Abstract
The tree islands of the Everglades area of southern Florida, including adjacent interior and coastal areas, are classified based on species composition and environmental factors controlling tree island distribution and structure. Tree islands occur on various substrates within surrounding habitats that may be freshwater or coastal wetlands, or rockland pine forest of the Atlantic Coastal Ridge. Eight tree island groupings within seven subregions are defined by cluster analysis of data from the literature and previously unpublished studies. Additional types are recognized based on distinguishing ecological features. Most of the types are dominated by native, tropical species found in the continental United States only in southern Florida. Hurricanes, drainage, excessive burning, spread of non-native species and logging have differentially affected all types and few undisturbed tree islands exist even within federally preserved lands. Collectively, the types occur along local and regional elevation gradients, with associated vulnerability to flooding and fires. Marked differences exist in the response of tree islands to protracted flooding that are consistent with their location in the landscape. Thus bayhead swamps, which occur as part of freshwater slough tree islands and are comprised mostly of temperate swamp forest species, have been inundated up to 10 months/yr in the past several decades, while tropical hardwood hammocks on the same tree islands were inundated for 0 to 23% of the year. Hammocks within rockland pine forests seldom if ever flood, but they are subject to periodic fires. A total of 164 woody species occur naturally in the area’s forested islands, although many are rare or highly restricted in distribution. All 135 tropical species have distribution ranges centered in the West Indies where most occur in calcareous, dry sites, frequently as invaders of disturbed habitats.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Alain, H. 1962. Flora de Cuba, Part 5. Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, University of Puerto Rico Press
Alexander, T.R. 1967. A tropical hammock on the Miami (Florida) Limestone - a twenty-five year study. Ecology, 48: 863–867.
Alexander, T.R. and Crook, A.G. 1984. Recent vegetational changes in southern Florida. In: Gleason, P.J. ed. Environments of South Florida: Present and Past II. Coral Gables, FL, Miami Geological Society, pp. 199–210
Armentano, T.V., Dören, R.F., Platt, W.J., and Mullins, T. 1995. Effects of Hurricane Andrew on coastal and interior forests of southern Florida: overview and synthesis. Journal of Coastal Research, 21: 111–144
Aspry, G.F. and Robbins, R.G. 1953. The vegetation of Jamaica. Ecological Monographs, 23: 359–412.
Beard, J.S. 1944. Climax vegetation in tropical America. Ecology, 25: 127–158.
Birks, H.J.B., Line, J.M., Juggins, S., Stevenson, A.C., and ter Braak, C.J.F. 1992. Diatoms and pH reconstruction. Philosophic Transactions of the Royal Society of London, B327: 263–278.
Borel, J.S. 1997. Coevolution of landscape and culture: the vegetation of Indian shell mounds in Florida’s Ten Thousand Islands. Master’s Thesis. University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 274 p.
Cano, E.F.C. 1997. La vegetacion en la zona de Xcalak. Amigos de Sian Ka’an, Ecology 17:24–31
Chen, E. and Gerber, J.F.. 1990. Climate. In: Myers, R.L. and Ewel, J.J. eds. Ecosystems of Florida. Orlando, University of Central Florida Press, pp. 11–34.
Cohen, A.D. and Spackman, W. 1977. Phytogenic organic sediments and sedimentary environments in the Everglades-Mangrove complex, Part 2. Paleontographica, 162: 71–114.
Coile, N. C. 1998. Notes on Florida’s endangered and threatened plants. Gainesville, FL, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs
Correll, D.S. and Correll, H.B. 1982. Flora of the Bahama Archipelago. Vaduz, Lichtenstein: J. Cramer.
Craig, A.K., McJunkin, D.M., and Stone, P.A. 1971. Phytogeography of Pavilion Key. Department of Geography, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton.
Craighead, F.C. 1964. Land, mangroves and hurricanes. Fairchild Tropical Garden Bulletin, 19: 1–28.
Craighead, F.C. 1968. The role of the alligator in shaping plant communities and maintaining wildlife in the southern Everglades. The Florida Naturalist, 41:2-7, 69–74, 94.
