|
Flora
and Fauna of Northwest Florida |
|
|
|
|
Wet Prairies
|
|
|
|
Garcon Point Peninsula and West Pensacola contain extensive areas of flat,
freshwater wetlands called herb bogs, wet prairies or savannas. Smaller
expanses of this habitat type are found widely scattered throughout our
region. Lateral seepage of ground water over impervious layers (clays,
organic deposits) on very gently sloping terrain results in the expanses of fire
dependent wetland communities. This photo (above) is of a cypress dome (Taxodium
ascendens) and slash pines (Pinus
elliotii) in a sea of grasses (dominated
by wiregrass, Aristida stricta)
and wildflowers on Garcon Point. A tremendous diversity of plant life occurs on
the prairie, including carnivorous plants like sundews (Drosera spp.) and pitcher plants (Sarracenia spp.; below). |
|
|
|
|
|
Sarracenia flava pitcher (above)
and flower (right). |
|
Northwest Florida Water Management District Wet Prairie Restoration
The Northwest Florida Water
Management District (NWFWMD) acquired a plot on Garcon Point that was
planted in slash pine (Pinus ellioti)
for timber production (the Avalon tract, below left, 1999). The goal of the
restoration effort is to return the site to wet prairie status by selective
thinning and harvest of the pines in conjunction with prescribed burning. UWF
has a contract to monitor the changes in the plant communities at the site
during the restoration effort. An undisturbed area of wet prairie is being used
as a reference site (Clark tract, below right, 1999) to gauge the effectiveness
of the restoration effort. Initially the plant communities at the two sites are
very different, likely due to competition for light and nutrients between the
pines and the normally diverse ground cover of annual and perennial plants. Plant community structure of the Clark
tract has been remarkably stable despite repeated fire and hurricanes.
|
|
|
These are fire-dependent habitats. The NWFWMD maintains its wet prairie holdings with prescribed burning, and is using fire to help restore the Avalon tract to its original wet prairie state. The images below represent the Avalon tract one week post-burn (left) and the Clark tract three weeks post burn (right) in May 2008.
|
|
|
