Key West, an island about 100 miles south of the mainland, has no record of freezing temperature. Surface Water Characteristics. Most waterways are canals that were built to carry a moderate to high volume of water at very low velocity. The water table is high in many areas, resulting in poor natural drainage and abundance of wetlands. A poorly defined drainage pattern has developed on this landscape, which is relatively young and weakly dissected.
Palustrine systems having seasonally high water levels are abundant.
This Section adjoins the West Indian Marine and Estuarine provinces. Hurricanes are probably the most widespread form of natural disturbance, followed by infrequent fires during the winter dry season. Fire consumes irregular areas of organic soils, which fill with water during the wet season to make shallow lakes. Much of the land along the east and west coasts has been cleared of natural vegetation, originally for agriculture, but more recently for urban development. This Section contains the Everglades National Park, the Seminole and Miccosukee Native American reservations, and several national wildlife refuges.