Florida's Native Plant Communities

Dome Swamp

  • Cypress dome (rear) with dwarf cypress in front, Big Cypress National Preserve, Collier County. Image by Shirley Denton, Suncoast Chapter

  • Interior of cypress dome, Pasco County.  Photo by Shirley Denton, Suncoast Chapter

  • Trees with bromeliads in cypress dome in Big Cypress National Preserve.  Photo by Shirley Denton, Suncoast Chapter

Photographs belong to the photographers who allow use for FNPS purposes only.

Information

Community Variants:

Cypress Dome

Description:

Dome swamps occupy rounded depressions in areas with sandy or limestone substrates, where peat typically accumulates toward the center. They are seasonally inundated still-water systems found in both subtropical and temperate settings. Fire is occasional to rare.


Typical vegetation includes pond cypress ( Taxodium ascendens ) and swamp blackgum ( Nyssa sylvatica var. biflora ) in the center. Toward the margins, in shorter-hydroperiod zones, common species include sweetbay magnolia ( Magnolia virginiana ), loblolly bay ( Gordonia lasianthus ), swamp bay ( Persea palustris ), and swamp laurel oak ( Quercus laurifolia ).


A defining feature of dome swamps is that the tallest trees often occur in the center, while shorter trees dominate the edges. This structure is thought to reflect more frequent fire at the outer margins compared to the wetter, less fire-prone interior.

References:

Florida Department of Environmental Protection. 1992. Soil and Water Relationships of Florida's Ecological Communities http://www.dep.state.fl.us/water/wetlands/delineation/docs/soil-and-water.pdf


Duever, Linda. 1985 (Spring). Florida's Natural Communities: Cypress Swamps. The Palmetto 5, #1:4-5. http://fnps.org/assets/pdf/palmetto/duever_linda_conway_natural_communities_of_floridas_cypress_swamps_vol_5_no_1_spring_1985.pdf


Florida Natural Areas Inventory (FNAI). 2010. Guide to the natural communities of Florida: 2010 edition. Florida Natural Areas Inventory, Tallahassee, FL. http://fnai.org/naturalcommguide.cfm


Gann, G.D., K.A. Bradley, and S.W. Woodmansee. 2009. Floristic Inventory of South Florida Database. Institute for Regional Conservation. http://regionalconservation.org/ircs/database/database.asp


Myers, R.L. and J.J. Ewel (eds.). 1990. Ecosystems of Florida University of Central Florida Press: Orlando.


Simons, R.W. 1990. Terrestrial and freshwater habitats. Pages 99-157 in S.H. Wolfe, editor. An ecological characterization of the Florida Springs Coast: Pithlachascotee to Waccasassa Rivers. Biological Report 90(21). United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC.


USDA Soil Conservation Service. 1986. 26 Ecological Communities of Florida. http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00000110/00001


Whitney, E.N., D. B. Means, A. Rudloe. 2004. Priceless Florida: Natural Ecosystems and Native Species. Pineapple Press.

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