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

Chapter 11: The Agricultural Core

Waterways of Florida

 

Farming in Florida 

Chapter 11 discusses farming in terms of farm size as well as other specifics regarding farming. Here are some interesting facts I found regarding farming in Florida.

In 2008 Florida accounted for:

-- 71 percent of the total U.S. value of production for oranges ($1.5 billion)
-- 68 percent of the total U.S. value of production for grapefruit ($179 million)
-- 52 percent of the total U.S. value of production for snap beans ($172 million)
-- 51 percent of the total U.S. value of production for sugarcane for sugar and seed ($448 million as of 2007)
-- 44 percent of the total U.S. value of production for fresh-market tomatoes ($622 million)
-- 40 percent of the total U.S. value of production for bell peppers ($267 million)
-- 39 percent of the total U.S. value of production for cucumbers for the fresh market ($94 million)
-- 29 percent of the total U.S. value of production for watermelons ($140 million)
-- 27 percent of the total U.S. value of production for tangerines ($58 million)
-- 21 percent of the total U.S. value of production for sweet corn ($157 million)

Farms and Land in Farms

In 2008 Florida had 47,500 commercial farms, using a total of 9.25 million acres.  There were 5,300 farms with sales exceeding $100,000.  The average farm size was 195 acres.  The number of farms in Florida has increased by 2,500 over the past 10 years.

Year	Total Number of Farms	Total Acres	Average Farm Size
2008	47,500	9,250,000	195 acres
2007	47,500	9,300,000	196 acres
2006	41,000	9,460,000	231 acres
2005	42,000	9,570,000	228 acres
2004	43,200	9,830,000	228 acres
2003	44,000	10,040,000	228 acres
2002	44,000	10,300,000	234.1 acres
2001	44,000	10,300,000	234.1 acres
2000	44,000	10,400,000	236.4 acres
1999	45,000	10,500,000	233.3 acres

Information above was obtained courtesy of the following website: http://www.florida-agriculture.com/agfacts.htm

As you can see, the highest production was of Oranges! Who would have guessed?

Source of picture: http://www.florida-agriculture.com/agfacts.htm

Chapter 10: Southern Coastlands: On The Subtropical Margin

Finally, a chapter that directly relates to Florida!

For those of you who don't know what the Southern Coastlands consist of, here is a highlighted on the US map to give you a general idea.

 Source of picture: http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/GEO/



The Southern Coastlands is a humid, subtropical place that appeals to many visitors and attracts new residents regularly.

Key west, which is located in the Florida Keys, is the southernmost point, and it lies only 60 miles from the tropic of cancer.

The Following is an image of the Florida Keys:

 

Source of Image: http://www.findrentals.com

When it comes to agriculture in Florida, what is one of the first things that come to mind? You guessed it! Sweet, sweet citrus! As our textbook states, out of the seven major citrus fruits grown in Florida, oranges and grapefruit are the most important. In fact, in 1997, production reached up to 10 million tons. 

Image of Citrus Grove in Centeral Florida. Source: www.Fao.org

Florida's central highlights which lie about 30 to 46 meters above sea level, are under land by sandy soils with moderately poor to very poor water-retention capacity. 

Above is an image to help you better understand irrigation.

Citrus and vegetable growing areas yield annual output as much as ten times more valuable when crops are irrigated than when precipitation is the sole source of moisture.

Additional Sources:

-http://www.fws.gov/pacific
-Course Text (Regional Landscapes of United States and Canada 7th edition)

Chapter 9: The Changing South

Reading the chapter made me realize something I never expected, something almost humorously ironic in a way. I got really excited when I thought the chapter would finally relate to my location of choosing, Florida, and I would have a lot of information to relate to.

However, as the chapter states, the southern culture is not coincidental with the census South. Peninsular Florida and coastal Texas, which are both locationally the most southern states, are in fact the least imbued with the South's culture.

Northern Florida is in fact considered part of the changing south. Southern Florida, however, is in the transitional area.

Northern Florida, as opposed to Southern Florida, is less industrialized and more prominent in agriculture. However, this is changing over time.

