Depending on who's doing the counting (and the defining) there are seven distinct habitats within Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. This single photo contains three of them: from right, pine flatwoods, wet prairie (or wet meadow) and pond cypress swamp. All three are determined by the amount of water the land holds, with pine flatwoods having the least and the cypress swamp the most. The photo shows how quickly things can change from one habitat type to another and yet to another within a space of maybe 100 yards or less.
Corkscrew itself is basically oriented northeast to southwest, and these habitats run in bands in the same orientation, with pine flatwoods running along the north and eastern flank of the sanctuary, moving into wet prairie, the pond cypress swamp, then bald cypress swamp and finally, along the outer perimeter, the central marsh. The other habitats: the lettuce lakes — ponds where water lettuce dominates the surface — and oak hammock. The lettuce lakes run as a kind of strand through the northeastern portion of the bald cypress swamp.
It's important to remember that what happens to the land within the sanctuary is influenced greatly by development — farms, housing projects, roads, etc. — beyond the sanctuary. Everything, every thing, depends on how water flows and the quality of that water. And everything outside the sanctuary depends on what happens within — water from Corkscrew ultimately flows southwest into Estero Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Corkscrew's diversity of habitats is key to the diversity of plants and animals found within Corkscrew — more than 700 plant species, 29 of which are endangered.
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Corkscrew itself is basically oriented northeast to southwest, and these habitats run in bands in the same orientation, with pine flatwoods running along the north and eastern flank of the sanctuary, moving into wet prairie, the pond cypress swamp, then bald cypress swamp and finally, along the outer perimeter, the central marsh. The other habitats: the lettuce lakes — ponds where water lettuce dominates the surface — and oak hammock. The lettuce lakes run as a kind of strand through the northeastern portion of the bald cypress swamp.
It's important to remember that what happens to the land within the sanctuary is influenced greatly by development — farms, housing projects, roads, etc. — beyond the sanctuary. Everything, every thing, depends on how water flows and the quality of that water. And everything outside the sanctuary depends on what happens within — water from Corkscrew ultimately flows southwest into Estero Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Corkscrew's diversity of habitats is key to the diversity of plants and animals found within Corkscrew — more than 700 plant species, 29 of which are endangered.
RETURN TO THE TOUR PAGE — | — RETURN TO THE MAIN PAGE