamp from development. Corkscrew Swamp protects one of the largest stands of virgin bald cypress. Some reach 130 feet into South Florida skies and may be 700 years old. A 1.7 mile loop boardwalk provides easy access for human visitor. Wild creatures along the boardwalk are used to people and can be observed easily as they go about their daily activities. Barred owls rest by day close to the trunks of giant trees, unperturbed by passers-by. Red-shouldered hawks scream from nearby trees. As swamp wetlands shrink during the winter dry season, alligators dig deeper into the muck, enlarging pools and creating refuge for many species while assuring themselves of food and a home. ( English )
- Scope and Content:
- Source: Corkscrew Swamp 2
Length of Segment: 00:01:14
Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. Pond apple is not an apple but a tree associated with wetlands from Central Florida south through the Caribbean and American tropics. It belongs to the custard apple family, and is related to our North American pawpaw. Pond apple produces an apple-sized, avocado-shaped, apple-like fruit. But don't bother biting into a pond apple. While savored by raccoons and an important wildlife food, humans find them hard and bitter. Most pond apple trees top out at 30-35 feet with a relatively open, rounded, and spreading canopy. Branches start from a short trunk and at old age, pond apple trees become gnarled and twisted. Pond apple leaves are deep-green with a yellow midrib. They're oval, leathery, evergreen, and can be five inches or more in length. From April to June, pond apples produce creamy yellow-white flowers that by late summer give rise to hard green pond apples. These ripen to yellow-green from September to November. Pond apple trees are abundant along the boardwalk at Corkscrew Swamp Audubon Sanctuary in Collier County, Florida where white ibis and other swamp waders can often be seen feeding in the waters below. ( English )
- Scope and Content:
- Source: Corkscrew Swamp 3
Length of Segment: 00:01:14
Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. Among the reasons for protecting Corkscrew Swamp in southwest Florida is a large concentration of nesting wood storks. As habitats have been destroyed, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary has become increasingly important to wood storks. These are big birds, standing nearly three-and-a-half feet tall. They're are long-lived but slow to reproduce in part due to fluctuations in populations of fish and other creatures they eat. Wood storks depend on high water part of the year, allowing for fish populations to grow, followed by low water levels that concentrate these prey, making them easier to capture later. During drought years, prey populations dwindle and storks have little success nesting. With draining of swamps and diversion of more water to human use, drought conditions have become more frequent and wood storks have become endangered. In 1961, 5,900 pairs produced about 17,000 young at Corkscrew swamp. From that high, it has been downhill. In 1993, all 426 nests at Corkscrew failed. Habitat losses outside of the swamp mean they must travel increasing distances to find food. ( English )
- Scope and Content:
- Source: Corkscrew Swamp 4
Length of Segment: 00:01:12
Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. Along the boardwalk at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in southwest Florida are woodland ponds that have been enlarged and deepened by alligators. During the dry season, such ponds are the only water left in the swamp and swamp creatures gather in them for survival. As water levels decrease in late winter, floating plants begin their annual cycle of renewal. The largest one of these in a gray-green rosette of seemingly corrugated leaves: water lettuce. The abundance of water lettuce in winter gave rise to the name of the ponds, 'lettuce lakes'. Water lettuce is not related to lettuce. It's in the same family as jack-in-the-pulpit. It's also not a native plant. Water lettuce has hitched rides to every continent except Europe and Antarctica, often carried in the ballast water of ships from South America. Water lettuce was first described from North America in 1765 by the colonial naturalists John and William Bartram. It has been here so long that scientists aren't sure where it originated, but most insects associated with water lettuce are from South America and the detectives of science thinks that's a pretty likely suspect for its home. ( English )
- Scope and Content:
- Source: Corkscrew Swamp 5
Length of Segment: 00:01:15
Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. Water links creatures together in unique communities and ecosystems. While amount and quality of water are important, a major factor that determines community structure is sometimes called ‘hydroperiod’: the amount of time that land is covered with water. A walk along the boardwalk at Corkscrew Swamp Audubon Sanctuary in Collier County, Florida illustrates the importance of hydroperiod. The boardwalk begins in flatwoods dominated by slash pine and saw palmetto. Water rarely stands in the flatwoods because the ground is slightly higher than elsewhere and sandy soils drain quickly. The flatwoods end abruptly at a grassy prairie; it's grassy because it's lower and water stands in the prairie for weeks at a time. Pines and palmetto can't survive the flooding and fires from the flatwoods keep out bald cypress. Beyond the prairie, the boardwalk enters cypress swamp. Water stands for months, minimizing potential for fire and allowing growth of pond cypress. Farther into the swamp, hydroperiod is even longer and bald cypress reaches its greatest size. The biggest threats to the natural environments of South Florida today are drainage of wetlands and alteration of water flow, changes in hydroperiod that alter plant and animal communities. ( English )
Record Information
- Source Institution:
- Added automatically
- Holding Location:
- Added automatically
- Rights Management:
- Please contact the owning institution for licensing and permissions. It is the users responsibility to ensure use does not violate any third party rights.
- Resource Identifier:
- FI00900197
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