Abstract This survey project sought to achieve a more accurate understanding of hydrologic as well as historic and current land-use

interactions between developed areas and three adjacent steephead ravine ecosystems that lie within three neighboring watersheds. It utilized a combination of extant Leon County data sets as well as a number of ArcHydro operations to produce an accurate depiction of drainage basins, which comprise the larger watersheds, as well as a flow accumulation raster layer that revealed where uncontrolled stormwater runoff intersects both with impervious surfaces and the ravines respective drainage basins. Multiplebuffer rings of three 100ft intervals were rendered for all impervious surfaces that fell within ravine drainage basins. Finally, a simple index that plotted impervious surface-area to drainage basin-area ratios was made for the three ravines. Given the unavailability of more robust data such as water quality samples and biodiversity indices, a modest hypothesis was made that predicted stronger indicators of ecological degradation occurring where upslope development lay closest. It was also predicted based upon the impervious-to-basin area ratios A qualitative assessment of ecological integrity was made within each ravine system to the extent of each ravines accessibility. Observations were made along a west-east axis, with particular attention given to vegetation and slope characteristics at the westward ravine-heads, where most of the impervious buffer zones intersected with locations of converging runoff as depicted in the ArcHydro accumulation flow raster. Introduction

When one thinks of Floridas natural assets, the first thing that springs to mind is usually its white beaches, replete with palm trees. If youre a native or long-term denizen then you might be also be familiar with its brackish wetlands (i.e. Everglades), oak hammocks, cypress swamps, sand prairies, maybe even the once-dominant longleaf pine savannah. Few outside or even inside the state typically associate it with hilly uplands notched with ravines or karst lowlands pockmarked with sinkholes. Yet this is largely characteristic of the states relatively undeveloped region, considered by some as Floridas last frontier. It is formally classified within the U.S.s top-five biodiversity hotspots This project is a combination of both remote and field socio-ecological detective work. It is a product of an insatiable curiosity of local obscurities and their history, inspired by the profound aesthetic beauty and relative scarcity of a little-published suite of ecosystems, and ultimately motivated by the concern that those ecosystems will come under increasing threat as realestate development in the panhandle catches up with the rest of the state. This is not to say that there is any underlying bias against development in this study; rather it is taken as a given that development will and should continue to occur to meet the needs of a growing population. Development will need to become smarter, however, if we want to conserve both economic natural resources such as a sustainable timber supply, as well as priceless assets such as wilderness and healthy biodiversity. This necessitates an endorsement of larger-scale and financially capable planning measures, however, over piecemeal, single-proprietor development, at least in respect to critical riparian and hydrologic recharge areas, where biodiversity also tends to be highest. Planned unit development has the advantage of mitigating environmental externalities through costly measures such as terrain leveling and excavation, as

well as the construction of water control features to a degree of effectiveness with which individual property owners and even city budgets may be unable to compete. Smart planning in itself is still not enough, however. Internalizing ones immediate environmental impact according to narrow guidelines such as onsite stormwater management doesnt preclude the possibility of a Wal-Mart PUD from collapsing into a calving ravine slope as a result of non-local hydrologic effects. If future development is to be truly sustainable, then we must take great pains to learn about how unique hydro-geologic features such as steepheads behave along a spectrum of development proximities, densities, and altered groundwater and networks. Tallahassee offers a living laboratory of sorts in terms of ravine-urban interaction, with well over a dozen ravine features within and near city limits. Municipal and county development incorporates lake protection zoning to ensure more conservative development, Steepheads are unique in that they do not behave like more typical ravines formed by topdown gully erosion.

Ravine System

Drainage Area (square feet)

Mounds

5,939,849.5

Total square footage of impervious surface runoff 114,257.0

Percentage of impervious surface

Observations

1.9%

Talpeco

2,333,575.2

99,168.5

4.3 %

Kami Creek

2,126,199.8

232,080.8

10.9 %

Significant erosion as well as large collapsed home-unit at Minuet branch head; evidence of off-road vehicular use beyond park boundaries; westernmost steephead converted into retentionfiltration pond system; white-tail deer and wild turkey populations Westernmost forest community compromised by kudzu; at least three derelict home-units as well as scattered dumping ground along north slope; invasive understory; most severe erosion by Cangrove Ln.; eastern outlet blocked by berm/filtration pond Invasive understory; white-tail deer population; westernmost steephead intersected by Ray Road

Data and Methodology All map layer data, as well as ArcHydro tools, were obtained through the permission and guidance of the Leon County GIS department at the Leon County Courthouse. Runoff control features were visually corroborated using Google StreetView. Field observation and identification of native and invasive species (corroborated through University of Florida Extentions online invasive plant catalogue), as well as of derelict structures and inaccessible water control features were conducted on foot, through the use of abandoned public right-ofways, as well as the kind permission of local residents. Local history of ownership and use were also obtained from anonymous residents, as well as online sources.

This was a multifaceted study, entailing the incorporation of several different geographic data layers. The project area was delineated by three adjacent watersheds: Lake Jackson Mounds WS, Madam Marys Catchment Basin, and Okeeheepkee WS.

Results The qualitative assessments made in the three ravine systems supported some of the predictions made from preliminary GIS analysis, while challenging others. All three ravine systems showed indications of ecological degradation in varying degrees and gradients, while also displaying their remarkable functional resilience as an ad hoc wildlife corridor amidst moderate to high-density development. Each ravine system evinced the hypothesized westeast gradient in terms of ecological integrity to some degree, in which invasive species are the most proliferate at the western, most development-proximal extremities, and then appear in gradually scattered populations towards Meginnis Arm; most understory environments however showed a baseline infiltration of aggressive invasives such as coral artesia, Mounds Ravine is the largest of the three, both in terms of its overall drainage area as well as the navigable course of the seepage stream itself; it also features a major side branch that is at least half as large as either of the lower two ravines. It boasts some of the largest continuous tracts of slope-forest cover of the three ravines, and benefits from the stewardship of the Lake Jackson Indian Mounds Archeological State Park in much of its eastern half. The ravine system faces challenges, nonetheless, as a result of its motley land-use and ownership history, as well as possible regulatory laxities. The state park boundaries are highly permeable, and pose

liabilities for the parks ability to maintain revenue. Park property fencing has largely collapsed on its west side, immediately adjacent to rutted dirt road that leads in and out of the ravine to Old public right-of-ways and back entrances may be vested knowledge to locals as well as the curious, but a lack of There