Benthic macroinvertebrates and physicochemical parameters were sampled monthly in Spring Lake, Florida from July, 1978, to June, 1979. Spring Lake is a slightly acidic, sand bottom lake located in the sandhill region of the Central Highlands. While submersed vegetation is not dense, the lake does contain an abundance of the endemic submersed plant Mayaca aubletii. The littoral zone is dominated by plants belonging to the genera Panicum, Nuphar, Hydrocotyle, Nymphaea, Satittaria, and Typha. The benthic macroinvertebrates collected consisted of 51 species; approximately 50 percent were in the family Chironomidae. The annual mean number of individuals was 947/m2. The mayfly Hexagenia munda Orlando was the most numerous species (18.4 percent of the annual mean); the Chironomidae was the most numerous family (31.6 percent of the annual mean). The annual mean value for the Simpson's Index was 0.25 while the annual mean value for the Shannon Index was 2.60.

The largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) fishery was at an all time low on Lake Okeechobee when experimental supplemental stockings were done to try and enhance local bass populations. Largemouth bass had never been stocked on a large lake like Lake Okeechobee. The objectives were to develop a methodology, study dispersal, and compare stocked versus wild bass habitat choices. The methodology underwent considerable changes between studies. Bass dispersed to the edges by the second sampling period, so a larger sampling area may be needed. Water depth and pH were found to be significantly different between wild and stocked bass. Hatchery bass are naèive about predators, which may have resulted in stocked bass not moving to shallower areas like wild bass. The pH was weakly correlated with depth, so differences may be partially due to the fact that as depth increases, pH may also increase. / by Alyssa Jordan. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2012. Mode of access: World Wide Web.