Watershed Ecology is very complex considering that it has 5 different parts and that if on section were to be disturbed then that could alter the whole Watershed. Each part plays a crucial role in the function each being more complex then the other. The 5 different areas that make up the complexity of the Watershed are Head Waters, Mid Reach, Lower Reach, Coastal area, and last but not least the Marine area. But the thing that makes this complex is that each of the 5 areas can be broken down into 5 more important areas consisting of Flora, Fauna, Geology, Hydrology, and of course Human Impact. On our trip we as a group studied all of the major things in each area. We collected the important data of each area of each of the 5 areas of the Watershed.

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Coastal Zone

To study the coastal we stayed in Gales point, which is a peninsula in the center of a lagoon where the fresh water from the river and the salt water from the ocean mixes. This is called and estuary, where fresh and salt water mixes.

Geology
Here in Gales Point you could literally walk from one side of the peninsula to the other without going more then waist deep. Because all of the nutrients and limestone that didn’t get used by the other areas of the Watershed is now building up the land that is now called Gales Point with the help of the mangroves. But since the people there wanted a breeze they cut down they mangroves and that started the process of erosion and the island started to dwindle. So the locals put up man made things that would start traping the sand as the mangroves did so that they could still keep the breeze and still have their island. Since there isn’t much land here the Geology can’t really have a big effect on anything, alls that is there is the little island that could grow or disappear.

Human Impact
The locals that live there mainly consist of Creole people. They live in a very laid back society. If you are there and you look around you will see houses that don’t look like the ones that you live in, and say to yourself that man why don’t they fix up there houses? But that’s the way that they live and they aren’t ashamed of it either. They don’t really mind having things just the way they are. What they do besides cut down the mangroves is they pollute the water. They only swim on one side of the lagoon because all of their excretions go into the other side. So the locals create a negative impact in this ecosystem.

Hydrology
Now there are nutrients still in the water that other places if the river didn’t use all of those nutrients are now running out to sea for the marine things to use. Here is one of the strangest places of the Watershed. Because the creature that live here have to be able to live in both fresh water and salt. The river itself is now running so slow that all when high tide for the ocean is going on Gales point is full of fresh water. And when there has been a flood up river then it is usually fresh water. So the Hydrology here really has a positive effect because now it is giving nutrients to the Marine area as well.

Fauna
Well Gales Point its self is home to a lot of different animals such as the manatee, the Hawksbill Sea Turtles, and well the common sand roach. The Hawksbill Sea Turtles use a place near by Gales Point as a nesting ground. There is a small conservation group that has a project going on the helps save the Sea Turtles. What they do is they find newly laid eggs and then transfers them to another spot where they then place special things around the nest to protect them from skunks that come at night and eat the eggs. The Turtles, once they are ready to leave, are dug out and set free. Once they are free they go out into the sea where they start their lives. They normally live on the continental edge and the reef. But all in all they play a positive role in the ecosystem because Turtles help as population controllers, the Sea Roaches live on the because in the sand and they filter the water, and the manatee I don’t really know to much about but each plays a vital role in the ecosystems function.

Flora
The Flora here mainly consists of Mangroves. The mangroves have special things they use to be able to live around salt water. Most other plants don’t so that is why when you go near the coast you may tend to see a lot of them. Not only do they trap soil with their roots but also provide a place to live for the little fish but it also acts as a spawning area for fish that live out in the reef; they come and lay their eggs in the mangroves because they also provide protection from predators. So they can help create land and help spices grow and live. But when we were bating up the river we noticed that there were a lot of palmettos, their special ability is that they are fire resistant and they can grow pretty fast. So since we noticed a lot of them growing next to the river we guessed that there had to have been a fire. SO Flora definitely plays a positive role because it helps the fauna and creates a bigger amount of diversity.

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