Natural Communities Directly Managed by
CAMA
|
|
Community Type |
Acres |
Description |
|
Scrub |
15 |
Fire-maintained community of sand pines and
scrub oak with minimal ground vegetation. |
|
Xeric Hammock |
668 |
Scrubby dense low canopy forest with
palmetto, or a multi-storied forest of tall
trees. |
|
Beach Dune |
124 |
Wind-deposited foredune and wave-deposited
upper beach that are vegetated with pioneer
species, especially sea oats. |
|
Coastal Strand |
483 |
Stabilized, wind-deposited coastal dunes
that are vegetated with a dense thicket of
salt-tolerant shrubs. |
|
Coastal Interdunal Swale |
27 |
Habitats in a dune and swale topography
where groundwater intersects with the bottom
of the swale and saltwater flooding is
infrequent. |
|
Maritime Hammock |
370 |
A narrow band of hardwood forest lying just
inside of the Coastal Strand. |
|
Mesic Flatwoods |
17 |
Widely-spaced pine trees with little or no
understory, but a dense ground cover of
herbs and shrubs. |
|
Depression Marsh |
56 |
Shallow, usually rounded depression in sand
substrate with herbaceous vegetation,
often in concentric bands. |
|
Estuarine Tidal Marsh |
8053 |
Expanses of grasses, rushes and sedges along
coastlines of low wave energy and river
mouths. |
|
Tidal Swamp |
346 |
Tidal swamps are dense, low forests
occurring along relatively flat shorelines
of low wave energy. |
|
Unconsolidated Substrate |
2496 |
Expansive, relatively open areas of
subtidal, intertidal, and supratidal zones
which lack dense populations of sessile
plant and animal species. |
|
Ruderal |
45 |
Natural ground cover severely disturbed by
human influence. |
|
Open Water |
31692 |
Non-FNAI categories marine habitat
consisting of pelagic water areas. |
|
Not Mapped |
709 |
The natural communities of these areas has not
been determined. |
|
Since boundaries between habitats tend to
be more gradual than those typically defined
in habitat maps, all acreage estimates are
approximate. |
|
|
|
|
Additional Natural Communities of GTM
Research Reserve
|
|
Community Type |
Description |
|
Sandhill |
Forest of widely spaced pine trees with a
sparse understory of oaks and dense
ground cover of grasses and herbs on rolling
hills of sand. |
|
Coastal Berm |
Plant associations that develop on ridges of
storm-deposited sand, shells and debris. |
|
Shell Mound |
An elevated mound of mollusk shells and
aboriginal refuse on which a hardwood,
closed-canopy forest develops. |
|
Scrubby Flatwood |
Widely scattered pine trees with a sparse
shrubby understory and numerous sand
patches. |
|
Upland Mixed Forest |
Well-developed, closed canopy forests of
upland hardwoods on rolling hills. |
|
Dome Swamp |
Shallow, forested, usually circular
depression that generally presents a domed
profile because smaller trees grow in the
shallower waters at the outer edge, while
deeper trees grow in the deeper water in the
interior. |
|
Floodplain Swamp |
Swamps occurring on flooded soils along
stream channels and in low spots within the
river floodplains. Dominant trees are usually
buttressed hydrophytic trees such as cypress
or tupelo. |
|
Marsh Lake |
Similar to Depression Marshes, except water
generally remains all year. |
|
Blackwater Stream |
Watercourses originating deep in sandy
lowlands where extensive wetlands with
organic soils function as reservoirs. |
|
Estuarine Mollusk Reef |
Expansive concentrations of sessile mollusks
occurring in intertidal and subtidal zones. |
|
Marine Consolidated Substrate |
Represented by an outcrop of coquina rock
called the Anastasia Formation that is
supratidal to subtidal. Zoned by the colors of the dominant alga. |
|
Marine Unconsolidated Substrate |
The portion of the coast that is
seaward of the beach dune community. |
2012 State of Florida