Florida Dry Prairie Shrubland

This alliance is endemic to Florida and occurs in the southern portion of the state on flat, moderately to poorly drained sandy sites. These areas become saturated in the summer or inundated with several centimeters of water for short periods after heavy summer rains. This open shrubland alliance consists of nearly treeless, open grassy to shrubby expanses including Aristida beyrichiana, Aristida spiciformis, Aristida purpurascens, Andropogon virginicus, Andropogon brachystachyus, and Eragrostis spp. with sparse to dense cover of low, scrubby Serenoa repens and scattered patches of low shrubs including Quercus pumila, Asimina spp., Ilex glabra, Lyonia ferruginea, Lyonia fruticosa, Lyonia lucida, Vaccinium myrsinites, and Morella cerifera. An occasional tree may occur (less than 2 trees/1.0 ha), typically Pinus elliottii var. densa or Sabal palmetto.

This alliance is endemic to southern Florida on flat, moderately to poorly drained sandy sites. These areas become saturated in the summer or inundated with several centimeters of water for short periods after summer rains. This alliance is threatened by lack of fire, urban development, use as unimproved pasture or conversion to improved pasture, agriculture, and citrus groves. Historical acreage of this alliance has greatly decreased, with few large tracts remaining and few occurrences of high ecological quality. This vegetation is closely related floristically to mesic pine flatwoods, except that it has virtually no tree layer. The open structure and species composition are maintained by frequent fire and the summer high water table. The natural fire frequency is thought to be every one to two years. There are numerous references in historical accounts of the Florida Dry Prairies.

This open shrubland alliance consists of nearly treeless, open grassy to shrubby expanses including Aristida beyrichiana, Aristida spiciformis, Aristida purpurascens, Andropogon virginicus, Andropogon brachystachyus, and Eragrostis spp. with sparse to dense cover of low, scrubby Serenoa repens and scattered patches of low shrubs including Quercus pumila, Asimina spp., Ilex glabra, Lyonia ferruginea, Lyonia fruticosa, Lyonia lucida, Vaccinium myrsinites, and Morella cerifera (= Myrica cerifera). An occasional tree may occur (less than 2 trees/1.0 ha), typically Pinus elliottii var. densa or Sabal palmetto. Other typical plants include Andropogon capillipes (= Andropogon virginicus var. glaucus), Axonopus fissifolius, Sorghastrum secundum, Schizachyrium scoparium var. stoloniferum (= Schizachyrium stoloniferum), Pityopsis graminifolia, Eryngium aromaticum, Liatris spp., Pterocaulon pycnostachyum, Piloblephis rigida, Lilium catesbaei, Sabatia brevifolia, Polygala spp., Solidago spp., and Hyptis alata.

This alliance is endemic to southern Florida and occurs on flat, moderately to poorly drained sandy sites. These areas become saturated in the summer or inundated with several centimeters of water for short periods after summer rains. Soil series known to support this community type are Myakka (sandy, siliceous, hyperthermic Aeric Alaquod), Wabasso (sandy, siliceous, hyperthermic Alfic Alaquod), Oldsmar (sandy, siliceous, hyperthermic Alfic Arenic Alaquod), and Immokalee (sandy, siliceous, hyperthermic Arenic Alaquod).

This habitat is historically prone to frequent wildfires during early lightning season (April-June), followed by frequent summer thunderstorms and higher levels of soil saturation, associated with the subtropical climate. These factors, in combination serve to inhibit the survival of trees in the dry prairie landscape (Platt et al. 2006a). This alliance is threatened rangewide by urban development, use as unimproved pasture or conversion to improved pasture, agriculture, and citrus groves. Historical acreage of this alliance has greatly decreased, with few large tracts remaining and few occurrences of high ecological quality. This vegetation is closely related floristically to mesic pine flatwoods, except that it has no tree layer. The open structure and species composition is maintained by frequent fire and the summer high water table (Platt et al. 2006a). The natural fire frequency is thought to be every one to two years. There are numerous references in historical accounts of the Florida Dry Prairies (Noss 2006).

This alliance occurs in south-central and southwestern peninsular Florida, in three areas north and west of Lake Okeechobee.