Lake Suggs NEON / SUGG

North-central Florida’s climate is humid subtropical. Summers at OSBS are generally hot and humid, with average summer highs around 32°C (89°F) and lows averaging around 21°C (70°F). Winters are drier and mild, with highs around 19°C (67°F) and lows near 4°C (40°F). Average annual temperature is 20.9° (70°F). Average annual precipitation is about 1308 mm (51.5 in). Rainfall occurs year-round, but is heaviest June through September. In summer months, afternoon and evening thunderstorms bring most of the rain. Winter rainfall is not as intense as the summer storms. Annual precipitation patterns at the site are highly variable and periods of below average precipitation (drought) are not uncommon. Both hurricane landfall and severe droughts occur about every 15 years on average, with the latter often leading to severe wildfire conditions. Hurricane Irma had major impacts on the site in September 2011, including over 305 mm (12 in.) of rain across a 24-hour period and sustained winds in the 18-24 mph range with frequent gusts ranging 30-51 mph. [8] [9] [12]

The Ordway Preserve is located in the Northern Highlands portion of Putnam County, where it sits atop roughly 4000 feet of limestone, dolomite, and anhydrite formations. The Miocene-aged Hawthorn Group is overlain by the Cypresshead Formation which was laid down during the Pliocene and consists of sand, mud and clay. Above the Cypresshead Formation, belonging to the recent age, are the quartz sands recognizable as the soil of Ordway. They have many karst features and are often described as belonging to the Anastasia Formation. [10]

The bank and sediment of Suggs Lake are primarily compacted sand. The soils in the nearby OSBS terrestrial site are Entisol-order soils that are uncoated, Typic Quartzipsamments. These soils are primarily well-drained and sandy, but low-lying areas near lakes and swamps can have relatively deep layers of organic soils. [1] [13] [14]

Suggs Lake is a moderately nutrient rich and partially clear lake with an average secchi depth of 0.5 m and chlorophyll a content of 4 ug/L. The lake water is turbid, with light penetrating through the first two feet of water surface. Suggs Lake is primarily surface water dominated, although it does interact with the regional aquifer to some extent. This lake lies within a greater flow-through wetland complex. Inflow lies on the southwest part of the lake with a smaller inflow from the eastern edge of the lake. Outflow is through the northwest part of the lake as part of the greater wetland complex. Fluctuation in the water table is between 1-1.5 m. Suggs Lake has a mean depth of 2.06 m (6.75 ft.) and a maximum depth of 3.23 m (10.6 ft.) and is isothermal (does not stratify). The lake is classified as acidic with a mean pH of 4.9. The 39.6 km² (9,785 acre) watershed that encompasses Suggs Lake is replenished primarily by rainwater and overland flow inputs. Suggs Lake has a somewhat recognizable flow in from Lake Rowan and out towards Mill Creek Swamp and eventually Ross Lake. There is a gentle slope to the compacted sand banks with average angles of 160° to 170°. The eight groundwater wells situated amongst the site's rolling hills sample depths of 9-18 m (30-60 ft.). [1] [2] [3]

The dominant type of vegetation at Suggs Lake is a combination of evergreen forest and conifers. The riparian zone is dominated by red maple (Acer rubrum), tupelo (Nyssa sp.), pine (Pinus sp.), sweetgum (Liquidambar sp.), loblolly-bay (Gordonia lasianthus (L.) Ellis), bald cypress (Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich.), and oak (Quercus sp.). The riparian areas have an extensive cover of emergent macrophyte vegetation (e.g., weedy plants). The southern and western edges of the lake are dominated by wetland vegetation. [1] [3]

Suggs Lake is home to a resident American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) population. Common vertebrate species of Suggs Lake include Greater siren (Siren lacertina), southern leopard frog (Lithobates sphenocephalus), brown water snake (Nerodia taxispilota), banded water snake (Nerodia fasciata), topminnow (Fundulus sp.), and eastern mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki). Other vertebrate species found there include pig frog (Lithobates grylio), two-toed amphiuma (Amphiuma means), eastern mud snake (Farancia abacura), black swamp snake (Seminatrix pygaea), bluespotted sunfish (Enneacanthus gloriosus), and swamp darter (Etheostoma fusiforme). Fish are not sampled at Suggs Lake by NEON due to safety concerns presented by the alligator population. Aquatic fauna NEON collects data on include: aquatic macroinvertebrates, zooplankton, fish, and surface water microbes. [5]

The Ordway-Swisher Biological Field Station (OSBS) owes its origins to the contributions of land by the Swisher family in honor of Carl Swisher and a land purchase made in honor of Katharine Ordway by the Goodhill Foundation. The site was a former Nature Conservancy property, until ownership was transferred in 2006 to the University of Florida Foundation. Prior to this land acquisition, ownership changed hands through families that farmed and fished the land. Many of the lakes present on site, including NEON study sites Barco and Suggs Lakes, were named for families with farms present in the late 1800s. Remnant orange trees around Suggs Lake serve as a reminder of those early families. Similarly, remnants of turpentine production from the early 1900s litter OSBS. Clay pot fragments and tree stills are present in some of the NEON plots and left in place as cultural artifacts. [1] [7]

The Ordway Preserve is operated and managed to protect the natural communities within and to provide opportunities for scientific research and educational outreach primarily to users from University of Florida, but also to the greater scientific community. The site is closed to the public in order to protect the integrity of the site as well as the ongoing research taking place. Many of those ecosystems at OSBS are pyrogenic, and so most of the management onsite is in the form of controlled burns. Different parts of the site are managed on a variety of burn schedules. In some areas where woody species encroachment is high due to natural fire suppression, management also includes mechanical and chemical methods. Mechanical harvest of groundcover seeds occurs in some areas as part of a cooperative agreement with the St. John’s Water Management Agreement. These activities do not occur within NEON plots. In relation to its lake, the station collects data related to hydrology such as surface water quality, ground water levels and lake levels to monitor environment changes over time. In conjunction with the NEON program, additional research monitoring wells have been installed around Barco and Suggs Lakes. [4] [6] [15]

Suggs Lake establishment as a NEON AOS site began in 2012 and was ready for NEON AOS sampling in October 2014. AIS sensors were finalized for sampling in August 2017. Of the 2 OSBS lakes that NEON samples, Suggs Lake is part of the dark water system. [1]