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