3. Animals


 Animals utilizing this community are adapted to stress conditions of high
 temperature and drought. Many of the animals are burrowers. This helps
 to prevent water loss and provides protection against high temperatures.
 The most common animals of this community are:

 MAMMALS Fox squirrel, pocket gopher, white-tailed deer

 BIRDS Bobwhite quail, ground dove, rufous-sided towhee

 REPTILES Gopher tortoise, fence lizard

 Information on animals known to occur in specific ecological communities
 is in Appendix C.

LAND USE INTERPRETATIONS

1. Environmental Value as a Natural System

 The longleaf pine-turkey oak community is a fairly open forest community
 influenced by fire, heat and drought. The most important influence is
 fire which typically occurs frequently. The natural vegetation is adapted
 to withstand the effects of occasional fire. Grasses cover large areas
 and provide fuel for the fire and prevent competing hardwoods from
 regenerating. Longleaf pine cannot tolerate hardwood competition and,
 with fire, this species remains dominant. The community can be changed to
 an upland hammock type by elimination of fires. Water moves rapidly
 through most of the soil to the aquifer with little runoff and minimal
 evaporation. This is important for aquifer recharge.

 Longleaf pine-turkey oak hills are used to some extent for timber
 production. In west Florida, sand pine is often planted because it is
 better adapted than slash pine on these sites. Longleaf pine does not
 replant well because of its nature to remain in the "grass "stage" for
 several years.

 Native forage production is low, so the community has limited value as
 rangeland. Improved practices for rangeland have little effect on the
 community.

 This community has value for wildlife if proper management techniques are
 used. Bobwhite quail utilize this area for food and cover and this makes
 the hunting aspects especially important. In central and south Florida
 most of this community has been planted to citrus.

 In north Florida is is used for improved pasture, pine plantations, and to
 a limited degree, for more intensive farming operation with use of
 irrigation. Soil conditions are very favorable for urban development.
 The community is decreasing rapidly in size because of the demand for
 urban and agricultural uses.