In fact, as our text book shows, Southern Florida (and later all of Florida) was one of the first areas to replace coal with electricity as a primary home heating fuel.

Chapter Eight: Appalachia and the Ozarks

Appalachia does not directly relate to Florida, however I will talk about early settlement in Florida, since this chapter talks about early settlement from Appalachia's European people.


Early Settlement in Florida:

Picture of: Juan Ponce de León


Juan Ponce de León was a Spanish explorer who explored the area where Florida is today in 1513. Florida was being held by colonial rule by both Spain as well as Great Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries. Soon after, in 1822, it became a territory of the United States and was fully considered a state in 1845.

Additionally, I noticed that one similarity in early settlement between Florida and Appalachia is the settlement of Europeans. 

Statistical information from: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2536600025.html

Chapter Seven: Bypassed East

After reading up on the Bypassed East, I have come to learn that it is a place in which living conditions are difficult (with the exception of a few areas) due to climate and terrain.

"The Bypassed East is not an easy place in which to live and work. Its harsh climate, hilly terrain, and thin, rocky soils limit agriculture, except in a few particularly blessed locations. Few mineral resource deposits of substantial size have been found until recently. Coupled with a small local market and relative isolation, this has limited the development of manufacturing. The advantages that the area does offer thus become relatively more important."

source:
http://countrystudies.us/united-states/geography-12.htm

Picture: Thin rocky soil makes agriculture difficult in the Bypassed East.

Chapter FIVE: Manufacturing Core

The North American Manufacturing Core

Although Florida is not a part of the core, it still has important relation to manufacturing.

In terms of the workforce, I learned that Florida has a powerful and efficent workforce, which has been also known to have an advantage since most manufacturers are able to conduct business overseas.

 

"Florida manufacturers are a powerful economic engine for the state’s economy. Many Florida manufacturing operations benefit from the presence of advanced research facilities at Florida’s universities and colleges, military installations, and NASA.The industry cluster counts nearly 18,000 manufacturers who employ close to 371,000 workers across the state." 

- Source: http://www.eflorida.com/Manufacturing.aspx?id=154

Additionaly, I learned about Florida's Emplyo Florida Banner Center for Manufacturing. Here, they work to provide curriculum, training, and certification resources for developing florida's manufacturing production workforce, while aiming to expand its diverse manufacturing industries. 

Read more about them at

http://www.banner-mfg.org/about.htm

Chapter Four: Megalpolis

This is a birds eye view of downtown Miami, FL

Although Megalopolis does not directly apply to my location, it is similar in certain ways. As I learned from our textbook, Megalopolis consists of tall buildings, busy streets, crowded housing, industrial plants, traffic, etc.

Upon searching many websites, I found one with a helpful chart to give us an idea of Downtown Miami's Demographics. ( http://www.downtownmiami.com/Downtown-Miami-Demographics )

Similarly to the largest cities in Megalopolis, Land is a great demand in areas near downtown Miami.


Additionally, I learned that Miami does not have an issue with congestion. As our textbook states under the "Accessibility and Density" section, congestion "occurs when activity sites become so densely packed that the level of interaction between them so intense that the routes for interaction become overcrowded" However, this seems to not affect Miami as much as it does to other cities.

Additional sources:
 http://www.citytowninfo.com/places/florida/miami

Chapter Three: Huamn Activity

To give us a general idea of what the populations are like in Florida.

As the picture above shows, Florida has a pretty broad range of populations throughout it's borderlines. One of the more populated regions as I learned is around Miami, with less population in northern Florida. 

