BUREAU OF GEOLOGY


Table 7. Plant communities of concern-based on Nature Conservancy
 recommendations.
FLOODPLAIN SWAMP SLOUGH
 Water Elm/Ash Swamp Water Elm/Pop Ash Slough
 Slash Pine Swamp Pond Apple/Pop Ash Slough

STREAMBANK THICKET BASIN SWAMP
 White Cedar Bog Slash Pine Swamp

STRAND SWAMP BAYGALL
 Cypress/Royal Palm Strand Everglades Bayhead



ward, black mangroves closer to shore and white mangroves furthest
inland. These swamps support large estuarine areas.
 The Nature Conservancy has inventoried the plant communities in Flor-
ida and assigned each community a rank in relation to how commonly it
occurs. The plant communities of concern are listed in Table 7 (Linda
Deuver, personal communication, 1983).
 It was suggested that specific native communities with tropical affini-
ties might be of such limited extent that peat mining in south Florida
could possibly lead to the destruction of certain groups (Linda Deuver,
personal communication, 1983).
 The existence of endangered, threatened, rare or species of special
concern in areas of potential peat mining should be determined on a site-
by-site basis rather than a general habitat basis. Each site should be
investigated and the presence of species in question documented (R.
Kautz, personal communication, 1983). The site specific investigations
are necessary to avoid over generalization concerning the occurrence (or
nonoccurrence) of endangered species.
 Table 8 is a compilation of species which are endangered, threatened,
rare or of special concern. This information was gathered from the series
entitled "Rare and Endangered Biota of Florida", from the official list of
the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission entitled "Endan-
gered and Potentially Endangered Fauna and Flora in Florida" and from
data supplied by the Nature Conservancy. Species whose habitat coin-
cides with areas of potential peat accumulation were included. This list-
ing should not be considered all encompassing and up-to-date on species
status. The Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission updates their list
periodically and should be consulted for the most recent compilation.
 Comments concerning individual endangered species in relation to
peatlands have been received by the staff of the Bureau of Geology.
Charles Lee (Florida Audubon, personal communication, 1983)
expressed concern for the Florida Panther and the Ivory-billed Wood-
pecker. He suggested that peat mining might disrupt portions of the
panther's habitat. Lee also noted that if any Ivory-billed Woodpeckers