Subtropical Pine Flatwoods and Palmetto Prairie of Miami Ridge / Atlantic Coastal Strip
Scenario model
Current ecosystem state
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Management practices/drivers
Select a transition or restoration pathway
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Transition T1A
Overstory Mortality
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Transition T1B
Absence of Fire
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Transition T1C
Invasion of Non-Native / Exotic Species
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Transition T1D
Modified for Desired Land Use
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Transition T1E
Human Alteration / Transportation of Materials
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Transition T2A
Pine Regeneration / Fire
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Transition T2B
Change in Fire Frequency/ Logging
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Transition T2C
Invasion of Non-Native / Exotic Species
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Transition T2C
Modify for Desired Land Use
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Transition T2D
Human Alteration / Transportation of Materials
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Transition T3A
Logging of Oaks/ Return Fire Frequency
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Transition T3B
Mechanical/ Chemical Removal / Fire Reintroduction
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Transition T3C
Invasion of Non-Native / Exotic Species
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Transition T3D
Modify for Desired Land Use
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Transition T3E
Human Alteration / Transportation of Materials
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Restoration pathway R4A
Mechanical / Biological / Chemical Removal of Undesirable Species
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Restoration pathway R4B
Mechanical / Biological / Chemical Removal
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Restoration pathway R4C
Mechanical / Biological / Chemical Removal
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Restoration pathway R4D
Mechanical / Biological / Chemical Removal
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Transition T4A
Human Alteration / Transportation of Materials
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Restoration pathway R5A
Landscape and Habitat Restoration
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Restoration pathway R5B
Landscape and Habitat Restoration
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Restoration pathway R5C
Landscape and Habitat Restoration
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Transition T5A
Invasion of Non-Native / Exotic Species
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Transition T5B
Human Alteration / Transportation of Materials
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No transition or restoration pathway between the selected states has been described
Target ecosystem state
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Description
Pine Flatwoods are the reference state on these soils throughout the Florida peninsula. These are open canopy pine woodlands on flats and flatwoods landscape positions derived from marine deposits. The reference communities are dependent on microtopography, slight differences in hydroperiods and fire return intervals. These will often succeed or transition into different communities dependent on management or lack of management of the reference community, but is highly unlikely that the reference communities will succeed or transition into one another.
Characteristics and indicators
Pine flatwoods are characterized by an open overstory of pine trees with a dense understory of grasses and / or shrubs dependent on microtopography.
Resilience management
The main threats to these habitats include fire suppression and alteration of the natural hydroperiod. Fire is used in these communities to prevent woody species encroachment and buildup of fuels. Alteration of the natural hydroperiod of these areas may intensify the effects of species encroachment and fire intensity.
Submodel
Description
Prairies are the altered state of pine flatwoods in areas of overstory mortality. Individual communities are dependent on the reference community and will reflect similar to the same microtopography, hydroperiods, and fire return intervals. These communities can often be identified as having similar characteristics to its reference flatwoods state, with the absence of the living overstory species. Standing dead pines or burned stump holes may be present and may be used to identify this state. Overstory mortality may be the result of a catastrophic fire which killed the overstory trees or by biological processes such as fusiform rust caused by fungi.
Characteristics and indicators
Indicators of these communities is dependent on the reference state it originates from but will both be generally treeless landscapes with dense groundcover of grasses and / or shrubs.
Resilience management
This state is maintained by stressors at the beginning of the rainy season, where natural fire return intervals of every 1 to 2 years as well as the maintenance of a high seasonal high water table.
Submodel
Description
This state describes a change in fire frequency that will change the community composition and structure. This includes two communities featuring cabbage palms and oak species becoming dominant in the subcanopy with pines. This will often shift the canopy from being open and sparse to closed and dense with hardwood and palms.
Characteristics and indicators
This is characterized by the presence of a low, closed, dense canopy dominated by hardwood and palm species on poorly drained sandy soils in flatwoods landscape positions. There will often be an emergent relict overstory of pine coming out of the oak canopy. Species which close the canopy in the absence of fire include oaks, cabbage palms, bays, and other subtropical species.
Resilience management
To return to a pine flatwoods, removal of the closed canopy must happen. This can occur by selective logging of oak species and other canopy species. Fire must also be reintroduced into the system, and will often remove the layer of leaf litter accumulated by the mesic conditions created by the closed canopy.