  

Early in the twentieth century, when Florida was sparsely populated, more people meant more jobs and more opportunities. And in a state with considerable land area and few people, every new resident lowers the cost of providing basic services to all. But as an area gets more populated, its infrastructure bumps up against its carrying capacity. Police forces, roads, and schools no longer satisfy the demands of a growing population. Farmland and forests are sacrificed to strip malls and housing developments. And eventually growth no longer lowers the average cost of services, but instead raises it. When this point is reached, population growth increases the tax burden on communities; the revenue brought in by new growth is outweighed by the costs it creates.³

Florida, the seventh-fastest growing state in the country, has reached this downside to growth. A mid-1999 survey of Florida voters found that more than 80 percent considered the state’s burgeoning population a problem and 40 percent said that Florida has become a less comfortable place to live over the past five years.⁴

But the population growth that has transformed Florida into a crowded mass of subdivisions, congested highways, and paved-over pastures has just begun. If current trends continue, the state’s population will increase by 5.5 million by 2025 and will have doubled by 2050, when its population could surpass 32 million – or twice the 15,982,378 counted in the 2000 census. (That does not include the close to one million “snowbirds” who reside in the state every winter.⁵ )

 References:

http://www.npg.org/specialreports/FL/fl_report.html

3] Alan Altschuler and Jose A. Gomez-Ibanez, Regulation for Revenue: A Political Economy of Land Use Exactions (Washington: Brookings Institute; Cambridge: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 1993), p. 77.
4] Stephen G. Reed, “Poll: Pace of Growth Affects Quality of Life,” Sarasota Herald-Tribune, October 14, 1999.
5] Kate Gurnett, “With Snowbirds Comes the Sprawl,” Times Union, February 25, 2001.

Chapter Two: The Physical Enviroment

Florida, as I came to lean, has a lot to it's topography. Since there are many interesting features of the state, I will be mentioning a few of them that particularly stood out to me.

1) Rivers: 

When I first read up on the topography of Florida, the first thing that stood out to me were the rivers. The state of Florida contains more than 1,700 rivers, including streams and creeks.

The longest river is the St. Johns, which empties into the Atlantic 19 mi (42 km) east of Jacksonville: estimates of its length range from 273 to 318 mi.


2) Everglades

Almost all the southeastern peninsula and the entire southern end are covered by the Everglades, the world's largest sawgrass swamp, with an area of approximately 5,000 sq mi (13,000 sq km). The Everglades is, in a sense, a huge river, in which water flows south–southwest from Lake Okeechobee to Florida Bay. No point in the Everglades is more than 7 ft (2 m) above sea level. Its surface is largely submerged during the rainy season—April to November—and becomes a muddy expanse in the dry months. Slight elevations, known as hammocks, support clumps of cypress and the only remaining stand of mahogany in the continental US. To the west and north of the Everglades is Big Cypress Swamp, covering about 2,400 sq mi (6,200 sq km), which contains far less surface water.

CHAPTER ONE: Regions and Themes

(Source of picture: http://iguide.travel/Florida/Regions)

As many of us know, a state is compromised of cities and regions within its borderlines. Our textbook refers a region to “An area having characteristics that distinguish it from other areas. A territory of interest to people and for which one or more distinctive traits are used for its identity”

In terms of Florida, I came to learn that there are essentially six regions of the state (See picture)

The Northwest Region
The Northeast Region
The Central Region (Includes Orlando)
The Central West Region (Includes Tampa)
The Southwest Region
The Southeast Region
Resources: As I came to learn, Florida has many natural resources. Some of which include:

• Sugar canes
• Oranges
• Cows
• Seafood
• Natural Spring Water

Since our chapter talks a little about resource abundance and resource dependence, I thought it would be interesting to look into Florida’s contribution of resources to the US.

After reading this I found that Florida citrus is not only one of florida’s more common natural resource, but rather an essential commodity to the whole country. If you ask anyone where the best oranges come from, chances are that they’ll mention Florida!


“In 1915 the first citrus processing plant in America was built in Haines City, Florida. Mr. Claude E. Street realized the great waste from ‘cull fruit’ and began an endeavor that would be profitable for the grower. Mr. Street’s company was known as the Florida Fruit Products Company, Inc.”
http://www.grandmaberries.com/citrusfacts.asp

Additionally, I learned…
“Florida citrus is one of the best regulated commodities produced in this country. Through a complex network that includes the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the Florida Citrus Commission, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, both Florida fresh citrus and Florida processed juices are under continual inspection, to insure that the consumer gets quality.”
http://www.grandmaberries.com/citrusfacts.asp