Frequent Exposure To Fires: Pine Flatwoods

Frequent exposure to fire can be a beneficial impact on ecosystems and even pine Flatwoods. Whether it is by accident by occurring naturally in nature or by being intervened by humans. “The southeastern USA and, in particular, the Florida peninsula have one of the highest incidences of lightning strikes and lightning-origin fires in the world. As a likely consequence of repeated wildfires and winter dry seasons during their evolutionary history, the plant species of Florida’s uplands possess a variety of mechanisms that facilitate either resistance to damage from fire or recovery following fire” (Abrahamson 1996). Such beneficial impacts include clearing litter or debris from a recent storm that might have knocked down trees. In addition,

“Prescribed burning also influences the composition and structure of cover available for wildlife. Timing and frequency of burning determines litter depth, the height and density of cover, as well as plant diversity. Thus, prescribed burning can be used to tailor habitat conditions for focal species” (Wade 2012). Therefore, prescribed burnings can influence the type of habitat destroying plants that are unsuitable for such harsh conditions. It limits the type of trees and possible predators that might be introduced into the habitat from neighboring

Once everyone has gotten into their assigned groups of about three to four students, our professor, Mr. Rhautsaw, handed out each group a bag. The bag is consisted of a compass, two meter sticks, and measuring tape. Once the groups had their bags and clipboards, we headed into our assigned starting point in the fields. Each trip that the class went to the arboretum, we would gather a certain number of points. For example, on the first day of collecting data points, we went ten meters into the forest and placed the two-yard sticks on the floor of the forest to represent an X. One member of the group stood in the center of the yard sticks and broke up the study site into four quadrants. “This point represents the center of four compass directions (N, S, E, W) which divide the sampling site into four quarters or quadrants” (Klowden 2013). The next trip to the arboretum, we once again gathered into our groups with supply bag in hand. This time we headed approximately twenty meters into the forest. With the two-yard sticks, we once again broke up the study site into four quadrants. In the bag was a measuring tape that would be used to determine how far vegetation was from the starting point in each quadrant. As one person is setting up the yardsticks, another member in our group held the clipboard with the list of all the species of trees and shrubs and a