Transcript Fire in Florida And Community Succession

Fire in Florida
And Community Succession
© Harold E. Malde
So,, What’s The Problem??
We Live in a Naturally Flammable
State
Climate,
Geography
and
Culture
Fire in Florida
Combined, to create a landscape
that has
been exposed to frequent fire
Fire in Florida
Kormorek 1964
Fire Data
•Lightening frequency
•Moisture
•# of Fires
•Size of Fires
Remove Fire - - - - Plant Community Changes
© The Nature Conservancy
Terms - Ecologial Succession
Ecological Succession (Ecosystem Development):
•An orderly process of community development that involves changes in
species structure and ecosystem processes through time.
•Results from modifications in the ecosystem physical environment
•It culminates in a stabilized ecosystem until a disturbance event occurs
Sere:
•A sequence of communities that replace on another in a given region with
specific abiotic factors
Seral Stage:
•A transitory stage of a Sere
Clements Linear Succession Model
Terms - Ecologial Succession
SUCCESSION
Pioneer Stage:
•First community stage of a sere
Climax Stage:
•Final community stage of a sere
Mono-Climax:
•Succession sere with one “Climax Community”
Poly- Climax:
•Succession sere with several potential “Climax Communities”
Succession after
Fire
Common Fire-Prone/Dependent
Community Types
Habitat Type
•
•
•
•
•
•
Pine savannah
Sandhill or longleaf pine/turkey oak
Dry prairie
Scrubby flatwoods
Sand pine scrub
FW marsh and wet prairies
Burn Interval
1 – 4 years
1 – 4 years
1 – 3 years
8 – 12 years
15 – 30 years
1 – 5 years
Threats to Rare Species
gopher tortoise
Florida scrub-jay
red-cockaded
woodpecker
© R. Roberts
© Donna Bollenbach
pitcher plant
© Florida Park Service
© Tom Arrington
grasshopper sparrow
© T. Engstrom
Florida’s Fire Regime
Our native landscape is fire-prone and fire-dependent and
characterized by having:
1) a high frequency of fires (the majority of which
requires a 2- to 4-year interval);
2) a low to moderate fire intensity;
3) a predominance of terrestrial upland habitats adapted and dependent on fire for
ecological health; and
4) a predominance of imperiled upland species that require frequent fire for
optimum habitat condition.
Three Principal Environmental Elements
Affecting Wildland Fire Behavior
Fuels
Weather
Topography
Questions?
In National Forests, government policy has been to suppress
forest fires whenever possible for the last century. Now some
regions are starting to allow fires to burn. Based on what you
know about succession, what impact do you think this might
have in the area?