Plant Diversity of Florida 1 How many native and naturalized vascular plant species are there in Florida Where are the biotic hotspots of Florida What is the Florida Natural Areas Inventory and what is FNAI s Biodiversity Matrix tool 4200 species of native and naturalized plants Naturalized introduced and became self sustaining population Florida contains two biotic hotspots 1 the panhandle areas and 2 the Keys o Contain large number of imperiled species Florida Natural Areas Inventory the state natural heritage program o builds and maintains a comprehensive database of the biological resources of Florida o FNAI s Biodiversity Matrix tool provides a means to search FNAI s locality data 2 What are associations and eco regions How do they differ In what eco region does the Nature Conservancy place the Florida Panhandle How many plant taxa are endemic to the East Gulf Coastal Plain eco region To the Florida Peninsula eco region Association represents a plant assemblage that always exhibits similar total species composition and vegetation structure and that occurs repeatedly across the landscape wherever certain habitat conditions exist Eco region a large geographically defined area that has relatively constant climate and geology and that supports a distinctive group of species and ecological communities o The Florida panhandle is located in the East Gulf Coastal Plain eco region Has 125 endemic plant taxa o Florida Peninsula eco region has 122 endemic plant taxa Endemic a species is only found in that location 3 What is physiography Is the Peninsula a distinctive part of the coastal plain Is the Panhandle a distinctive part of the coastal plain Where are the highlands lowlands and the karst plains in the Panhandle be familiar with the map that is given How does Florida s highest point compare to that of other states What is karst Where do you see dunes vs marshes in the Panhandle Why are they distributed in this way Physiography physical geography the description of the Earth s surface o Florida lies entirely within the coastal plain but the panhandle is not a distinct feature o Florida s highest point is the lowest high point of any state Karst topography is a landscape of distinctive dissolution patterns often marked by underground drainages o areas where the bedrock has a soluble layer or layers usually but not always of carbonate rock such as limestone or dolomite o characterized by limestone outcrops sinkholes caverns and springs Low wave action leads to the formation of coastal marsh high wave action leads to the formation of dunes and barrier islands 4 What is climate How does the ocean affect the state s climate e g mean number of annual frost occurrences and the distribution of its species How much precipitation does the Florida Panhandle receive relative to the rest of the nation When which months is the peak of lightening ignited fires in Florida Climate the year to year persistence of weather patterns over time at a particular place Florida has the second most miles of coastline and every point in the state is within 70 miles of the coast primary peak in rainfall occurs in the summer June September from local thunderstorms associated with convection currents that arise because of differential heating of the land and water surfaces Lightening ignited fires are most frequent in May and June 5 What are the major community types of the Panhandle In what physiographic regions of the Panhandle do we see these major community types today What human activities have changed each of these community types Be able to associate the major community types with species found in them species that were discussed in lecture e g longleaf pine How is Longleaf Pine fire tolerant Do any swamp species rely on fire for establishment Hammock Temperate hardwood forest temperate upland forest dominated primarily by trees that are angiosperms o mixed evergreen deciduous hammocks contain the largest numbers of spp of trees and shrubs per unit area in the continental US in north FL o high species diversity is due to variation in disturbances and the responses that specific species have to them In N FL hammocks have a multi layered overstory a discrete understory and sparse ground cover In peninsula a lower less layered overstory that grades into the understory and abundant ground cover o Dominant tree is the magnolia and beech dogwood and American holly also Gopherwood and Florida yew o Species from hammocks can invade dry areas in absence of fire as well as floodplains when floods are infrequent and short Sweetgum and water oak species High Pine upland savanna like ecosystem typified by an open over story of longleaf pine and ground cover of perennial grasses and forbs interspersed with deciduous clonal oaks o Longleaf pine the most fire tolerant of the southern pines commonly occupies pine overstory Grass stage meristem is protected by dense tuft of long moisture laden needles building a deep taproot can remain this way for 10 years bark of longleaf pine thickens into layers of scaly plates which insulate the trunk and also flake off as they burn during a fire bolts fast using food stored in the taproot to grow up to 1 m in the first growing season have the largest seeds of any southern pine and their seeds have a persistent wing that reduces the likelihood that it will penetrate unburned grasses and pinestraw to reach suitable site for germination o turkey oak is common in the understory o wiregrass provides most of the ground cover o human settlement has severely reduced the coverage disrupted woodpecker populations Flatwood also dominated by longleaf pine but they are found on low flat topography with relatively poorly drained soils o Deciduous oaks are absent o Dominated by saw palmettos wiregrass o Have been invaded by Australian cajeput Brazilian pepper downy myrtle o Slash and longleaf pine are sources of rosin and turpentine which are distilled from the sap of the trees Swamp forested wetlands used to cover more than half the state o fire is relatively common in some types of swamps and plays a role in determining the type of swamp at a site some species depend on it for regeneration require periodic drought o dominated by cypress o affected by humans through runoff eliminates woodpeckers Early Development of the Plant Body 1 What is an embryo Are seed plants the only plants to produce embryos Embryo the young sporophytic plant before the start of a period of rapid growth germination in
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