BULLETIN FLORIDA MUSEUM NATURAL HISTORY VOL. 38 PT. I (3)


experiment un period relativamente seco durante este studio y por lo tanto, algunos estanques no se
Ilenaron anualmente.
 Las comunidades vegetacionales se identificaron en base a informaci6n de transectos y bisquedas de
circuitos en las cuencas de los estanques. Con el objeto de determinar sin un numero de species
caracteristicas pudiera ser utilizado para la identificaci6n de sitios de reproducci6n de las dos species de
anfibios, se realizaron anilisis vegetacionales. Se identific6 un total de 112 plants vasculares provenientes
de cuencas en los estanques. Panicum hemitomon fue la inica especie present en cada estanque. Otras
species comunes fueron Andropogon glomeratus, Rhexia mariana var. mariana, Eupatorium
leptophyllum, Rhynchospora spp., Ilex glabra, Cephalanthus occidentalis y miembros de la familiar
Eriocaulaceae. Las semejanzas vegetativas entire estanques, estuvieron por lo general correlacionadas con
similaridades en el ciclo hidrol6gico (el tiempo transcurrido desde que cada estanque tuvo agua) y la
cercania entire estanques. La vegetaci6n en cada estanque reflej6 un patr6n de zonaci6n comunmente descrito
para estanques temporarios en otras regions. Los valores de indices de humedales calculados para cada
estanque cayeron dentro del rango descrito para humedales, incluyendo una cuenca que no form estanque
durante 7 afios. La riqueza y diversidad de species fueron miximas en estanques secados recientemente (< 1
ailo desde inundaci6n) y minimas en estanques inundados y en estanques secos por various afios.


 INTRODUCTION


 Vegetation data from upland temporary ponds in north and north-central
Florida were collected as part of a larger project to determine the ecology and
distribution of two rare amphibians, the Florida gopher frog, Rana capitol aesopus,
and the striped newt, Notophthalmus perstriatus (LaClaire 1992; Franz and Smith
1993). Temporary ponds are required breeding habitat for these upland-dwelling
amphibians (Moler and Franz 1987). In order to ensure the survival of these two
species, effective management of their breeding habitat is imperative.
 An understanding of the temporary pond plant community is essential to the
development of appropriate management plans for these pond basins. The wetland
vegetation of temporary ponds is an important source of available nutrients for
pond-dwelling plants and animals and of humified organic matter that may be
crucial to the ability of a pond to hold water (LaClaire 1992).
 It is especially important that management practices do not alter the existing
hydrology of a temporary pond basin. Alteration of the hydrologic regime may
seriously impact the development of hydric soils, structure of the plant community,
and temporal use by amphibians. Both reduction of the water budget and
stabilization of water levels have figured prominently in the ecological decline of
many undrained Florida wetlands (Lowe 1986). For example, use of temporary
ponds as water retention basins stabilizes the water level and may result in
successional changes toward a community dominated by emergent genera such as
Pontederia sp., Typha sp., or Scirpus sp., rather than the grass/sedge community
(Botts and Cowell 1988) required by many species of amphibians for egg
attachment. The high variability and instability of the hydrologic component of
the temporary pond environment results in a community which is highly
susceptible to other disturbance (Gopal 1986).