Plant Diversity of Florida Topic 11 Learning Objectives Plant Biology BOT 3015 Dr Mast 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 Native naturalized o There are 4200 native and naturalized species of vascular plants in florida peninsula o The two biotic hotspots of Florida are the panhandle and the middle of the o The Florida Natural Areas Inventory is the state natural heritage program FNAI builds and maintains a comprehensive database of the biological resources of Florida It recognizes 68 natural communitites o FNAI s biodiversity Matrix tool is a tool that provides a means to search o Native Plants that originated in a certain area Florida if they are native FNAI s locality data to florida flourish and grow in that new area i e venus fly trap in florida Plants brought into an area that aren t native and then o Naturalized What are associations and ecoregions How do they differ In what ecoregion does the Nature Conservancy place the Florida Panhandle How many plant taxa are endemic to the East Gulf Coastal Plain ecoregion To the Florida Peninsula ecoregion Association ecoregion the East Gulf Coastal Plain Florida Peninsula ecoregion endemic o Associations are natural communities There are 68 in Florida An ecoregion is a large geographically defined area that has relatively constant climate and geology and that supports a distinctive group of species and ecological communities These two differ in that ecoregions are more broad and large than associations 68 associations in Florida while there are only 4 ecoregions in Florida o The Florida Panhandle is placed in the East Gulf Coastal Plain ecoregion o There are 125 taxa endemic to the East Gulf Coastal Plain ecoregion To the Florida Peninsula ecoregion there are 122 taxa o The Florida Peninsula ecoregion and East Gulf Coastal Plain ecoregion o Endemic are the two largest ecoregions in Florida Ecologically native to or confined to a certain region Prevalent in or peculiar to a particular locality or region 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 karst o Physiography is the physical geography the description of the Earth s geography o The Florida Peninsula is a distinctive feature of the coastal plain whereas the Panhandle is not a distinctive part of the coastal plain The parts of the map shaded green are the highlands of the panhandle They are the located on the northwest and northeast parts of the panhandle The parts shaded orange are the areas of karst topography The orange part in between the two highlands is the Marianna Lowlands and the part shaded orange below the Tallahassee Hills is the Woodville Karst Plain The parts shaded yellow are the Gulf Coastal Lowlands o Florida s highest point Britton Hill is the lowest high point of any state o Karst is a type of topography that has a landscape distinctive dissolution patterns often marked by underground drainages These are areas where the bedrock has soluble layer or layers usually but not always of carbonate rock such as limestone or dolomite Characterized by limestone outcrops sinkholes caverns and springs o You see Dunes on the coastal left side of the panhandle and you see marshes swamps on the eastern coastal side of the panhandle They are distributed this way because the eastern coastal side has low wave action which leads to the formation of coastal marsh and the western coastal side of the panhandle has high wave action which leads to the formation of dunes and barrier islands 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 o Climate is the year to year persistence of weather patterns over time at a particular place o No other state except Alaska has more miles of coastline Every point in the state is within 70 miles of the coast Proximity to the coast affects the probability of frost in the winter the probability decreases as you get closer to the coast Also the probability of frost varies considerably from north to south The ocean causes the state s climate to not be uniform all over the state This causes humidity provinces which in turn causes plants to be distributed in areas where they grow best o The Florida Panhandle receives much more rainfall annually than the rest of the country o Lightning ignited fires peak in Florida during May and June 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 High Pine Flatwood Swamp grass stage o The major community types of the Panhandle are the Temperate Hardwood Forests Hammock High Pine Flatwoods and Swamps o Temperate Hardwood Forests are found primarily in the northern highlands of the peninsula Red Hills region The High Pine regions are most prevalent in the Panhandle highlands as well The Flatwoods are most prevalent in the southern part of the Florida Panhandle The swamps are most prevalent in the southeast coastal part of the panhandle o Effects of humans on High Pines Because of logging there were decreased fire frequencies causing most pine sites to be dominated by turkey oak instead of pine today 25 million hectares of longleaf pine forests existed in the coastal plain just before European settlement Roughly 3 of the uplands in support high pine ecosystems today and a tiny fraction of that 3 is old growth o Effects of humans on Flatwoods Undisturbed moist flatwoods in S Florida have been extensively invaded by Australian cajeput Brazilian
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