Sandhill
Scattered longleaf or sand pine, blackjack oak and turkey oak
with wiregrass, palmettos, and forbs in the understory. Because
of timbering, large overstory pines are scarce. Species richness
is also low in most areas because of fire suppression prior to
state purchase. A keystone species of the sandhill community is
the gopher tortoise. Nearly 400 species of animals, including
the threatened Eastern indigo snake and the rare Florida mouse
use borrows of the gopher tortoise. Several species of insects
are found only in gopher tortoise borrows.
