Lake Jackson (Leon County, Florida)

Water drains from the lake into the Floridan Aquifer through the sinkholes. These are usually partially or completely plugged with sediments, but collapse when groundwater levels drop, allowing lake water to funnel into the aquifer, which can completely drain the lake. This has occurred on numerous occasions. Newspaper accounts report draining episodes in 1829, [1]and again in 1840 and 1860. [2] [3] Sellards reports that the lake drained though a sinkhole in June 1907 and drained again during the summer of 1909.[4] Lake Jackson drained again in November 1918, [5] and yet again in January 1932 and October of 1936.[6] The lake drained in 1956-1957,[7] and again in 1981-1982.[8] More recently, Lake Jackson drained in 1999, [9] and again in May 2007. During this last episode, the lake flowed down the Porter Sink, but pools of water still remained.[10]

Least tern at Lake Jackson, Florida, May 2004

Large numbers of waterfowl species are found at Lake Jackson. These include great blue heron, little blue heron, great egret, snowy egret, limpkin, Moorhen, American coot, wood stork, osprey, bald eagle, fish crow, and least tern. Common reptiles and amphibians include the American alligator, Southern chorus frog, Southern leopard frog, and the Florida softshell turtle. Among the mammals that inhabit the shoreline is the round-tailed muskrat. Brown pelicans, rare inland, have also been found on occasion.

American lotus at Lake Jackson, Florida, August 2006

Submerged vegetation is abundant throughout the lake and include blue hyssop, coontail, green fanwort, variable-leaf milfoil, and bladderwort. Marsh plants include maidencane, pickerelweed, American lotus, and slender spikerush. Numerous wetland tree and woody plant species also inhabit the drier portions of the transitional marsh. These include sweetgum, a variety of oaks, wax myrtle, the Carolina willow (salix caroliniana), and elderberry. Exotic invasive species have also established themselves in some areas, including Chinese tallow and hydrilla.[11]