Josephine West (Highlands County)

Florida LAKEWATCH Water Chemistry Summary

Location: Latitude 27°24'10", Longitude 81°27'7"

Period of record: 46 sampling dates; March 16, 1996 to December 19, 1999

Surface area (LAKEWATCH): No data available.     Bathymetric Map

Lake Region (Griffith et al. 1997): Lake Wales Ridge Transition

Geologic formation (Brooks 1981):

The geology is dominated by deeply weathered beach and dune sand with some clay lenses of the preglacial Pleistocene.

Physiographic region (Brooks 1981):

The water body lies in the Eastern Complex of the Central Ridge subdivision of the Lake Wales Ridge division of the Central Lake District.

Supplemental, unpublished water chemistry data, University of Florida.

Numbers reported below are the average for 2 months sampled:
 
pH
6.5
 Sulfate (mg/L)
6.7
Total alkalinity (mg/L as CaCO3)
5.4
 Calcium (mg/L)
5.7
Conductance (µS/cm @ 25 °C)
84
 Magnesium (mg/L)
1.6
Color (Pt-Co units)
118
 Sodium (mg/L)
7.1
Chloride (mg/L)
18.9
 Potassium (mg/L)
1.5
Silicon (mg/L)
1.5
    

Long-term Florida LAKEWATCH Data

Numbers reported below are the minimum, average, and maximum value for the 46 months sampled:

 
Minimum
Average
Maximum
Long-term total phosphorus concentrations (µg/L)
61
98
193
Long-term total nitrogen concentrations (µg/L)
710
1040
1600
Long-term total chlorophyll concentrations (µg/L)
10.7
26.9
94.0
Long-term Secchi depth (ft)
1.0
1.5
2.0

1999 Florida LAKEWATCH Data

Numbers reported below are monthly averages calculated from 3 stations for total phosphorus (TP, µg/L), total nitrogen (TN, µg/L), chlorophyll (CHL, µg/L) and Secchi depth (SECCHI, ft) during 1999:

Date
TP (µg/L)
TN (µg/L)
CHL (µg/L)
SECCHI (ft
Jan-17-99
78
840
11.3
1.5
Feb-17-99
73
710
13.3
1.5
Mar-16-99
69
970
10.7
1.5
Apr-20-99
83
930
15.0
1.5
May-25-99
76
1090
42.7
1.5
Jun-19-99
93
1090
31.0
1.5
Jul-20-99
110
1050
26.7
1.5
Aug-21-99
98
1100
25.3
1.5
Sep-24-99
97
940
19.3
1.5
Oct-18-99
122
970
20.0
1.5
Nov-20-99
117
1050
11.3
1.8
Dec-19-99
108
1000
10.7
1.5
         
1999 Average
94
980
19.8
1.5

Josephine West (Highlands County)

Florida LAKEWATCH Aquatic Plant Summary

Aquatic plant data collected on August 5, 1996

Percent area covered with aquatic vegetation (PAC, %)
12
Percent of lake's volume filled with vegetation (PVI, %)
4
Average emergent plant biomass (kg wet wt/m2)
4.6
Average floating-leaved plant biomass (kg wet wt/m2)
2.5
Average submersed plant biomass (kg wet wt/m2)
0.4
Average width of emergent and floating-leaved zone (ft.)
223
Average lake depth (m)
1

Frequency that plant species occur in 10 evenly spaced transects around the lake.

Common Name Plant Species
Frequency (%)
spatterdock Nuphar luteum
100
water primrose Ludwigia octovalvis
90
wax myrtle Myrica cerifera
80
pickerelweed Pontederia cordata
70
common duckweed Lemna minor
60
common salvinia Salvinia rotundifolia
60
fragrant water-lily Nymphaea odorata
50
cat-tail Typha spp.
50
coontail Ceratophyllum demersum
40
slender spikerush Eleocharis baldwinii
30
maidencane Panicum hemitomon
30
floating water-hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes
20
buttonbush Cephalanthus occidentalis
20
para grass Brachiaria mutica
20
red root Lachnanthes caroliniana
20
frog's-bit Limnobium spongia
10
water-pennywort Hydrocotyle umbellata
10
cone-spur bladderwort Utricularia gibba
10
southern water-grass Hydrochloa caroliniensis
10
rush fuirena Fuirena scirpoidea
10
Baldwin flat sedge Cyperus globulosus
10

