BULLETIN FLORIDA STATE MUSEUM VOL. 33(4)


chapmanii), sand live oak (Q. geminata), myrtle oak (Q. myrtifolia), scrub
hickory (Carya floridana), rusty lyonia (Lyonia fermginea), scrub palmetto
?(Sabal etonia), saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) and rosemary (Ceratiola
ericoides). Ground cover is generally sparse, consisting of grasses, forbs,
lichens, and shrub and tree sprouts. Xeric pine-oak habitats with canopy
coverage less than 50% were classed as "open canopy" and those with canopy
coverage greater than 50% as "closed canopy." The majority of open canopy
areas had less than 25% canopy coverage. The most extensive blocks of closed
canopy habitat were in a portion of the core area that had not been burned for
over 50 years.
 Flatwoods occur on generally level, sandy soils with a relatively high water
 table. South Florida slash pine is the dominant overstory species. Typical
 shrub and ground cover components are gallberry (Ilex glabra), fetterbush
 (Lyonia lucida), wiregrass (Aristida stricta), cutthroat grass (Panicum
 abscissum), and saw palmetto. Grassy seasonal ponds and swales are included
 in this category. Most flatwoods in the study area are relatively open, with
 widely-spaced pines. However, small patches of flatwoods with dense pines
 and heavy saw palmetto undergrowth often occur at the edges of ponds, lakes,
 and bayheads and in parts of the core area where fire has been long excluded.
 Bayheads, characterized by broad-leaved evergreen trees that form a dense,
 closed canopy, occur along creeks, at lake edges, and in shallow depressions
 with muck soils in flatwoods. The typical overstory species include loblolly bay
 (Gordonia lasianthus), red bay (Persea borbonia), sweet bay (Magnolia
 virginiana) and slash pine. Characteristic shrub layer components are young
 bay trees, wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera), gallberry, and saw palmetto. Mosses
 and ferns are often abundant components of the ground cover, and muscadine
 grape (Vitis rotundifolia) is common along edges.
 Citrus groves and tree nurseries are found principally on land that formerly
supported xeric pine-oak communities. As the groves are periodically disced,
ground cover between rows is generally sparse or absent. However, grasses
and forbs may become extensive in groves that have not been disced for some
time. The oldfield category includes vacant lots, fallow agricultural fields,
decadent citrus groves with sparse dead trees and rank grass and weedy ground
cover, pastures overgrown with weeds and brush, and railroad and road
right-of-ways. Improved pastures are open areas of dense, short-cropped
natural or exotic grasses with widely scattered shrubs, clumps of palmettos, or
pines. A golf course in the study area also is included in this category.
Man-occupied areas consisted of three light industrial complexes of about 3 ha
each, an extensive housing development with scattered houses and much open
land, a mobile home park, a recreational vehicle park, several areas containing
clumped rural residences, and a few gardens or agricultural fields. The study
area was traversed by a railroad and two major highways and contained a


166