Craighead, F.C. 1971. The Trees of South Florida, Volume I: The Natural Environments and their Succession. Coral Gables, FL University of Miami Press.
Craighead, F.C. 1984. Hammocks of south Florida. In: Gleason, P.J. ed. Environments of South Florida: Present and Past II. Coral Gables, FL, Miami Geological Society, pp. 191–198.
Craighead, F.C. and Gilbert, T. 1962. The effects of Hurricane Donna on the vegetation of southern Florida. Quarterly Journal of the Florida Academy of Sciences, 25: 1–28.
Crow, T.R. 1980. A rainforest chronicle: a 30 year record of change in structure and composition at El Verde, Puerto Rico. Biotropica, 12: 42–55
Dansereau, P. 1966. Studies on the Vegetation of Puerto Rico Special Publication No 1.University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez
Davis, J.H. 1943. The natural features of south Florida, especially the vegetation and the Everglades. Florida Geological Survey Bulletin, 25: 1–311
Davis, J.H., 1946. The Peat Deposits of Florida: Their Occurrence, Development and Uses. Geological Bulletin No. 30. Tallahassee, FL State of Florida.
Delcourt, P.A. and Delcourt, H.R. 1981. Vegetation maps for eastern North America: 40,000 yr b.p. to the present. In: Romans, R.C. ed. Geobotany II. New York, Plenum Press, pp. 123–165.
Duever, M.J., Carlson, J.E., Meeder, J.F., Duever, L.C., Gunderson, L.H., Riopelle, L.A., Alexander, T.R., Myers, R.L., and D.P. Spangler. 1986. The Big Cypress National Preserve. Research Report No. 8. New York. National Audubon Society
Duncan, W.H. and Duncan, M.B. 1988 Trees of the Southeastern United States. Athens, GA, The University of Georgia Press
Egler, F.E. 1952. Southeast saline Everglades vegetation, Florida, and its management. Vegetation Acta Geobotánica, 3: 213–265
Enos, P 1989. Islands in the bay - a key habitat of Florida Bay. Bulletin of Marine Science,44: 365–386
Ewel, K.C. and Odum, H.T. eds. 1984. Cypress Swamps. Gainesville, FL University of Florida Press
Frangi, J.L. and Lugo, A.E. 1991. Hurricane damage to a flood plain forest in the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico. Biotropica, 23: 324–335.
Gentry, R.C. 1984. Hurricanes in south Florida. In: Gleason, P.J. ed. Environments of South Florida: Present and Past II. Coral Gables, FL, Miami Geological Society, pp. 510–519
Gleason, P.J., Cohen, A.D., Smith, W.G., Brooks, H.K., Stone, P.A., Goodrick, R.L. and Spackman, W. 1984. The environmental significance of Holocene sediments from the Everglades and saline tidal plain. In: Gleason, P.J. ed. Environments of South Florida: Present and Past II. Coral Gables, FL, Miami Geological Society, pp. 297–351
Godfrey, R.K. and Wooten, J.W. 1981. Aquatic and Wetland Plants of Southeastern United States: Dicotyledons Athens, GA, The University of Georgia Press
Gomez-Pompa, A. and Vasquez-Yanes, C. 1981. Successional studies of a rain forest in Mexico. In: West, D.C., Shugart, H.H., and Botkin. D.B. eds. Forest Succession Concepts and Application. New York, Springer-Verlag, pp. 246–266
Gunderson, L.H. and Loftus, W. 1993. The Everglades. In: Martin, W.H., Boyce, S.G., and Echternacht, A.C. eds. Biodiversity of the Southeastern United States. New York, John Wiley and Sons, pp. 199–255
Gunderson, L.H. and Loope, L.L. 1982a. A survey and inventory of the plant communities in the Pinecrest Area, Big Cypress National Preserve. South Florida Research Center Report T-655. Homestead, FL, Everglades National Park, 43 pp.
