Geography and Ecology of The Everglades - The Big Cypress

The Big Cypress

West of the sawgrass prairies and sloughs lies the Big Cypress Swamp, commonly called "The Big Cypress", referring to its size rather than the height or diameter of its trees. It takes up the majority of Collier County; at its most limited measurement, the swamp measures 1,200 square miles (3,100 km2), but its hydrological boundary is nearly twice as large. The Big Cypress is slightly elevated at 22 feet (6.7 m) at its highest point and slopes gradually to the coastline for approximately 35 miles (56 km). Because the defining feature of The Big Cypress is the abundance of trees, it is considered a swamp rather than a marsh, in which grass is the main characteristic.

The basin for The Big Cypress receives on average 55 inches (140 cm) of water in the rainy season. Most of The Big Cypress sits atop a bedrock covered by a thin layer of limestone that contains quartz, creating a sandy soil that hosts a variety of vegetation. The majority of trees are bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) and not true cypresses (Cupressaceae). Cypresses are conifers that are uniquely adapted to thrive in flooded conditions, with buttressed trunks and root projections that protrude out of the water, called "knees".

Cypress trees in the area can live for hundreds of years; some giants grow to 130 feet (40 m) and are 500 years old. Still, they may be only seventh- or eighth-generation cypresses. Few massive trees survived the logging operations that took place in the 1930s and 1940s. As a result, much of The Big Cypress is protected by various federal or state agencies that include Big Cypress National Preserve, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve and two Indian reservations.