A cypress dome is a type of freshwater forested wetland, or a swamp, found in the southeastern part of the United States. They are dominated by the Taxodium spp., either the bald cypress ( Taxodium distichum ), or pond cypress ( Taxodium ascendens ). The name comes from the dome-like shape of treetops, formed by smaller trees growing on the edge where the water is shallow while taller trees grow at the center in deeper water. They usually appear as circular, but if the center is too deep, they form a “doughnut” shape when viewed from above. [1] [2] Cypress domes are characteristically small compared to other swamps, however they can occur at a range of sizes, dependent on the depth.
Cypress domes form when pond cypress grow in shallow standing water. The ground level in the center of the dome may be several inches to a few feet lower than at the edge of the dome, but tree growth is more vigorous at the center of the dome. [3] Thus, the treetops are higher at the center than at the edge of the dome. [4] [2]
Cypress domes are found in the southeastern region of the United States. They form in flatland depressions in the Gulf coastal plain and southern Atlantic coastal plain, in the states of Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Southern coastal plain nonriverine cypress domes are found throughout the southern coastal plains. [5] [1]
Cypress domes are the most common swamp habitat in Florida. [6] Most abundant in Central Florida, they also occur in other areas of Florida north of the Florida Keys. [7] South Florida cypress domes are found in southern Florida, in particular in and around the Everglades and the Big Cypress National Preserve. They are distinguished from southern coastal plain cypress domes by the presence of tropical understory species. [4] [2] [1]
The water levels of dome swamps are naturally fluctuating and dependent on seasonal rainfall. Dome swamps derive most of their water through runoff from surrounding uplands. They also may be influenced by groundwater when they are directly connected to the aquifer. [4] Groundwater particularly impacts the hydrology during periods of drought. [8] Dome swamps can recharge the aquifers, acting as reservoirs. The average hydroperiod for a dome swamp is approximately 180 to 270 days per year. [3] The water is deepest and remains the longest in the center of the dome. Prolonged dry and wet periods have a huge effect on cypress regeneration. Adult cypress trees are tolerant to extended periods of inundation, however their seeds cannot germinate under water and may not survive. [3]
Cypress swamps occur in fire maintained communities. Fire is essential for maintaining the structure and species composition in these communities. Without periodic fires, cypress may become less dominant. Cypress are tolerant to light surface fires, due to their thick, fire-resistant bark. Surface fires act as a mechanism to remove potential competitors without tolerance and resilience to fires. [4] However, catastrophic fires that burn into the peat can be detrimental to cypress trees, especially when there has been a long period with no fires. [9] Catastrophic wildfires can alter the ground surface and transform a dome swamp into other types of wetlands, such as a wet prairie or shrub bog. [9] Fire frequency is greatest along the edge of the dome and least moving inwards. Along the edge, the normal fire period may be three to five years, whereas the center may be as long as 100 to 150 years. [9] Due to cypress domes having a more variable hydroperiod, cypress domes tend to have more natural fires than larger cypress forests. [10] Fire patterns impact the quality of ecological services provided by cypress domes, for example carbon storage and hydrologic storage.
Plant species that occur in cypress domes include:
Dome swamps provide breeding habitat for rare animals such as flatwoods salamanders ( Ambystoma spp.), white ibis ( Eudocimus albus ), and wood storks ( Mycteria americana ). [1] [5] Other species include:
The major threat to cypress swamps are humans. Anthropogenic alterations have negative impacts including hydrological modifications, logging, increased nutrients, pollution from agricultural runoff, and invasion of exotic species. [4] Conversion of surrounding lands to urban development, pastures, and agriculture can impede natural fires and changes the hydrology. [3] Changing the hydroperiods of cypress domes may limit reproduction of natural species and increase likelihood of invasive species. Invasive species threaten native species through competition for light, nutrients, and space.
Dome swamps have been used as a timber resource since the late 19th century. The rapid harvesting of cypress trees has made it difficult for them to regenerate and made them especially vulnerable. [8]
In addition, dome swamps are used as areas to treat wastewater. This can cause increased nutrients, organic matter, and minerals to enter the swamp. [10] This can increase aquatic plants, decrease oxygen in the water, and cause declines in native populations. Dome swamps treated with sewage may have higher water levels and litter production. [4]
Myakka River State Park is a Florida State Park, that is located nine miles (14 km) east of Interstate 75 in Sarasota County and a portion of southeastern Manatee County on the Atlantic coastal plain. This state park consists of 37,000 acres (150 km2), making it one of the state's largest parks. It is also one of the oldest parks in the state. It was delineated in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. A small portion of the park was the gift of the family of Bertha Palmer to the state. The park is named after the Myakka River.
The Atlantic coastal pine barrens is a now rare temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of the Northeast United States distinguished by unique species and topographical features, generally nutrient-poor, often acidic soils and a pine tree distribution once controlled by frequent fires.