Gunderson, L. H. and Loope, L.L. 1982b. A survey and inventory of the plant communities of the Raccoon Point Area, Big Cypress National Preserve. South Florida Research Center Report T-665. Homestead, FL, Everglades National Park, 36 pp.
Gunderson, L.H. and Loope, L.L. 1982c. An inventory of the plant communities within the Deep Lake Strand Area, Big Cypress National Preserve. South Florida Research Center Report T-666. Homestead, FL, Everglades National Park, 39 pp.
Gunderson, L.H., Loope, L.L. and Maynard, W.R. 1982. A survey and inventory of the plant communities of the Turner River Area, Big Cypress National Preserve. South Florida Research Center Report T-648. Homestead, FL, Everglades National Park, 53 pp.
Gunderson, L.H., Stenberg, J.H. and Herndon, A.K. 1988. Tolerance of five hardwood species to flooding regimes. In: Wilcox, D.A. ed.. Interdisciplinary Approaches to Freshwater Wetland Research. East Lansing, MI, Michigan State University Press, pp. 119–132
Hoffmeister, J.E. 1974. Land from the Sea: the Geologic Story of South Florida. Coral Gables, FL, University of Miami Press.
Hofstetter, R.H. and Hilsenbeck, C.E. 1980. Vegetational studies of the East Everglades. Miami, FL, Metropolitan Dade County Planning Department
Holdridge, L.R. 1967 Life Zone Ecology San Jose, Costa Rica, Tropical Science Center.
Horvitz, C.C., McMann, S. and Freedman, A. 1995. Exotics and hurricane damage in three hardwood hammocks in Dade County parks. Florida Journal of Coastal Research, 21:145–158.
Jenny, H. 1980. The Soil Resource: Origin and Behavior. Ecological Studies 37. New York: Springer-Verlag
Jones, D.T. 1997. Ecological consequences of latherleaf (Colubrina asiatica) in southern Florida. Wildland Weeds (Winter): 11–12.
Jones, D.T., Armentano, T.V., Snow, S. and Bass, S. 1996. Evidence for flooding effects on vegetation and wildlife in Everglades National Park, 1994-95. In: Armentano, T.V. ed. Ecological Assessment of the 1994-1995 High Water Conditions in the Southern Everglades. Miami, FL: South Florida Management and Coordination Working Group, pp. 31–46.
Koptur, S., Oberbauer, S. and WHielan, K.R.T. 1995. A comparison of damage and short-term recovery from Hurricane Andrew in four upland forest types of the Everglades. Report to Everglades National Park, Homestead, FL: National Park Service 34 p.
Leon, H. and Alain, H. 1946-53. Flora de Cuba, Parts 1 and 2. Habana. Koenigstein. Reprinted by Otto Koeltz Science Publishers, 1974.
Leon, H. and Alain, H. 1957-63. Flora de Cuba, Parts 3 and 4. Habana. Koenigstein. Reprinted by Otto Koeltz Science Publishers, 1974.
Line, J.M., ter Braak, C.J.F. and. Birks, H.J.B. WACALIB version 3.3 - a computer program to reconstruct environmental variables from fossil assemblages by weighted averaging and to derive sample-specific errors of prediction. Journal of Paleolimnology, 10:147-152.
Little, E. L. 1976. Rare Tropical Trees of South Florida. Conservation Research Report No. 20. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service
Little, E.L. 1978. Atlas of United States Trees, Vol. 5: Florida. Miscellaneous Publication No. 1361. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 22 p.
Long, R. 1984. Origin of the vascular flora of south Florida. In: Gleason, P. J. (ed)Environments of South Florida: Present and Past II. Coral Gables, FL: Miami Geological Society, pp. 118-126.
Loope, L.L. and Urban, N.H. 1980. A Survey of Fire History and Impact in Tropical Hardwood Hammocks in the East Everglades and Adjacent Portions of Everglades National Park. South Florida Research Center Report T-592. Homestead, FL: National Park Service, 48 p.
Loveless, C.M. 1959. A study of the vegetation in the Florida Everglades. Ecology, 40: 1–9.
