Sweetwater Creek Watershed Mgmt. Plan 2007 Update--Part 2

EXISTING NATURAL SYSTEMS CONDITIONS
8.4.2 Wetland/Aquatic Natural Systems
The following wetland habitat descriptions are based on the information contained in Carlisle et
al. (1978), Florida Department of Transportation’s FLUCFCS Manual (1999), and the Soil
Surveys of Hillsborough County from 1916, 1958, and 1983. For information on lakes, the
SWFWMD’s Directory of Lakes (SWFWMD, 2005) and the USF Hillsborough Watershed Atlas
(http://www.hillsborough.wateratlas.usf.edu) were consulted. In the plant community
descriptions below, only the species that are most characteristic of the plant community in the
Sweetwater Creek watershed are mentioned as being present; however, the natural plant
communities that still remain in the watershed are highly diverse and contain many more
species than are mentioned in this report. For ease of reading, only common names of plants
are used in the report narrative, but Section 8.10 provides a list of all scientific names of plants
and animals included in the report.
Cypress swamp (621)
Cypress swamp is the most common wetland
community in the watershed. Formerly (1950)
occupying 5% of the land in the Sweetwater Creek
watershed, the cypress swamp community in 2004
covers 2.6% of the watershed. It is associated with
depressional Basinger, Holopaw, and Samsula soils that are located on the margins of some of
the 38 lakes in the watershed. These natural systems are typically large basins characterized by
peat substrates, seasonal to year-round inundation, still water, and occasional fire. The typical
vegetation canopy species is pond cypress which is associated with swamp black gum,
southern red maple, laurel oak, and dahoon holly. The understory is shrubby and is composed
of fetterbush, Virginia willow, and buttonbush. The herbaceous understory includes a variety of
ferns (royal fern, cinnamon fern, netted chain fern, Virginia chain fern, and toothed mid-sorus
fern) associated with alligator flag, water hoarhound, false nettle. Endangered and threatened
species such as butterfly orchid, Spanish moss, and ball moss occur occasionally in cypress
swamps. If intact, these communities provide important ecological and hydrological services in a
watershed.
Stream and Lake Swamp (615)
Formerly (1950) occupying 2.8% of the land in the
Sweetwater Creek watershed, the stream and lake
swamp community covered 0.08% of the watershed in
2004. Much of the original habitat has been replaced
by agricultural and urban land uses. The community is
also referred to as bottomland hardwood forests and is
associated with the stream channel of Sweetwater
Creek. Canopy tree species include red maple, water
oak, sweetgum, swamp black gum, pond cypress, and some tall Carolina willows. The
subcanopy and understory in this community are typically of open aspect except in forests
8-10
Sweetwater Creek Watershed Management Plan