Fire Ecology of South Florida Wetlands

Project Investigator: James R. Snyder Project Personnel: Curt Schaeffer Project Start Date: 1996 End Date: 2004 Work Plans Project Summaries Metadata Publications Project Location Map

A long history of lightning- and human-caused fire in south Florida has resulted in fire-dependent ecosystems over most of the area. South Florida contains a large area of public lands subject to woodland fire, with the National Park Service (NPS) managing over 4,000 km² of such lands in Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park. Fire management, both wildfire suppression and wildfire, is a major natural resource management activity throughout the area.

The main objective of the study is to establish the baseline conditions and begin the experimental treatments for a long-term study of season and frequency of burning in pinelands and associated cypress wetlands in Big Cypress National Preserve. The long-term study will document the ecological effects of a wide range of potential fire management strategies. The research will provide detailed data on vegetation responses to different burning regimes that will be considered along with wildlife, public safety, and other management concerns in refining prescribed burning programs of Interior lands in South Florida.

Work Plans

• 2004

Project Summaries

• 2001
• 2003

Metadata

• Fire Ecology of South Florida Wetlands (project metadata)

Publications

Abstracts

• Clipping as a Substitute for Fire to Study Seasonal Fire Effects on Muhly Grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris var. filipes) (from the GEER Conference, April 2003)
• Experimental Study of Fire Regimes in South Florida Pinelands and Associated Cypress Wetlands
• Long-term Experimental Study of Fire Regimes in South Florida Pinelands (from the South Florida Restoration Science Forum, May 1999)
• Long-Term Experimental Study of Fire Regimes in South Florida Pinelands (from the GEER Conference, December 2000)
• Use of Microburns to Study Seasonal Effects of Fire on Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow Habitat (from the USGS Gulf Coast Science Conference and Florida Integrated Science Center Meeting, October, 2008)

Flyers

• Fire Ecology of South Florida Pinelands (available from the Center for Aquatic Resource Studies website. Please note that this is a (0.4 Mb) PDF file and requires the FREE Adobe Acrobat Reader® to be read)
• Florida Caribbean Science Center Restoration Ecology Branch

Open File Reports

• Developing Ecological Criteria for Prescribed Fire in South Florida Pine Rockland Ecosystems (USGS Open File Report 2006-1062)

Posters

• Clipping as a Substitute for Fire to Study Seasonal Fire Effects on Muhly Grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris var. filipes) (presented at the 2003 GEER conference)
• Long-term Experimental Study of Fire Regimes in South Florida Pinelands: Pine mortality following three seasons of burns (presented at the 2000 GEER conference)