Aquatic Vegetation Mapping on Florida Lakes

Freshwater aquatic plants provide valuable habitat for fish and wildlife in Florida lakes. Changes or trends in plant communities affect habitat conditions for fish, waterfowl, wading birds, alligators, and threatened or endangered species. Aquatic vegetation mapping was initiated in 2005 to evaluate lake-wide habitat conditions on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes and Lake Istokpoga, later expanding to other systems. FWC hired professional mapping contractors to create maps of aquatic plants based on aerial photography and ground-truthing field surveys. Vegetation mapping has been completed on a 3-year cycle for lakes within the Orange Creek Basin near Gainesville since 2007. Results have documented lake-wide coverage of dominant plant communities over time. Freshwater Plants researchers then analyzed these data to estimate the amount of available habitat for fish and wildlife on each lake.

Mapping data are used by FWC teams in developing lake habitat management plans. On Orange Lake (12,700 acres, Alachua and Marion counties), results were compared over time to evaluate changes in vegetation and habitat value. For example, in 2007 researchers identified over 2,200 acres of high-quality largemouth bass habitat. Following a drought in 2012, high-quality habitat declined to less than 100 acres. Since then, plant communities have steadily recovered, and high-quality habitat exceeded 2,400 acres in 2022. These trends can help lake managers identify management strategies needed to improve lake-wide habitat conditions for fish and wildlife. For more information, see Orange Creek Basin Habitat Guidelines 2022.