Landscape History of Natural Communities
Historic survey data providing the location |
It is a priority for the Fire Ecology Program to better understand the natural distribution and characteristics of natural communities in northern Florida and southern Georgia in order to identify and prioritize them for conservation. One effort has been to identify differences between old-field (post-agriculture) pinelands and native (never-plowed) longleaf pinelands, which typically have higher plant species richness and more rare plants. Another effort has been to characterize native Shortleaf pine-oak-hickory communities in the region, which historically have been often mistaken for old-field pine forests. Also, historic data, including land surveys and maps, are being used to reconstruct the most likely distribution of natural community types in the region. Graduate student Susan Carr in association with the University of Florida Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation has completed an extensive census and classification of Florida pineland plant communities. These findings are important for guiding restoration of natural communities and identifying natural community fragments for conservation.
References:
Ostertag, T.E. and K.M. Robertson. 2006. A comparison of native versus old-field vegetation in upland pinelands managed with frequent fire, south Georgia, USA. Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Conference Proceedings 23:109-120.
Carr, S.M., K.M. Robertson, W.J. Platt, and W. Peet. 2009. A model of geographic, environmental, and regional variation in vegetation composition of pyrogenic pinelands of Florida. Journal of Biogeography 36:1600-1612.
Carr, S.M., K.M. Robertson, and R.K. Peet. 2009. A vegetation classification of fire-dependent pinelands of Florida. Castanea 75:153-189.
Tall Timbers Research Notes and E-News Articles: