Student Observation of the Freshwater Marsh Ecosystems/ Freshwater Marsh /Student Observation Freshwater Marsh 3/17/02    Photographed by: Holly Moon

Descriptive Information Date: 03/22/02 Weather: warm and cloudy Observations The vast expanse of the 40 mile wide/120 mile long fresh water slough was breathtaking. When we arrived early in the morning the sky was cloudy, and a warm breeze was blowing. The temperature was around 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and we eagerly walked the boardwalk up to a high platform that exposed the terrain for miles. What we saw was mostly sawgrass and scattered patches of small cypress trees. On the ground were many empty apple snail shells, and even evidence of an alligator. Upon closer observation of the sawgrass we realized it could grow up to four to six feet tall. On the lower half of the sawgrass blades we discovered white and pastel pink clusters of apple snail eggs. Out of the 42 clusters selected, we observed an average of 22 eggs overall with a range of 6 to 47.