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The Slough
A slough (pronounced "slew") is very similar to a swamp. The
main difference between a slough and a swamp, though, is that the water
in a slough flows and the water in a swamp stands still.
The Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve is 9 miles long and 1/3 mile wide. This long, skinny piece of wetland is a safe haven for plants and animals and provides a corridor for animals to travel from one area to another in search of food.
The Water
The Slough has two distinct seasons: the wet season and the dry season.
This means that during part of the year the Slough is dry (usually beginning
around December), and the rest of the year it is filled with water (which
begins around June).
The water that fills the Slough is fresh water from rain and rainwater runoff from a 33 square-mile watershed area.
As the water flows through the Slough, it takes chemicals and pollutants out of the water like a filter. Also, the Slough slows down the flow of the water so that sediments can settle out.
The water from the Slough flows to the Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve and mixes with the salt water there, forming an estuary. This is a place where 90% of all sea life begins and is a very fragile environment.
Plants and Wildlife
Many plants and animals at
the Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve have special adaptations that allow
them to survive in such a unique environment. One adaptation is that
some animals are able to look like their surroundings and camouflage
themselves to hide so that predators cannot see them. Check out Crazy
Critters and the Photo
Gallery to see pictures of what lives in the Slough.
The Food Web
A food web is a way of illustrating the interconnectedness
of living things, like the plants and animals that live in the Slough.
The very simplest form of a food web is a food chain.
All food chains begin with energy from the sun, because producers rely on this energy. Producers are all plants, ranging from trees to algae (microscopic producers).
Then there are consumers, which can eat either plants or animals. For example, squirrels are consumers of plants, while alligators are consumers of animals.
Lastly comes the decomposers, like bacteria, that break down organic matter into materials that plants can use to grow. This is how nature recycles itself.
Removing just one organism from the food web can upset the balance of the ecosystem.