Abstract
The pine rocklands of southern Florida are a fire-dependent forest associated with outcroppings of limestone. Pine rockland plants have several adaptations to fire, and for many species burns increase plant growth, flowering, and seedling establishment. The pine rockland forest has been reduced and fragmented in recent decades. Outside of Everglades National Park, only two percent of the original pine rocklands remain, and are in the form of small fragments. Habitat fragmentation may have a negative effect on the biology of plants; we investigated the effects of both fire and fragmentation on Angadenia berteroi (A.DC.) Miers, a threatened species of the southern Florida pine rockland. We estimated the density and flowering of A. berteroi using adaptive cluster sampling in six study sites with different fire and disturbance histories. A. berteroi is more abundant in the largest fragments, and those having experienced fire most recently. However, fragmentation and lack of fire did not appear to have a great impact on flowering or fruit production. Insights from this threatened species may provide impetus not only to conserve, but to properly manage remaining pine rocklands in south Florida.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Jennifer Richards, Mike Ross, and Jim Snyder for their constructive input during the course of this research and writing of the findings. Manuscript clarity was also improved by John Geiger, Jay Sah, and two anonymous reviewers. We thank Jay Sah and Tom Philippi for their statistical advice. Rafael Travieso provided help with Fig. 1. Isabel Rodriquez, Kenny Lo, Soraya Allahar, Adel Peña, Michelle Barragan, and Ayo Jolibois provided help in the field. Funding was provided to Beyte Barrios by The Florida Native Plant Society (2008 Endowment Research Grant); FIU Kelly Scholarships (2008, 2009); and a Catherine H. Beattie Fellowship (2009) from The Garden Club of America. Collections were made under permit # 0080 from Natural Areas Management (Miami-Dade County), and Everglades National Park Scientific Research and Collection permit # EVER-2008-SCI-0070. This is contribution #195 to the Tropical Biology Program at Florida International University.
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Barrios, B., Arellano, G. & Koptur, S. The effects of fire and fragmentation on occurrence and flowering of a rare perennial plant. Plant Ecol 212, 1057–1067 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-010-9886-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-010-9886-7