By: Josh Bible

Florida has many different landforms. I chose islands, swamps, plains, dunes, and a spring, to study for their economic impacts. Different landforms help in different ways. Let me tell you about some interesting facts I found!

 An island is a piece of land surrounded entirely by water.  There are 1700 small islands in the chain of the Florida Keys.  The Florida Keys are the only frost free place in Florida, because of the warm ocean breezes.

 In 2009, there were 54,470 jobs in the Florida Keys.  3,807,800 people visited the Florida Keys in  The 2010 gross income for the chain of islands was $3,428,421,825.

 A swamp is a marshy area that is usually found in the wetlands.  The Florida Everglades is the largest swamp in North America.  The Florida Everglades is really more like a slow moving river.

 3.5 million jobs were produced in the Florida Everglades watershed in  $935 million was generated by recreation and tourism.  1 out of 3 Floridians rely on the Everglades for their water supply!

 A dune is a ridge of sand created by continuous winds over time.  The Lake Wales Ridge is a dune that runs down the center of our state, 150 miles from Gainesville to Venus.  The rich sand from the dune is a prime place to grow citrus trees.

 There are over 76,000 people working in the Florida citrus industry.  The economic impact of citrus in Florida is $9 billion per year.  The Lake Wales Ridge produces 31% of Florida citrus.

 A plain is an area of flat or gently rolling land.  A plain can be a covered in grass, shrubs, woods, or forests.  Plains have soil that is deep and fertile. Usually grass grows easily on a plain, which is very important for raising livestock.

 Florida is 10th in the nation in producing livestock.  About 20,000 cattlemen produced calves in Florida.  There are 6.5 million acres of pasture in Florida. Grassy plains support Florida's 1.2 million head of beef cattle, and some other livestock.

 A spring is where water comes out of the ground from an aquifer.  When overlying rock collapses, is what makes a spring.  There are more than 700 springs in Florida.

 In 2001 alone, Florida brought over 1 million people to twelve spring parks.  Some springs can pump more than 64.6 gallons a day.