The Apalachicola National Forest is the largest U.S. National Forest in the state of Florida. It encompasses 632,890 acres and is the only national forest located in the Florida Panhandle. The National Forest provides water and land-based outdoors activities such as off-road biking, hiking, swimming, boating, hunting, fishing, horse-back riding, and off-road ATV usage.
The Donald E. Davis Arboretum, in Auburn, Alabama, United States, is a public native plants museum, and botanical arboretum with educational facilities, event spaces, and a conservation program. Its grounds, covering 13.5 acres of Auburn University's campus, include cataloged living collections of associated tree and plant communities representative of Alabama's ecosystems, among which is mixed oak forest, carnivorous bog, and longleaf pine savanna. The living collections include more than 1,000 plant types, including 500 different plant species, with over 3,000 cataloged specimens. The Arboretum contains over a mile (2 km) of interwoven walking trails that meander through various southeastern biotopes.
Colt Creek State Park is a Florida State Park in Central Florida, 16 miles (26 km) north of Lakeland off of State Road 471. This 5,067 acre park nestled within the Green Swamp Wilderness Area and named after one of the tributaries that flows through the property was opened to the public on January 20, 2007. Composed mainly of pine flatwoods, cypress domes and open pasture land, this piece of pristine wilderness is home to many animal species including the American bald eagle, Southern fox squirrel, gopher tortoise, white-tailed deer, wild turkey and bobcat.
Before drainage, the Everglades, a region of tropical wetlands in southern Florida, were an interwoven mesh of marshes and prairies covering 4,000 square miles (10,000 km2). The Everglades is both a vast watershed that has historically extended from Lake Okeechobee 100 miles (160 km) south to Florida Bay, and many interconnected ecosystems within a geographic boundary. It is such a unique meeting of water, land, and climate that the use of either singular or plural to refer to the Everglades is appropriate. When Marjory Stoneman Douglas wrote her definitive description of the region in 1947, she used the metaphor "River of Grass" to explain the blending of water and plant life.
Coniferous swamps are forested wetlands in which the dominant trees are lowland conifers such as northern white cedar. The soil in these swamp areas is typically saturated for most of the growing season and is occasionally inundated by seasonal storms or by winter snow melt.
The Middle Atlantic coastal forests are a temperate coniferous forest mixed with patches of evergreen broadleaved forests along the coast of the southeastern United States.
Parnassia caroliniana is a species of flowering plant in the Celastraceae known by the common name Carolina grass of Parnassus. It is native to the southeastern United States, where it occurs in North Carolina and South Carolina, with an isolated population in the Florida Panhandle.
A bayhead or baygall is a specific type of wetland or swamp habitat. The name baygall is derived from sweetbay magnolia and sweet gallberry holly. Baygalls are recognized as a discrete ecosystem by ecologists and the swamps have been described as "distinct wetland communities in the Natural Communities of Louisiana". Baygall swamps are most often found in the low lying margins of floodplains and bottomlands with little or poor drainage to the main creek, bayou, or river channel. Baygall or bayhead swamps found on slopes and hillsides are sometimes referred to as a forest seep or hanging bogs. Hanging bogs are typically found in hardwood-pine forests. Most baygall swamps are semi-permanently saturated, or flooded.
Florida swamps include a variety of wetland habitats. Because of its high water table, substantial rainfall, and often flat geography, the U.S. state of Florida has a proliferation of swamp areas, some of them unique to the state.
The Southeastern conifer forests are a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of the southeastern United States. It is the largest conifer forest ecoregion east of the Mississippi River. It is also the southernmost instance of temperate coniferous forest within the Nearctic realm.
The Southern coastal plain nonriverine basin swamp is a wetland system found along the southern Atlantic coastal plain and the eastern Gulf coastal plain, and extending into the Florida peninsula. These wetlands occur in large, seasonally flooded depressions away from rivers. Sites are often forested by trees including bald cypress, swamp tupelo, evergreen shrubs, and hardwoods. Slash pine is sometimes found. Characteristic shrubs include buckwheat tree, swamp cyrilla, fetterbush lyonia, and laurelleaf greenbrier.
The southern coastal plain nonriverine cypress dome is a forested wetland community found in the southern Atlantic coastal plain, in the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
The east Gulf coastal plain large river floodplain forest is a type of forested wetland found in the eastern and upper Gulf coastal plain, in the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee. In particular, these forests can be found along the Apalachicola, Alabama, Tombigbee, Pascagoula, and Pearl rivers.
The south Florida cypress dome is a forested wetland plant community found in southern Florida, mostly in and around the Everglades and the Big Cypress National Preserve. They form in shallow depressions whose impervious substrates hold standing water for several months of the year.
Turkey Creek is a stream in Texas, United States. It rises in Central Tyler county and flows 30 miles (48 km) before converging with Village Creek, east of Kountze, Hardin County. It passes through the 8,032-acre (3,250 ha) Turkey Creek Unit of the Big Thicket National Preserve on its way south.