Kenneth R. Miller

Field Biology

Sawgrass Lake Blog

October 20, 2016

The Sawgrass Lake Experience

            Not so long ago, under sunny skies, during a comfortable, but somewhat breezy day, I experienced fascination of a different kind. I found knowledge, like ponds are smaller than 10 acres while lakes are larger. Then it got a lot harder, Florida lakes are usually shallow, 7-20 feet deep, but lakes made by sinkholes are very deep. There’s year round evaporation in Florida, seasonal, variation in water level due to rain fall.

            Now back to sawgrass lake memories. We journeyed deep into the middle of the park walking over brittle wooden bridges. As I looked down to the floor of the ecosystem which was just yards away, I saw signs of wetland plants. I knew then that the lake I have been searching for was near. As we approached the overlook of the lake, we put up camp and got into the learning mode. While at camp observation we learned about lake characterizations, including; Oligotrophic- high dissolved oxygen at bottom, low levels of diversity, and low levels of nutrients. Mesotrophic- Aquatic vegetation, high amounts of a variety of organisms, and plenty of places to hide. Eutrophic- high levels of nutrients and organic sediments, Polluted, diversity goes down.

            With alligator baring down on are location, miraculously, we continued learning about the lake ecosystem, these ecosystems can be divided up into 3 main zones. The first is the shore line- greatest diversity, forms a marsh and dominated by grass like plants. There are emergent plants which offer a place to hide and offers food. Insect lava, fish, filter feeders, lake muscle and clams, birds, amphibians and reptiles. These creatures were all around us and I believe that some in are party were really scared. Secondly, Euphotic- open water, no emergent plants. If water is clear, submerged plants may exist in this zone do to access to light. Low density of fish, little food or shelter, and Phytoplankton and Zooplankton are common. Benthic- dark zone, bottom dead zone; detrital food web, high decomposition, stable temperature, and lots of catfish and chub suckers.  Threats to these ecosystems would be pollution from run-off/ lead, and climate change.

            Finally after completing are notes we packed up the camp and headed back through the dangers we dealt with at the beginning of are journey. We did see birds, one was a blond shouldered hawk I believe. Our guide disappeared so  I had to make the bird call on my own.