ABSTRACT
Apalachee Bay (Figure 3.3) is located along the Florida Panhandle known as the Big Bend area. The bay is characterized by the absence of barrier islands as a result of the shallow, sloping margins; the lack of wave action; and an inadequate supply of sand (Tanner, 1960). Apalachee Bay is lined by a series of drainage basins that include the Aucilla, Econfina, and Fenholloway Rivers (see Figure 3.3). The smaller basins are wholly within the coastal plain as part of a poorly drained region characterized by springs, lakes, ponds, freshwater swamps, and coastal marshes. The Econfina and Fenholloway River estuaries both originate in the San Pedro Swamp, a basin that has been affected, in terms of water flow characteristics, by long-term physical modifications through forestry activities. The small streams along the Big Bend area are associated with relatively limited estuarine areas. The coastal wetlands are highly developed in the saltwater marshes of the Apalachee Bay region, and Apalachee Bay estuaries have very high wetlands/open water ratios compared to the alluvial estuaries (Livingston, 2000).
