Wet Prairie

Wet prairie communities are found throughout the entire Everglades region wherever there is marl soil rather than the peat soil found under the sawgrass prairie.  These prairies have a shorter hydroperiod than the sawgrass prairie, meaning they dry up for a longer period each year during the winter dry season.  The flora of the wet prairie is more diverse with a number of different sedges, rushes, and grasses plus a very prominent periphyton mat.  Also, wet prairies often have scattered trees such as red mangroves or dwarf bald cypress throughout the landscape creating an alien or eerie feel. 

In the wet prairie, the dry season brings about the evaporation of water and exposure of soils.  This causes fish to seek refuge in deeper areas such as sloughs, ponds, canals, or solution holes.  If fish are not able to make it to one of these refuges they are often concentrated into pools of water which then attract in large flocks of wading birds to feed on the abundant prey.  This part of the yearly cycle also corresponds with the wading birds' nesting season making food readily available for their young chicks.  As the wet season rains flood the prairie again, fish populations explode and repopulate the prairie.