Lugo, A.E. and Snedaker, S.C. 1974. The ecology of mangroves. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 5: 39–64.
Mack, A.L. 1992. Vegetation analysis of a hardwood hammock in Dade County, Florida: changes since 1940. Florida Scientist, 55 (4): 258–263.
Molnar, G. 1990. Successional Dynamics of a Tropical Hardwood Hammock on the Miami Rockridge. Master’s Thesis, Florida International University, Miami, FL 197 pp.
Oberbauer, S.F. and Koptur, S. 1995. Short and Long Term Responses of Non-tidal Forest Communities in Everglades National Park to Hurricane Andrew. Report to Everglades National Park. Homestead, FL: National Park Service, 34 pp.
Odum, W.E. and Mclvor, C.C. 1990. Mangroves. In: Myers, R.L. and Ewel, J.J. eds. Ecosystems of Florida. Orlando FL: University of Central Florida Press, pp. 517–548.
Olmsted, I.C. and Armentano, T.V. 1997. Vegetation of Shark Slough, Everglades National Park. South Florida Research Center Report 97-001. Homestead, FLNational Park Service, 41 pp.
Olmsted, I.C. and L.L. Loope. 1980. Vegetation along a Microtopographic Gradient in the Estuarine Region of Everglades National Park, Florida. Unpublished report. Homestead, FL: National Park Service, 42 pp.
Olmsted, I.C. and L.L. Loope 1984. Plant communitiies of Everglades National Park. In: Gleason, P. J. ed. Environments of South Florida: Present and Past II. Coral Gables, FL: Miami Geological Society, pp. 167–184.
Olmsted, I.C., Loope, L.L. and Hilsenbeck, C.E. 1980. Tropical hardwood hammocks of the interior of Everglades National Park. South Florida Research Center Report T-604. Homestead, FL: National Park Service. 58 pp.
Olmsted, I.C., Loope, L.L. and Russell, R.P. 1981. Vegetation of the southern coastal region of Everglades National Park between Flamingo and Joe Bay. South Florida Research Center Report T-620. Homestead, FL: National Park Service. 18 pp.
Olmsted, I.C., Dunevitz, H. and Platt, W.J. 1993. Effects of freezes on tropical trees in Everglades National Park Florida, USA. Tropical Ecology, 34: 17–34.
Olmsted, I.C, Robertson, W.B., Johnson, J. and Bass, O.L. 1983. The Vegetation of Long Pine Key, Everglades National Park. South Florida Research Center Report 83/05. Homestead, FL: National Park Service.
Phillips, W.S. 1940. A tropical hammock on the Miami (Florida) limestone. Ecology, 21:166–174.
Platt, W.J. and Schwartz, M.W. 1990. Temperate hardwood forests. In: Myers, R.L. and J.J. Ewel eds. Ecosystems of Florida. Orlando, FL: University of Central Florida Press, pp. 194–229.
Reimus, R. 1997. A List of Species Observed at Johnson Mound - an Indian Midden near the Gulf Coast. Report to Everglades National Park. Homestead, FL: National Park Service, 5 pp.
Robertson, W.B. 1953. A Survey of the Effects of Fire in Everglades National Park. National Park Service Report. Homestead, FL: National Park Service. 159 p.
Ross, M.S., O’Brien, J.J. and Flynn, L.J. 1992. Ecological site characterization of Florida Keys terrestrial habitats. Biotropica, 24: 488–502.
Ross, M.S., O’Brien, J.J. and Sternberg, L S.L. 1994. Sea-level rise and the reduction in pine forests in the Florida Keys. Ecological Applications, 4: 144–156.
Ross, M.S., Meeder, J.F., Sah, J.P., Ruiz, P.L. and Telesnicki, G. 1996. The Southeast Saline EvergladesRrevisited: a Half-Century of Coastal Vegetation Change. Final Report for Contract C-4244. Miami, FL: Florida International University.
