ECOLOGICAL COMMUNITY


 NO. 9 EVERGLADES FLATWOODS


OCCURRENCE

The Everglades Flatwoods ecological community occurs only in the Everglades
region of south Florida. The largest area is west of Homestead in and round
the Everglades National Park. The tropical hammock ecological community is
generally interspersed throughout this community.

DESCRIPTION

This community occurs on nearly level land. It is underlain at shallow depths
by a porous pinnacle limestone rock. Many areas have little or no soil and
the pinnacle rock occurs on the surface. Water movement is rapid through the
porous limestone. Consequently, the sites are wet for only short periods
following heavy rains.

1. Soil

 The soils are nearly level, shallow and coarse textured over porous
 limestone rock. Representative soils are Dade, Hallandale and Rockdale.
 Appendix A contains information on correlation of soil series with the
 appropriate ecological community.

2. Vegetation

 The natural vegetation that occurs on this community is dominated by an
 overstory of south Florida slash pine. The understory is mostly
 sawpalmetto and grasses. There is considerable uniformity and openness.
 The specific plants which characterize this community are:

 TREES South Florida slash pine, Pinus elliottii var. densa

 SHRUBS Marlberry, Ardisia escallonioides; Sawpalmetto, Serenoa repens;
 Waxmyrtle, Myrica cerifera

 HERBACEOUS PLANTS Florida peperomia, Peperomia obtusifolia

 GRASSES Cabanis bluestem, Andropogon cabanissi; Chalky bluestem,
 Andropogon capillipes; Creeping bluestem, Schizachyrium
 stoloniferum; Low panicums, Panicum spp.; Saltmarsh
 windmillgrass, Estachys glauca

 Additional plants that are known to occur in this community are in
 Appendix B.