Title: SOIL WATER TABLE, REDUCING CONDITIONS, AND HYDROLOGIC REGIME IN A FLORIDA FLATWOOD LANDSCAPE
Abstract:Cypress/pine flatwoods are a dominant landscape of the lower coastal plain of the southeastern U.S. It is clear that the cypress swamps are wetlands, but it is not clear that the intervening pine ecos...Cypress/pine flatwoods are a dominant landscape of the lower coastal plain of the southeastern U.S. It is clear that the cypress swamps are wetlands, but it is not clear that the intervening pine ecosystems would meet hydrologic criteria of a wetland definition. Hydrology, as defined by the periodicity of the fluctuating water table and its effect on the redox environment of the soil, will determine whether these areas are wetlands. The objectives of this study were (i) to evaluate the relationship between water table depth and redox environment for a typical pine flatwoods/cypress swamp landscape and (ii) to use this relationship to contrast the amount of the study area that would fit a specific wetland hydrology definition where that definition was based on either water table depth or the development of a reduced environment in the soil surface. One hundred twenty water table wells were installed in a grid system over a 42-ha study site, and water table depth was measured approximately every 2 weeks. At selected locations, redox electrodes were installed at a 5-cm depth in pine planations growing on Spodosols and landscape positions that were in transition between these Spodosols and the adjoining cypress swamps. A Geographical Information System was used to calculate the area of the study site meeting different criteria related to water table depth or soil reduction. Results suggest that 20 to 56% of the study area would meet a hydrologic definitions of wetland, depending on the hydrologic criteria used. In these landscapes, water tables between 15 and 20 cm below the soil surface promoted reduced conditions in the surface. This criteria could be used for evaluating redox conditions relative to hydrophytic vegetation and soil redoximorphic features.Read More
Publication Year: 1996
Publication Date: 1996-03-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 17
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