Chapter 18: Hawaii

Since Hawaii is considered an island, I am going to talk about some of the islands that are off of the coast of Florida.

The Florida Keys are a popular tourist spot. They are visited by thousands of people during the summer as a popular vacationing spot. In particular, the most common island that is visted off of Florida's coast is Key West. Personally, I can say that key west is actually a fun place to go for getting away and enjoying yourself. I have visited the island two times so far, and hopefully I will be able to go again one day.

Like Hawaii, Florida's coast consists of a grouping of various islands. Above is an image of the islands off of Florida's coast, and below is an image of Hawaii's islands, to give you a better understanding of the layout of the islands.

Islands of Hawaii

 

 

 

 

 

 

The above images and pictures were obtained from: http://www.fla-keys.com/ and http://www.discoveringfloridakeys.com/florida-keys-campgrounds.php

Chapter 17: The Northlands

 Logging and Forestry in Florida

Logging in the North is essential, as it is in Florida. Here is some information I have collectively obtained regarding forestry and logging in Florida:

About 47% of Florida's land area—16,285,000 acres (6,590,000 hectares)—was forested in 2002, when the state had about 2.2% of all forested land in the US. A total of 4,016,000 acres (1,625,000 hectares) was owned by the forest industry. The most common tree is the pine, which occurs throughout the state but is most abundant in the north.
Florida's logging industry is concentrated in the northern part of the state. The most important forestry product is pulpwood for paper manufacturing. Lumber production in 2002 was 888 million board feet, mostly softwoods.

Pulpwood is Florida's most important forestry product

Four national forests—Apalachicola, Ocala, Osceola, and Choctawhatchee—covering 1,434,000 acres (580,034 hectares) are located in Florida. State forests covered 1,403,000 acres (567,794 hectares) in 2002. Three of the main activities of state forests are forest management, outdoor recreation, and wildlife management.

Virtually all of Florida's natural forest had been cleared by the mid-20th century; the forests existing today are thus almost entirely the result of reforestation. Since 1928, more than 5.6 billion seedlings have been planted in the state.


The above information and pictures were obtained thanks to: http://www.fl-dof.com/

Chapter 16: The North Pacific Coast

American Indians in Florida

Since The North Pacific Coast's pre-European population was relatively large, it would be a good contrast to compare to Florida's similarly large American Indian population. In particular, lets take a look at a particular tribe, known as "Acuera"

Acuera

Meaning unknown (acu signifies "and" and also "moon").

 Connections. This tribe belonged to the Timucuan or Timuquanan linguistic division of the Muskhogean linguistic family.

 Location. Apparently about the headwaters of the Ocklawaha River.

 Towns. (See Utina.)

 History. The Acuera were first noted by De Soto in a letter written at Tampa Bay to the civil cabildo of Santiago de Cuba. According to information transmitted to him by his officer Baltazar de Gallegos, Acuera was "a large town where with much convenience we might winter," but the Spaniards did not in fact pass through it, though, while they were at Ocale, they sent to Acuera for corn. The name appears later in Laudonniere's narrative of the second French expedition to Florida, 1564-65 (1586), as a tribe allied with the Utina. It is noted sparingly in later Spanish documents but we learn that in 1604 there was an encounter between these Indians and Spanish troops and that there were two Acuera missions in 1655, San Luis and Santa Lucia, both of which had disappeared by 1680. The inland position of the Acuera is partly responsible for the few notices of them. The remnant was probably gathered into the "Pueblo de Timucua," which stood near St. Augustine in 1736, and was finally removed to the Mosquito Lagoon and Halifax River in Volusia County, where Tomoka River keeps the name alive.

Additionally, the well known Cherokee tribe was dominant in Florida.

The above images and information was gathered from http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/florida/

Chapter 15: California

Just as California has San Francisco bay, Florida has it's own well known bays. The most common known bay is Tampa bay.

