Because most of these flowering plant meadows occur sub-tidally, and when storm surges provide yet deeper water over top of them during the passage of these storms, they generally do not experience extensive damage. Meadows of seagrass act to secure sandy sediments during the passage of storms. Sediments moved from one location to another often expose limerock substrate upon which oysters settle and new reefs develop. Such damage to reefs often opens areas for numbers of species and individual corals to settle and grow creating a more diverse ecosystem. Despite this kind of damage, nature is remarkably resilient. In estuaries, storms can move sediments around and bury oyster reefs. Loose materials (boats, crab and spiny lobster traps, marine debris, etc.) can beat against reefs and cause localized damage that takes hundreds of years to naturally repair. Coral reefs are complex communities and many branching and soft corals battered by storm waves can be significantly damaged. However, reefs themselves can be damaged by tropical cyclones. These intricate structures act to dampen wave energies from storm systems and directly protect shoreline property and upland fish and wildlife habitat from damage associated with extreme wave energy. ![]() The many crags and crevices, and large walled structures we see as reefs are located off our shorelines. Coral, oyster and polycheate worm reefs are created by their namesake animals, and these reefs are architectural wonders. In Florida’s estuaries and ocean systems, some animals create rocky or rock-like habitat. Please also contact the FWC if you find a gopher tortoise in an unusual location like mangroves or debris piles following a storm. If a tortoise appears injured or has not moved within 12 hours or longer, please contact your Regional FWC Gopher Tortoise Biologist. Never take a gopher tortoise into your home or move it to a different location. You can help a tortoise in immediate distress, such as moving a tortoise in water to drier ground, but only if it is safe for you to do so. If avoidance of burrows by 25 feet during clean-up activities is not possible, please contact your Regional FWC Gopher Tortoise Biologist for assistance. Tortoise may occupy collapsed burrows and can dig themselves out of naturally collapsed burrows. ![]() This includes flooded and collapsed burrows. Tortoises and their burrows are protected under state law. Gopher tortoises may also seek shelter in their burrows during the storm, sticking their noses above water level or finding air pockets to breath within a flooded burrow. During storms, individual gopher tortoises may leave burrows in lower lying areas and head for higher ground. Gopher tortoises generally inhabit high and dry habitats, but they may occur in coastal dunes or in areas that can flood during extreme weather events.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |