The Lake Wales Ridge
To begin, what is an Ecosystem?
It is an Environment within which many Species,
both Plant (flora) and Animal,
(fauna)
maintain
a way of daily life, unconsciously
interdependent upon one another and
the area that they inhabit together.
The Lake Wales Ridge is the spine of Ancient Florida.
It runs right down the middle of the
State for over 100 miles.
Millions of years ago, after the Seas
rose due to Glacial melting,
Florida became a chain of Islands, when
the seas receded,
the Islands became the Peninsula that is
now Florida.
The Lake Wales Ridge
- Chassahowitzka WMA
Photo credit: FWC
The Lake Wales Ridge
- Chassahowitzka WMA
Photo credit: FWC
The Lake Wales Ridge
Photo credit: FWC/Lynn Flannery
The Lake Wales Ridge
Photo credit: FWC
When they were Islands, they were a
most unique Ecosystem,
unlike any other in America,
perhaps the world.
These Islands became the Lake Wales Ridge.
Lake Wales Ridge
Photo credit: FWS
Species of plants and animals who once
had been
confined by the water, now were free to
spread out.
Apparently most of them did not go too
far,
as many of them can still be found here
on the Ridge.
Just a few of the 22 Endangered Species
found here are:
the scrub jay, the scrub lizard, the
gopher tortoise,
the sand skink, the scrub morning glory
and the scrub lupine.
Archibald Biological Station
Photo credit: Christine V. Hawkes
This part
of Florida and its cluster of Endangered Species,
may not be found
anywhere else.
The Lake Wales Ridge is indeed a true
microcosm.
From the top of Sugarloaf Mountain
Photo credit:
lithiom6ion
If you want to see
the Ridge, it is not difficult.
Go to Hi-way 27 where it intersects with Hi-way 50 near Clermont,
then go in either direction.
The Lake Wales Ridge runs through parts of five counties
including:
Polk, Lake, Orange, Highlands and Osceola.
The Ridge begins or ends, South of Sebring in and runs North
into Lake County for a total of about one hundred miles.
See a map of it here:
Lake Wales Ridge Map
The road to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain
Photo credit: lithiom6ion
Sugarloaf Mountain has the highest elevation on the Lake Wales
Ridge
and all of the Florida Peninsula, reaching nearly 300
breathtaking feet.
It is truly a remarkable area and reveals just a glimpse of what
it may have been like
here millions of years ago.
Places to learn more:
Archibald Station
Endangered Species of the Lake Wales Ridge
Florida's Ancient Islands
BLM
Lake Wales Ridge
Florida Department of Forestry
Lake Wales
Ridge State Forest
Florida Scientist
Ecological Map of Lake Wales Ridge
Floridata
The
Florida Scrub
FFWCC
Lake Wales Ridge
Lake Wales Ridge Area
Map
Lake Wales Ridge
Endangered Species of the Ridge
Nature Conservancy
Lake Wales Ridge
NPR
Florida's
Attic
The Lake Wales Ridge
University of Florida
Florida's Ridges
USGS
Lake Wales Ridge Ground Water Study
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Last edited June 7, 2021
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