Ross, M.S., Meeder, J.F. Sah, J.P. Ruiz, P.L. and Telesnicki, G.J. 2000. The Southeast Saline Everglades revisited: 50 years of coastal vegetation change. Journal of Vegetation Science, 11: 101–112.
Ross, M.S., Carrington, M., Flynn, L.J. and Ruiz, P.L. 2001. Forest succession in tropical hardwood hammocks of the Florida Keys: effects of direct mortality from Hurricane Andrew. Biotropica. 33 (1): 23–33.
Schomer, N.S. and Drew, R.D. 1982. An Ecological Characterization of the Lower Everglades, Florida Bay and the Florida Keys. Report for Cooperative Agreement 14-16-009-80-999. Tallahassee, FL: Florida State Department of Environmental Regulation
Slater, H., Platt, W.J., Baker, D.B. and Johnson, D.B. 1995. Effects of Hurricane Andrew on damage and mortality of trees in subtropical hardwood hammocks of Long Pine Key, Everglades National Park. Journal of Coastal Research, 21: 197–207.
Small, J.K. 1931. Botanical crossroads, historic and prehistoric. Journal of the New York Botanical Garden, 32: 92–94.
Snook, L.K. 1993. Stand Dynamics of Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla King) and Associated Species after Fire and Hurricane in the Tropical Forests of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Ph.D. Dissertation, Yale University, New Haven CT.
Snyder, J.R., Herndon, A. and Robertson, W.B. 1990. South Florida rockland. In: Myers, R.L. and Ewel, J.J. eds. Ecosystems of Florida. Orlando, FL: University of Central Florida Press, pp. 230–280.
Spackman, W., Dolsen, C.P. and Riegel, W. 1966. Phytogenic organic sediments and sedimentary environments in the Everglades-Mangrove complex, Part 1. Phytogeographica, 117B: 135–152.
Taylor, D. 1981. Fire History and Fire Records for Everglades National Park, 1948-1979
South Florida Research Center Report T-619. Homestead, FL: National Park Service. 121 pp.
Tebeau, C.W. 1968. Man in the Everglades. Coral Gables, FL: University of Miami Press.
Tomlinson, P.B. 1980. The Biology of Trees Native to Tropical Florida. Allston, MA: Harvard University Printing Office.
Wade, D., Ewel, J. and Hofstetter, R. 1980. Fire in South Florida Ecosystems. Forest Service General Technical Report SE-17. Asheville, NC: Southeastern Forest Experiment Station.
Wallace, P.M., Kent, D.M. and Rich, D.R. 1996. Responses of wetland tree species to hydrology and soils. Restoration Ecology, 4: 33–41.
Wanless, H.R., Parkinson, R.W. and Tedesco, L.P. 1994. Sea level control on stability of Everglades wetlands. In: Davis, S.M. and Ogden, J.C. eds. Everglades: the Ecosystem and its Restoration. Delray Beach, FL: St. Lucie Press, pp. 199–223.
Ward, D.B. ed. 1978. Rare and Endangered Biota of Florida, Vol. 5: Plants. Gainesville, FL: University Presses of Florida.
Weaver, P.L. 1989. Forest changes after hurricanes in Puerto Rico’s Luquillo Mountains. Intersciencia, 14: 181–192.
Webb, S.D. 1992. Historical biogeography. In: Myers, R.L. and Ewel, J.J. eds. Ecosystems of Florida. Orlando, FL: University of Central Florida Press, pp. 70–102
West, R.C., Psuty, N.P. and Thom, B.G. 1969. The Tabasco lowlands of southeastern Mexico. Coastal Studies Series No. 27. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press
Wunderlin, R.P. 1998 Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida Gainesville, FL: University Presses of Florida
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Armentano, T.V., Jones, D.T., Ross, M.S., Gamble, B.W. (2002). Vegetation Pattern and Process in Tree Islands of the Southern Everglades and Adjacent Areas. In: Sklar, F.H., Van Der Valk, A. (eds) Tree Islands of the Everglades. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0001-1_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0001-1_8
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-6490-3
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-0001-1
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive