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Thousands of small wetland depression features (cypress domes) dot the low‐relief karst of Big Cypress National Preserve (BICY) in South Florida, USA. We hypothesized that these wetland depressions are organized in a regular pattern, which is atypical of wetlandscapes elsewhere. Regular patterning implies the existence of coupled feedbacks operating at different spatial scales, with local wetland depression expansion (facilitation via karst dissolution) limited by competition among adjacent depressions for finite water resources (inhibition). We sought to test the hypothesis that wetlands in BICY exhibit regular patterning, and to quantify pattern properties to evaluate competing genesis mechanisms. We tested four predictions about landscape structure and geometry using high‐resolution Light Detection and Ranging elevation data from six 2.25‐km²domains across BICY. Specifically, we predicted (1) feature overdispersion resulting from competition between adjacent basins; (2) truncated wetland area distributions due to growth inhibition feedbacks; (3) periodicity in surface elevation indicating a characteristic pattern wavelength; and (4) elevation bimodality indicating distinct upland and wetland states. All four predictions were strongly supported. Depressions were significantly overdispersed and efficiently fill the landscape, generating hexagonal patterning. Wetland areas followed truncated power law scaling, indicating incremental constraints on basin expansion, in contrast to depression areas elsewhere. Variogram and radial spectrum analyses revealed clear periodicity (~150‐ to 250‐m wavelength) in surface elevations. Finally, surface elevations were consistently bimodal with elevation divergence of 10 to 40 cm. Regular patterning of wetland depressions across BICY is clear, implying long‐term biogeomorphic control on landform structure in this karst landscape.

Wetlands provide valuable hydrological, ecological, and biogeochemical functions, both alone and in combination with other elements comprising the wetlandscape. Understanding the processes and mechanisms that drive wetlandscape functions, as well as their sensitivity to natural and man‐made alterations, requires a sound physical understanding of wetland hydrodynamics. Here, we develop and apply a single reservoir hydrologic model to a low‐relief karst wetlandscape in southwest Florida (≈10³ km²of Big Cypress National Preserve) using precipitationPand potential evapotranspirationPETas climatic drivers. This simple approach captures the dynamics of storage for individual wetlands across the entire wetlandscape and accurately predicts landscape discharge. Key model insights are the importance of depth‐dependent extinction of evapotranspirationETand the negligible effects of depth‐dependent specific yield, the effects of which are diluted by landscape relief. We identify three phases of the wetlandscape hydrological regime: dry, wet‐stagnant, and wet‐flowing. The model allowed a simple steady‐state analysis, which demonstrated the sudden seasonal shift between wet‐stagnant and wet‐flowing states, indicating a consistent threshold atP ≈ PET. Notably, stage data from any single wetland appears sufficient for accurate whole‐landscape discharge prediction because of the relative homogeneity in timing and duration of local wetland hydrologic connectivity in this landscape. We also show that this method will be transferable to other wetlandscapes, where individual storage elements respond hydrologically synchronously, whereas model performance is expected to deteriorate for hydrologically more heterogeneous wetlandscapes.