Submodel
Description
This state consists of Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) Non-Native Category 1 Species list . More information on these species list can be found:
https://www.fdacs.gov/content/download/63140/file/Florida%E2%80%99s_Pest_Plants.pdf
or by contacting the UF / IFAS Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants (http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/),
the UF / IFAS Assessment of Non-native Plants in Florida's Natural Areas (https://assessment.ifas.ufl.edu/),
or the FWC Invasive Plant Management Section (http://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/invasive-plants/).
This community will not represent every possibility of invasive species but rather the most common in these areas.
Characteristics and indicators
Non-native species include species that exist outside of Florida's natural range and introduced to the state by people, weather, or any other means.
Resilience management
This state can be found as a part of any other state and can completely destroy the native habitat if not properly managed. Restoration to natural communities after exotic invasion include practices such as mechanical, biological, and chemical removals.
Description
The following communities comprise the major land uses in the United States and the land uses receiving the majority of the conservation treatment that address soil, water, air, plant, and animal resources within the USDA.
Characteristics and indicators
These land uses consist of areas that are not completely naturalized (i.e. native habitat) but are not completely altered by anthropogenic means.
Submodel
States 2 and 5 (additional transitions)
5.2. Open Transitional Managed Communities
5.5. Silviculture
Description
These areas include soils that were intentionally and substantially modified by humans for an intended purpose, commonly for terraced agriculture, building support, mining, transportation, and commerce. The alteration is of sufficient magnitude to result in the introduction of a new parent material (human-transported material) or a profound change in the previously existing parent material (human-altered material). They do not include soils modified through standard agricultural practices or formed soils with unintended wind and water erosion. When a soil is on or above an anthropogenic landform or microfeature, it can be definitely be associated with human activity and is assigned to a unique taxa, usually found as an "Urban land complex" within that communities natural soil properties (e.g., Grande Oaks fine sand- Urban land complex, 0-2% slopes).
Characteristics and indicators
Evidence of these areas include soils with manufactured items (e.g. artifacts) present in the profile, human altered-materials (e.g., deeply excavated or deeply plowed soil) or human-transported material (e.g., fill), and position on or above anthropogenic landforms (e.g., flood-control levees) and microfeatures (e.g., drainage ditches). Detailed criteria regarding the identification of anthropogenic (artificial) landforms, human-altered materials, and human-transported material are in the "Keys to Soil Taxonomy" (Soil Survey Staff, 2014).
Submodel
Mechanism
Pine Flatwoods may transition to palmetto prairies under specific conditions, which once a transition occurs must be maintained to prevent the shift back to pine flatwoods. Unmaintained pine flatwoods may build high fuel loads that regular fire return intervals would normally prevent from establishing, which can allow the next fire to climb ladder fuels such as vines into the canopy. Canopy fires spread from tree to tree independent of the ground fire, which after consuming the live needles as its fuel, may kill the tree, leaving either the snag behind or burning down to the stump hole. Reestablishment of the natural fire return interval after this canopy fire may prevent native pines from becoming established, giving the appearance of palmetto prairies. Logging may also give the appearance by the removal of overstory pine species.
Constraints to recovery
Reestablished fire return intervals into the system (every 1 to 2 years) may prevent this new palmetto prairie habitat from shifting back into the pine flatwoods state by killing seedlings before they can become established.
Context dependence
Normal fire return intervals for pine flatwoods vary on the type of vegetation and hydroperiod of the system, but range from 3 to 15 years, with longer intervals allowing more shrubs and shorter intervals allowing more grasses. Catastrophic canopy fires may occur at any point, but usually happen when there is a high fuel load after multiple years of no burning. Palmetto prairies have normal fire return intervals every 1 to 2 years, which prevents the establishment of pine species.
Mechanism
This mechanism which drives the transition from pine flatwoods to an altered hardwood hammock is driven by a change in fire frequency. Removal of fire from the system, or its long term absence (>25 yrs) can allow the growth of understory species that were once limited by fire.
Constraints to recovery
Removal of midstory and newly entered canopy species would need to be removed, and desired shrub and tree density would need to be restored. Fire would need to be reintroduced into the system as well.
Mechanism
The invasion of non-native or exotic species can be driven by a multitude of different environmental factors such as changes in natural hydroperiods or in fire regimes. Typically once a change in one of the two factors mentioned above occurs, non-native or exotic invasive species become established and begin to compete with native species for habitat and nutrients.
Constraints to recovery
Recovery from non-native or exotic invasive species may be difficult due to many adaptations which allow them to outcompete and survive in altered conditions. Localized knowledge for each species must be known for best removal of it without harming the native environment, and often different treatments must be applied over one given area.
