This Draft EIS concerns the issuance of an NPDES permit to Occidental Chemical Company for the construction of a new chemical plant in Hamilton County, Florida. The construction of the new Swift Creek Chemical Complex is part of a two-phased plan to increase the superphosphoric acid capacity of the north Florida phosphate fertilizer manufacturing complex. This volume covers the biology and ecology of the area. Basic study units for the biological and ecological characterization include Swift Creek, the upper portion of the Suwannee River and the land area within five miles of the proposed chemical complex. Existing communities are described in terms of their location, extent, species composition, trophic structure and successional status. Ecosystem concepts are introduced and used where appropriate to describe functional interrelationships between communities and between the biotic and physical components of the environment. Identification of ecosystem interrelationships is essential to an assessment of the functional role of biological communities and to indicate potential mechanisms of impact transmission. (Portions of this document are not fully legible)