Josephine West (Highlands County)

Florida LAKEWATCH Aquatic Plant Summary

Aquatic plant data collected on July 7, 1999

Percent area covered with aquatic vegetation (PAC, %)
28
Percent of lake's volume filled with vegetation (PVI, %)
14
Average emergent plant biomass (kg wet wt/m2)
7.2
Average floating-leaved plant biomass (kg wet wt/m2)
3.9
Average submersed plant biomass (kg wet wt/m2)
0.3
Average width of emergent and floating-leaved zone (ft.)
215
Average lake depth (m)
2

Frequency that plant species occur in 10 evenly spaced transects around the lake.

Common Name Plant Species
Frequency (%)
common salvinia Salvinia rotundifolia
100
common duckweed Lemna minor
90
azolla Azolla caroliniana
90
water-lettuce Pistia stratiotes
80
spatterdock Nuphar luteum
80
pickerelweed Pontederia cordata
80
water primrose Ludwigia octovalvis
80
cat-tail Typha spp.
60
wax myrtle Myrica cerifera
60
coontail Ceratophyllum demersum
50
para grass Brachiaria mutica
50
alligator-weed Alternanthera philoxeroides
40
slender spikerush Eleocharis baldwinii
40
water-pennywort Hydrocotyle umbellata
40
floating water-hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes
30
sago pondweed Potamogeton pectinatus
20
buttonbush Cephalanthus occidentalis
20
torpedograss Panicum repens
20
fragrant water-lily Nymphaea odorata
10
water-moss Fontinalis spp.
10
cone-spur bladderwort Utricularia gibba
10
variableleaf pondweed Potamogeton diversifolius
10
willow Salix spp.
10
maidencane Panicum hemitomon
10
green algae Chlorphyta
10
. Lyngbya spp.
10
red root Lachnanthes caroliniana
10
Egyptian paspalidium Paspalidium geminatum
10
Baldwin flat sedge Cyperus globulosus
10
sedge spp. Cyperus spp.
10
red maple Acer rubrum
10

Josephine (Highlands County)

Electrofishing Data

     
Canfield and Hoyer (1992) Ranges
Species1
#/hr
kg/hr2
min weight (kg/hr)
mean weight (kg/hr)
max weight (kg/hr)
Black crappie
3
0.4
0.1
6.4
28.7
Bluefin killifish
1
0
0
0
0.1
Bluegill
391
22.6
0.3
50.3
447
Brook silverside
10
0
0
0.2
1.4
Brown bullhead
1
0.8
0.1
14.5
72.1
Dollar sunfish
3
0
0
0.3
0.5
Eastern mosquitofish
2
0
0
0.14
1.97
Florida gar
9
6.6
0.8
50.1
328.6
Golden shiner
39
0.3
0
6.9
65
Golden topminnow
1
0
0
0.1
0.2
Lake chubsucker
4
2.4
0.1
40.7
161.9
Largemouth bass
25
13.2
1.1
82
284.6
Redear sunfish
52
4.5
0.1
24.3
183.1
Seminole killifish
6
0.1
0
4.2
22.3
Warmouth
5
0.3
0
1.5
12
           
Total
552
51.2
      

 

1 Total # of species = 15.
2 Weights calculated using regressions from Hoyer and Canfield 1994 and from Bill Schaeffer, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (personal communication).





Catch per unit of effort (kg of fish / hour of sampling) versus total chlorophyll (mg/m3) and number of fish species collected versus surface area of lake for 60 Florida lakes sampled by Canfield and Hoyer (1992) (•) and Lake Josephine (Highlands County) electrofishing sampling (o). The lines represent linear regressions for logged values of the 60 Florida lakes.

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