Rare Plants of the Florida Scrub, USA

Forty-five plant species found in Florida scrub (USA) have been recognized as endangered or threatened with extinction under the Endangered Species Act (28) or comparable state regulations (45). An additional three species are recognized as rare for a variety of reasons. Many of these species are en...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Natural areas journal 2001-01, Vol.21 (1), p.50-60
Main Author: Stout, I. Jack
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Barrier islands
Biological taxonomies
Conservation biology
Endangered species
Endemic species
Gulfs
Plants
Scrub vegetation
Taxa
USA, Florida
Vegetation
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Summary:Forty-five plant species found in Florida scrub (USA) have been recognized as endangered or threatened with extinction under the Endangered Species Act (28) or comparable state regulations (45). An additional three species are recognized as rare for a variety of reasons. Many of these species are endemic to the Lake Wales Ridge of central peninsular Florida. Fewer rare species are associated with scrubs found elsewhere within the peninsula, along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and in the panhandle. Of the seven categories of rarity defined by Rabinowitz (1981), nearly all of the species exhibit small geographic ranges and narrow habitat specificity. Population sizes tend to be small everywhere, but exceptions do occur. Life history strategies represented include (1) obligate seeders, (2) resprouters and seeders, and (3) seed bank reseeders. These strategies have evolved in the face of periodic, catastrophic fires that tend to destroy most of the aboveground biomass of the Rorida scrub. Rare plants show a mixture of these life history strategies. Nearly all of the rare plants depend on openings or gaps in the vegetation with exposed mineral soil and little or no litter accumulation for recruitment or long-term survival. Several land acquisition programs are involved in acquiring lands necessary to ensure the potential survival of rare Rorida scrub plants.
ISSN:0885-8608
2162-4399