 

A Portrait of the Tampa Bay Estuary
  » Fast Facts About Tampa Bay 

1.  Tampa Bay is the largest open-water estuary in Florida, encompassing nearly 400 square miles and bordering three counties -- Hillsborough, Manatee and Pinellas. The bay's sprawling watershed covers a land area nearly five times as large, at 2,200 square miles.


2.  More than 100 tributaries flow into Tampa Bay, including dozens of meandering, brackish-water creeks and four major rivers -- the Hillsborough, Alafia, Manatee and Little Manatee.


3.  A single quart of bay water may contain as many as 1 million phytoplankton -- microscopic, single-celled plants that are an essential thread in the "who eats who" marine food web.


4.  More than 200 species of fish are found in Tampa Bay, including the popular snook, redfish and spotted sea trout.


5.  Mangrove-blanketed islands in Tampa Bay support the most diverse colonial waterbird nesting colonies in North America, annually hosting 40,000 pairs of 25 different species of birds, from the familiar white ibis and great blue heron to the regal reddish egret -- the rarest heron in the nation.


6.  Each square meter of bay sediment contains an average of 10,000 animals -- mostly tiny, burrowing worms, crustaceans and other mud-dwellers that are known as benthic invertebrates. The most numerous creature in the bay sediment is a primitive, fish-like invertebrate about two inches long called branchiostoma.


7.  On average, Tampa Bay is only 12 feet deep. Because it is so shallow, manmade shipping channels have been dredged to allow large ships safe passage to the Port of Tampa and other bay harbors. The largest of these, the main shipping channel, is 43 feet deep and 40 miles long.


8.  The Port of Tampa is Florida's largest port and consistently ranks among the top 10 ports nationwide in trade activity. It contributes billions annually to the region's economy.


9.  More than 4 billion gallons of oil, fertilizer components and other hazardous materials pass through Tampa Bay each year.


These facts and images were provided from http://www.tbep.org/portrait/fast_facts.html

Additionally, since the chapter describes early settlement, here is an insight on the early European Exploration and Colonization.

European Exploration and Colonization

Written records about life in Florida began with the arrival of the Spanish explorer and adventurer Juan Ponce de León in 1513. Sometime between April 2 and April 8, Ponce de León waded ashore on the northeast coast of Florida, possibly near present-day St. Augustine. He called the area la Florida, in honor of Pascua florida ("feast of the flowers"), Spain’s Eastertime celebration. Other Europeans may have reached Florida earlier, but no firm evidence of such achievement has been found.



 Look! It's a picture of Juan Ponce de León. Now you know what he looks like.

The above information and pictures were obtained from the website http://www.flheritage.com/kids/history.cfm#human

Chapter 14: The Southwest Border Area

Ethnic Diversity:

All of the following information is information I obtained from a website which gives interesting facts and statistics regarding Florida. (Website cited below)

Florida - Ethnic groups

Florida's population consists mainly of whites of northern European stock, blacks, and Hispanics. European immigrants came primarily from Germany and the United Kingdom. Germans were particularly important in the development of the citrus fruit industry. Since World War II, the development of southern Florida as a haven for retired northerners has added new population elements to the state, a trend augmented by the presence of numerous military bases.

Florida's foreign-born population numbered 2,670,828 in 2000, or 16.7% of the state total—the fourth-highest percentage of foreign born in the nation. The largest group of first- and second-generation residents are Cubans, who represented 5.2% of Florida's population in 2000. There were 2,682,715 Hispanics and Latinos in 2000, including 833,120 Cubans (more than 100,000 of whom arrived on Florida shores as refugees in 1980), 482,027 Puerto Ricans, and 363,925 Mexicans.

The nonwhite population, as reported in 2000, was 3,517,349, or 12% of the total state population. Black-white relations in the 20th century were tense. There were race riots following World War I, and the Ku Klux Klan was openly active until World War II. One of the worst race riots in US history devastated black areas of Miami in the spring of 1980. The black population was estimated at 2,335,505 as of 2000, the fourth-largest in the nation.

