If you've been to the Grand Canyon, or have seen pictures of it, you know how the power of water can change the landscape. Its ability to do that in Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park is much more subtle but still present. Water, of course, is the key ingredient in the creation of a swamp. In a cypress strand swamp like Fakahatchee, decaying vegetation makes the water acidic enough that, over time, it will slowly dissolve the underlying limestone bedrock and create an elongated hole where water will pool most, if not all, of the year. In the wet season, a strand swamp can act as a channel for flowing water, as it does in Fakahatchee. In the photo, you can see water that's turned brown from tannic acid produced by decaying plant matter. NEXT STOP: The Seasons and The Swamp
