Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Name your Woods- Florida WWFF-17




A Strand is a type of habitat in Florida that forms a linear forest that is longer than it is wide. There are Coastal Strands and Cypress Strands.  

A Coastal Strand occurs between open beach and maritime hammock habitats. They appear on deep, well-drained, sandy soils.  They generally occur in long, narrow bands along high-energy shorelines, parallel to the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico. Vegetation in this habitat is strongly affected by wind and wave action.

A Cypress Strand forms in a minimal drainage channel on flat-lands. A forested wetland ecological habitat, Cypress Strands occur on land areas with high water tables where the lack of slope prevents true stream formation. Cypress strands are common in south and southwest  Florida and form where there is  just enough  water and flow to cut a slight depression or slough channel. This flow is seldom observed. The term cypress head refers to the cypress swamp at the head of a cypress strand. Cypress Strands, when observed from above, lie parallel to the direction of the surface water flow.

A Hammock is a fertile area in Florida that is usually higher than its surroundings and that is characterized by hardwood vegetation and deep humus-rich soil. The word origin is thought to be a French understanding of the Seminole Indian word for “Shady Place”.

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