Florida's indigenous inhabitants resisted encroachment from settlers longer and more militantly than tribes in other seaboard states. The leaders in resistance were the Seminole, most of whom by the 1850s had been killed or removed to other states, had fled to the Florida swamplands, or had been assimilated as small farmers. No peace treaty was signed with the Seminole until 1934, following the Indian Reorganization Act
 that attempted to establish tribal integrity and self-government for Indian nations.

In 1939, the Native American population was reported as only 600, but the 2000 census reported a figure of 53,541 Native Americans. The difference is too large to be explained by natural increase, and there is no evidence of marked in-migration; presumably, then, it reflects a growing consciousness of Indian identity. There are seven Indian reservations: five for the Seminole—Big Cypress, Hollywood, Brighton, Immokalee, and Tampa, and two for the Miccosuckee—one on the Tamiami Trail and one north of Alligator Alley near Big Cypress.


Population Growth 

A section in our textbook describes population grown in the Southwest Border Area, so it is appropriate to give an idea an idea of Florida's population growth:


As of 2000 Florida had an Asian population of 266,256 (eighth largest in the nation), or 1.7% of the total state population. The number of Pacific Islanders was estimated at 8,625. In 2000 there were 54,310 Filipinos, 46,368 Chinese, 70,740 Asian Indians (up from 22,240 in 1990), 33,190 Vietnamese (up from 14,586 in 1990), 10,897 Japanese, 19,139 Koreans, and 2,131 native Hawaiians.

Chapter 13: The Empty Interior

Although the Empty Interior does not directly apply to Florida, I will discuss topics which are discussed in the chapter in terms of Florida.

Tourism in Florida:

When visiting Florida, many people tend to make it an effort to visit one of two of the most popular places: Miami, and of course the world famous Disney world. 

Miami Florida is also a very tourist heavy location in which a countless number of people visit annually.

Wildlife


The following is information I obtained from a website which describes Florida's wildlife and provides with factual information. 

Information & Facts
About Florida's Favorite Animals 

Brown Pelicans For anyone who spends much time along either coast, these deserve to be the state bird. 

Florida Panther Florida's most endangered animal and one of the world's rarest. 

Key Deer The smallest deer in North America is found mostly on Big Pine Key.

Florida Manatees: Why manatees are considered close cousins to elephants, about their scars, life cycle and more.

Monarch Butterfly Most abundant during the fall migration.

Ospreys Sometimes mistaken for bald eagles, ospreys have distinctive markings that tell the two fish hawks apart. 

Peregrine Falcon Probably the favorite during fall hawk migrations.

 

Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers Because of their specialized habitat, red-cockaded woodpeckers have become an endangered species. 

Roseate Spoonbills Seen from a distance, many people mistake these pink birds for flamingoes.

Sea Turtles As adults, only the females ever come ashore. 

Florida Trees Trees unique to both Florida and the Caribbean

 

As mentioned above, the Florida Panther is one of the rarest panthers to exist, and is currently endangered. 

Chater 12: The Great Plains and Prairies

 

Above is one of Florida's greatest praires, known as the "Kissimmee Prairie".
Since this Chapter discusses plains and prairies, I will give a little insight about one of Florida's largest prairies. To begin, Kissimmee prairie is home to an array of endangered plants and animals, many of which are hard to come across by anywhere else. As I came to learn, the park offers excellent seasonal birding opportunities and is home to the endangered Florida grasshopper sparrow, as well as the crested caracara and sandhill crane (http://www.floridastateparks.org/kissimmeeprairie/default.cfm)


Tornado Frequency

Source of picture: http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/7t.html


Above is the same image in our textbook which displays average annual tornado frequency. Florida, as you can see, has a mixed array of tornadoes, with a heavy concentration around central Florida. 

Texas has the most reported tornadoes each year, about 125 on average for the years 1953–91; Florida, with almost 10 tornadoes per 10,000 square miles per year, has the most per area. However, most Florida tornadoes are very weak and affect extremely small areas.


Source: http://www.britannica.com/facts/5/730297/Florida-as-discussed-in-tornado-meteorology