Context dependence
Growth of non-native and exotic invasive species can be rapid following a change in a natural stressor such as fire frequency or natural hydroperiods which might have once kept the invasive species at bay.
Mechanism
Modify the land for the desired land use. This may include the establishment of grazing species or the modification of land for the cultivation of crops of other desired products.
Mechanism
This transition is driven by the alteration and/ or transportation of materials via anthropogenic means.
Mechanism
Increasing the time between fire return intervals from 1 to 2 years towards every 2 to 4 years, as seen in mesic pine flatwoods, can assist in the reestablishment of pine species. Similar understory species will be present in both palmetto prairies and mesic pine flatwoods. Decreasing the long term hydroperiod of the surrounding area through ditching or drainage might also allow the reestablishment of pine species in palmetto prairies, but makes the area more vulnerable to invasive species encroachment.
Context dependence
Palmetto prairies exclude pine species by high fire return intervals of every 1 to 2 years in at that start of the growing season as well as a relatively high seasonal high water table. The combination of both stress from water and fire exclude pine species, but allow for the establishment of understory species similar to a mesic pine flatwoods. Because these communities occur in similar landscapes and often form as intermixed communities, decreases in long term hydroperiods can allow for the encroachment of pine species from the surrounding habitats into the palmetto prairie. Increases in the time between fires may also allow for establishment of pine species into the area, shifting the community from a palmetto prairie to a mesic pine flatwood.
Mechanism
This mechanism which drives the transition from palmetto prairie to cabbage palm flatwoods depends on a change in fire frequency. Increases in fire return intervals to every 1 to 2 years may prevent pine seedlings from germinating while allowing fire loving cabbage palm to thrive. Whereas decreases in fire return intervals may allow for the encroachment of species such as cabbage palm and other hardwood species to become established. Logging of overstory pines may also cause this shift if a seedbank of cabbage palms are present, allowing them to become established.
Context dependence
Cabbage palms are very slow growing trees and spend the first 10 to 15 years or more within a grass-like state, making this transition towards a fully established state a long process (decadal scale).
Mechanism
The invasion of non-native or exotic species can be driven by a multitude of different environmental factors such as changes in natural hydroperiods or in fire regimes. Typically once a change in one of the two factors mentioned above occurs, non-native or exotic invasive species become established and begin to compete with native species for habitat and nutrients.
Constraints to recovery
Recovery from non-native or exotic invasive species may be difficult due to many adaptations which allow them to outcompete and survive in altered conditions. Localized knowledge for each species must be known for best removal of it without harming the native environment, and often different treatments must be applied over one given area.
Context dependence
Growth of non-native and exotic invasive species can be rapid following a change in a natural stressor such as fire frequency or natural hydroperiods which might have once kept the invasive species at bay.
Mechanism
Modify the land for the desired land use. This may include the establishment of grazing species or the modification of land for the cultivation of crops of other desired products.
Mechanism
This transition is driven by the alteration and/ or transportation of materials via anthropogenic means.
Mechanism
To transition this state towards a more traditional pine flatwood community, mechanical or chemical removal is required to remove the cabbage palm trees. Because these sub canopy trees are fire dependent and fire tolerant, regular use of prescribed fire is ineffective. Increases in hydrology can also be seen as ineffective because they are tolerant of high water tables and can be seen in standing water, increasing hydrology can destroy the whole community. Mechanical removal such as roller chopping or cutting the trees is an effect way of removing them from the habitat and transitioning back to a pine flatwoods.
Constraints to recovery
Cabbage palm trees spend a long time in a grass-like state which can be difficult to effectively remove from the system unless dug out completely. This is a costly process, whereas waiting for the trunk to become present is also very time consuming.
Context dependence
Mechanical Removal
Mechanism
This is driven by either the mechanical/ chemical removal of species and / or the reintroduction of fire into the system. As time passes and the area is left unburned, hardwood species may begin to grow and create a build-up of leaf litter which if ignited can cause canopy fires killing the hardwood tree species. This would drive the vegetative community back to a palmetto prairie state.
Context dependence
Cabbage palm trees spend a long time in a grass-like state which can be difficult to effectively remove from the system unless dug out completely. This is a costly process, whereas waiting for the trunk to become present is also very time consuming.
Mechanism
The invasion of non-native or exotic species can be driven by a multitude of different environmental factors such as changes in natural hydroperiods or in fire regimes. Typically once a change in one of the two factors mentioned above occurs, non-native or exotic invasive species become established and begin to compete with native species for habitat and nutrients.
