Ocala National Forest
   HOME
*



picture info

Ocala National Forest
The Ocala National Forest ls the second largest nationally protected forest in the U.S. State of Florida. It covers of northern Florida. It is located three miles (5 km) east of Ocala and southeast of Gainesville. The Ocala National Forest, established in 1908, is the oldest national forest east of the Mississippi River and the southernmost national forest in the continental U.S. The word ''Ocala'' is thought to be a derivative of a Timucuan term meaning "fair land" or "big hammock". The forest is headquartered in Tallahassee, as are all three National Forests in Florida, but there are local ranger district offices located in Silver Springs and Umatilla. Geography and ecology The Ocala National Forest lies between the Ocklawaha and St. Johns rivers in Central Florida. In descending order of land area, it is located in parts of Marion, Lake, and Putnam counties. The Ocala National Forest is in the southeastern conifer forests and the Florida sand pine scrub ecore ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to the south by the Straits of Florida and Cuba; it is the only state that borders both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Spanning , Florida ranks 22nd in area among the 50 states, and with a population of over 21 million, it is the third-most populous. The state capital is Tallahassee, and the most populous city is Jacksonville. The Miami metropolitan area, with a population of almost 6.2 million, is the most populous urban area in Florida and the ninth-most populous in the United States; other urban conurbations with over one million people are Tampa Bay, Orlando, and Jacksonville. Various Native American groups have inhabited Florida for at least 14,000 years. In 1513, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León became the first k ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Southeastern Conifer Forests
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. Climate This ecoregion has a humid subtropical climate with significant precipitation year-round. Plant communities Historic vegetation was dominated by open woodlands of longleaf pine (''Pinus palustris'') with an understory of wiregrass (''Aristida stricta''). Other natural communities include to pine savannas, flatwoods (pine forests with woody understories), and xeric hardwood forests. Upland longleaf pine woodland These are woodlands dominated by longleaf pine (''Pinus palustris'') and subject to frequent fires. The Atlantic coastal plain upland longleaf pine woodlands occur on uplands and on the higher parts of upland-wetland mosaics, while the east Gulf coastal plain interior upland longleaf pine ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp
Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, Memphis-based passenger air transportation company, serving eight cities in the US * Southern Company, US electricity corporation * Southern Music (now Peermusic), US record label * Southern Railway (other), various railways * Southern Records, independent British record label * Southern Studios, recording studio in London, England * Southern Television, defunct UK television company * Southern (Govia Thameslink Railway), brand used for some train services in Southern England Media * ''Southern Daily'' or ''Nanfang Daily'', the official Communist Party newspaper based in Guangdong, China * ''Southern Weekly'', a newspaper in Guangzhou, China * Heart Sussex, a radio station in Sussex, England, previously known as "Southern FM" * 8 ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh
The Floridian highlands freshwater marsh is a wetland community found on the Florida peninsula. These are upland marshes occurring in shallow peat-filled valleys, the basins of dried lakes, and the borders of existing lakes. The vegetation mosaic includes a range of mostly herbaceous plant communities, varying based on water depth. Deep water supports various submerged and floating plants. Approximately meter-deep supports emergent herbaceous perennials, typically in dense, monospecific stands; species include bulrush (''Typha latifolia''), pickerelweed ('' Pontederia cordata''), American lotus (''Nelumbo lutea''). Shallow areas only submerged during wet season support more graminoid vegetation, including maidencane (''Panicum hemitomon'') and southern cutgrass (''Leersia hexandra ''Leersia hexandra'' is a species of grass known by the common names southern cutgrass, clubhead cutgrass, and swamp rice grass.
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock
The southern coastal plain hydric hammock is a wetland hammock community found on the flat lowlands of the southern and outermost parts of the Atlantic Coastal Plain in the states of Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. These forests of evergreen and deciduous hardwood trees occur near the floodplains of spring-fed rivers with relatively constant flows, usually over limestone substrates. They are usually found on gentle slopes just above swamps, marshes or wet prairies. In places, they can form large areas of broad, shallow wetlands. Hydric hammocks are found in scattered locations in Florida north of Lake Okeechobee, with concentrations along the upper St. Johns River, the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida, and particularly along the Big Bend section of the Gulf Coast of Florida, from Aripeka to St. Marks. Common trees include Eastern Red Cedar (''Juniperus virginiana''), elm (''Ulmus americana''), sweetbay magnolia (''Magnolia virginiana''), Red Maple (''Acer rubrum''), swamp l ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Taxodium Distichum
''Taxodium distichum'' (bald cypress, swamp cypress; french: cyprès chauve; ''cipre'' in Louisiana) is a deciduous conifer in the family Cupressaceae. It is native to the southeastern United States. Hardy and tough, this tree adapts to a wide range of soil types, whether wet, salty, dry, or swampy. It is noted for the russet-red fall color of its lacy needles. This plant has some cultivated varietiesFarjon, A. (2005). ''Monograph of Cupressaceae and Sciadopitys''. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. and is often used in groupings in public spaces. Common names include bald cypress, swamp cypress, white cypress, tidewater red cypress, gulf cypress and red cypress. The bald cypress was designated the official state tree of Louisiana in 1963. Description ''Taxodium distichum'' is a large, slow-growing, and long-lived tree. It typically grows to heights of and has a trunk diameter of . The main trunk is often surrounded by cypress knees. The bark is grayish brown to reddish brown ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest
The southern coastal plain blackwater river floodplain forest is a forest system found in Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, and Georgia. These forests occur in the drainages of blackwater rivers and streams whose dark water is caused by high levels of tannins, particulates, and other materials accumulated as they drain through swamps and marshes. The water has little mineral sediment and few suspended clay particles. Typical trees of these forests include bald cypress (''Taxodium distichum''), water tupelo (''Nyssa aquatica''), swamp tupelo (''Nyssa biflora''), sweetbay (''Magnolia virginiana''), and Atlantic white cedar (''Chamaecyparis thyoides''). Common shrubs are buckwheat tree (''Cliftonia monophylla'') and swamp cyrilla (''Cyrilla racemiflora''). Netted chain fern (''Lorinseria areolata ''Lorinseria'' is a genus of fern in the subfamily Woodwardioideae of the family Blechnaceae. Its only species is ''Lorinseria areolata'' ( synonym ''Woodwardia areolata''), the netted cha ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Blackwater River
A blackwater river is a type of river with a slow-moving channel flowing through forested swamps or wetlands. As vegetation decays, tannins leach into the water, making a transparent, acidic water that is darkly stained, resembling black tea. Most major blackwater rivers are in the Amazon Basin and the Southern United States. The term is used in fluvial studies, geology, geography, ecology, and biology. Not all dark rivers are blackwater in that technical sense. Some rivers in temperate regions, which drain or flow through areas of dark black loam, are simply black due to the color of the soil; these rivers are ''black mud rivers''. There are also black mud estuaries. Blackwater rivers are lower in nutrients than whitewater rivers and have ionic concentrations higher than rainwater. The unique conditions lead to flora and fauna that differ from both whitewater and clearwater rivers. The classification of Amazonian rivers into black, clear, and whitewater was fir ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Southern Coastal Plain Oak Domes And Hammocks
The Southern coastal plain oak dome and hammock is a forest type occurring in small patches in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. These forests consist of thick stands of evergreen oaks on shallow depressions or slight hills. They are distinct from their surrounding habitats, which are often woodlands dominated by longleaf pine. Mesic hammocks Mesic hammocks, also known as oak hammock, or cabbage palm hammock, grow on moist soils that are rarely flooded. There is typically a dense layer of leaf litter, and the sandy soils are relatively rich. Mesic hammocks in the central part of the Florida peninsula have a lower diversity of tree species than do those to the north and south, as the ranges of most deciduous hardwoods found in northern Florida do not extend south of about Orlando, and the ranges of the tropical hardwoods found in southern Florida do not extend as far north as Lake Okeechobee. Common species are southern live oak (''Quercus virginiana''), Pignut Hickory (''C ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Pinus Clausa
''Pinus clausa'' is a species of pine endemic to the Southeastern United States. Its common names include sand pine, Florida spruce pine, Alabama pine, and scrub pine. Distribution The tree is found in two separate locations, one across central peninsular Florida, and the other along the western Florida panhandle coast into the Alabama coast. There is a range gap of about between the populations (from Apalachicola to Cedar Key). It is largely confined to very infertile, excessively well-drained, sandy habitats where competition from larger-growing species is minimized by the harsh growing conditions of hot sun, fast-draining white sands, and frequent severe seasonal droughts. It is often the only canopy tree in the Florida scrub ecosystem. Description ''Pinus clausa'' is a small, often shrubby tree from , exceptionally to tall. The leaves are needle-like, in pairs, long, and its cones are long. Over much of its range, it is fire-adapted to stand-replacing wildfires, with ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Pinus Palustris
The longleaf pine (''Pinus palustris'') is a pine species native to the Southeastern United States, found along the coastal plain from East Texas to southern Virginia, extending into northern and central Florida. In this area it is also known as "yellow pine" or "long leaf yellow pine", although it is properly just one out of a number of species termed yellow pine. It reaches a height of and a diameter of . In the past, before extensive logging, they reportedly grew to with a diameter of . The tree is a cultural symbol of the Southern United States, being the official state tree of Alabama. Contrary to popular belief, this particular species of pine is not officially the state tree of North Carolina. Description The bark is thick, reddish-brown, and scaly. The leaves are dark green and needle-like, and occur in bundles of mainly three, sometimes two or four, especially in seedlings. They often are twisted and in length. A local race of ''P. palustris'' in a cove near Rocki ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Florida Peninsula Inland Scrub
The Florida peninsula inland scrub is a shrubland community found on the Florida peninsula. The largest remaining blocks of inland scrub are in and around the Ocala National Forest and in the Lake Wales Ridge National Wildlife Refuge. The Archbold Biological Station near Lake Placid contains about of scrub habitat and sponsors biological research on it. The scrub occurs on a series of north-south running ridges composed of sand derived from ancient dune fields. The soil, a type of entisol, is derived from quartz and is low in organic matter, silt, and clay. Because the low-nutrient sandy soils do not retain moisture, the ecosystem is effectively an arid one. The plants generally consist of xerophytic shrubs, especially oaks, with occasional pine trees. The understory is often sparse and sometimes absent, leaving only bare ground. Sand pine (''Pinus clausa'') is the typical pine. Oaks include Chapman oak (''Quercus chapmanii''), sand live oak (''Quercus geminata''), myrtle oak (''Q ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]