Marsh Characteristics
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Click for 225k large version In an otherwise flooded embayment, sabal palm (Sabal palmetto) and red cedar (Juniperus siliciocola) form a a hammock on a rocky limestone outcrop near Yankeetown, Florida.


Click for 262k large version A coastal band of wetlands is a mosaic of marsh and hammock vegetation strongly influenced by the porous limestone bedrock. Hammocks have little tolerance for salt and grow where the limestone elevation is high. The marsh grows between the high and low tide lines where the limestone is low enough to be coated by a veneer of mud.


Click for 244k large version Hammocks of sabal palm and red cedar thrive on limestone high areas scattered throughout the wide marsh plain.


Click for 303k large version Wrack, a thick layer of marsh debris, is depostited against the tree line following a major storm. Although resilient to storm events, the marsh coast is sensitive to significant and long-term changes.


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