Constraints to recovery
Recovery from non-native or exotic invasive species may be difficult due to many adaptations which allow them to outcompete and survive in altered conditions. Localized knowledge for each species must be known for best removal of it without harming the native environment, and often different treatments must be applied over one given area.
Context dependence
Growth of non-native and exotic invasive species can be rapid following a change in a natural stressor such as fire frequency or natural hydroperiods which might have once kept the invasive species at bay.
Mechanism
Modify the land for the desired land use. This may include the establishment of grazing species or the modification of land for the cultivation of crops of other desired products.
Mechanism
This transition is driven by the alteration and/ or transportation of materials via anthropogenic means.
Mechanism
Mechanical, biological, and chemical removal strategies include removing the non-native and exotic invasive species through various mechanisms. Localized knowledge for individual non-native or exotic invasive species is needed for specific management. Sometimes introduction of fire regimes may prevent or stop the growth of non-native or exotic invasive species, but many species are fire tolerant. Mechanical removal might include roller chopping, harvesting, or cutting and removal of invasive species. Chemical removal might include aerial dispersal from planes, or basal bark injection treatments.
Context dependence
Mechanical, biological, and chemical removal of non-native and exotic invasive species is a time dependent process, with both removal types taking long times to be considered effective.
Mechanism
Mechanical, biological, and chemical removal strategies include removing the non-native and exotic invasive species through various mechanisms. Localized knowledge for individual non-native or exotic invasive species is needed for specific management. Sometimes introduction of fire regimes may prevent or stop the growth of non-native or exotic invasive species, but many species are fire tolerant. Mechanical removal might include roller chopping, harvesting, or cutting and removal of invasive species. Chemical removal might include aerial dispersal from planes, or basal bark injection treatments.
Context dependence
Mechanical, biological, and chemical removal of non-native and exotic invasive species is a time dependent process, with both removal types taking long times to be considered effective.
Mechanism
Mechanical, biological, and chemical removal strategies include removing the non-native and exotic invasive species through various mechanisms. Localized knowledge for individual non-native or exotic invasive species is needed for specific management. Sometimes introduction of fire regimes may prevent or stop the growth of non-native or exotic invasive species, but many species are fire tolerant. Mechanical removal might include roller chopping, harvesting, or cutting and removal of invasive species. Chemical removal might include aerial dispersal from planes, or basal bark injection treatments.
Context dependence
Mechanical, biological, and chemical removal of non-native and exotic invasive species is a time dependent process, with both removal types taking long times to be considered effective.
Mechanism
Mechanical, biological, and chemical removal strategies include removing the non-native and exotic invasive species through various mechanisms. Localized knowledge for individual non-native or exotic invasive species is needed for specific management. Sometimes introduction of fire regimes may prevent or stop the growth of non-native or exotic invasive species, but many species are fire tolerant. Mechanical removal might include roller chopping, harvesting, or cutting and removal of invasive species. Chemical removal might include aerial dispersal from planes, or basal bark injection treatments.
Context dependence
Mechanical, biological, and chemical removal of non-native and exotic invasive species is a time dependent process, with both removal types taking long times to be considered effective.
Mechanism
This transition is driven by the alteration and/ or transportation of materials via anthropogenic means.
Mechanism
These practices include the restoration of both the natural hydroperiods and landscape in advance of revegetating the area (if needed).
Mechanism
These practices include the restoration of both the natural hydroperiods and landscape in advance of revegetating the area (if needed).
Mechanism
These practices include the restoration of both the natural hydroperiods and landscape in advance of revegetating the area (if needed).
Mechanism
The invasion of non-native or exotic species can be driven by a multitude of different environmental factors such as changes in natural hydroperiods or in fire regimes. Typically once a change in one of the two factors mentioned above occurs, non-native or exotic invasive species become established and begin to compete with native species for habitat and nutrients.
Context dependence
Recovery from non-native or exotic invasive species may be difficult due to many adaptations which allow them to survive and outcompete in intolerable conditions. Localized knowledge for each species must be known for best removal of it without harming the native environment, and often different treatments must be applied over one given area.
Growth of non-native and exotic invasive species can be rapid following a change in a natural stressor such as fire frequency or natural hydroperiods which might have once kept the invasive species at bay.
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The Ecosystem Dynamics Interpretive Tool is an information system framework developed by the USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and New Mexico State University.