measured, and a canopy photograph and soil sample were taken. Figure 7.3c shows
where light and soil were sampled and the camera placement for canopy photographs.

 Prior to field-data collection, all wetland plant species found in central Florida
 were divided into structural categories. Structural categories were based on those in
 Florida Wetland Plants (Tobe and others 1998). Those species identified as large trees
 (> 30 m) were classified as canopy trees, while medium and small trees (10 m-30 m)
 were classified as subcanopy. Shrubs included multi-stemmed, woody species, while
 herbs are non-woody plants. Understory refers to vegetation in all structural categories
 less than one meter in height.

 Subcanopy and shrub species were further designated as either early successional
 or late successional species. Those species deemed undesirable by regulatory agencies in
 Florida and limited in allowable percent cover by permit were considered early
 successional. Myrica cerifera and Salix caroliniana are both considered early
 successional subcanopy species. Ludwigia peruviana, Baccharis halimifolia, and
 Sambucus canadensis were classified as early successional shrubs. Typha latifolia was
 the only herbaceous species to warrant early successional classification by these criteria.
 Those species not meeting these criteria were designated as late successional.

 The following exceptions to placement in structural categories should be noted.
 Myrica cerifera and Salix caroliniana were considered shrubs for field data collection
 because they are multi-stemmed but were analyzed as subcanopy species because of
 their size. Rhus copelina was considered a shrub for data collection but analyzed as a
 subcanopy species. Although it is single stemmed, its abundance in the site at which it
 was first encounter necessitated its sampling as a shrub. Rubus sp. and Aster caroliniana
 were sampled as herbaceous species, although they are considered by some to be a shrub
 or vine.

 All canopy and subcanopy tree species (other than Myrica sp. and Salix
caroliniana) reaching breast height were identified to species, and diameter at breast
height was measured. Forest height was estimated at the top of the canopy above a point
on the transect using a clinometer. Hemispherical photos were taken to estimate canopy
cover.

 Diameter at breast height and stem density of Myrica cerifera, Salix caroliniana
and all shrub species except Rubus sp. and Aster caroliniana were recorded within a 3m
X 3m quadrat placed randomly along each 10m segment of transect. Because of the
growth architecture of Myrica cerifera, Salix caroliniana, and most shrubs, which results
in multiple stems emerging from a single root system, diameter at breast height was
measured for each stem reaching breast height regardless of origin of the stem. Rubus
sp,. because of thorns, and Aster caroliniana, because of vine-like growth structure, did
not lend themselves to this sampling procedure and were instead sampled as understory.


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