 A prescribed burn of a wet flatwood
|
Plant and animal communities at Tosohatchee have been shaped
by alternating cycles of fire and flood. Past human activities
—
canal construction, logging, road or utility easement
construction, and the exclusion of fire — changed the landscape.
Through a contract with the Florida Natural Areas Inventory (FNAI),
FWC will map both the current and the historic plant
communities. This information will be used to guide habitat
management and restoration.
To correct hydrological changes, which diverted water from
the WMA and reduced water retention times and levels, the Florida
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) will
continue to restore historic flows. These techniques include
filling some ditches and canals, constructing culverts and
bridges or low-water crossings on roads, and working with
adjacent landowners to improve the quality and quantity of water
moving through Tosohatchee’s habitats. Freshwater marshes
overgrown with cabbage palms, wax myrtles, and other shrubs,
which became established during artificially dry conditions, are
mechanically removed just prior to burning. Pine stands that
have become too dense due to over-planting or fire exclusion
are selectively thinned and then burned to reduce
accumulated debris and eliminate encroaching hardwoods. Because
the WMA is quite wet in the summer, prescribed burns are
conducted in spring and early summer when conditions permit.
Native groundcovers, important to wildlife, will grow vigorously
in these burned areas when summer rains begin.
Nonnative invasive plants such as Chinese tallow, cogon
grass, Brazilian pepper, and wild taro, are removed using
environmentally-safe chemicals and careful use of heavy
equipment.
Feral hogs exist at moderate to high densities. This
nonnative species causes great harm to native wildlife
populations and vegetation when it uproots plants in search of
food. The population is controlled through hunting.
Return
to Natural Communities
