The southern coastal plain hydric hammock is a wetland hammock community found on the flat lowlands of the southern and outermost parts of the Atlantic Coastal Plain in the states of Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. These forests of evergreen and deciduous hardwood trees occur near the floodplains of spring-fed rivers with relatively constant flows, usually over limestone substrates. They are usually found on gentle slopes just above swamps, marshes or wet prairies. In places, they can form large areas of broad, shallow wetlands. [1]
Hydric hammocks are found in scattered locations in Florida north of Lake Okeechobee, with concentrations along the upper St. Johns River, the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida, and particularly along the Big Bend section of the Gulf Coast of Florida, from Aripeka to St. Marks. [2]
Common trees include Eastern Red Cedar ( Juniperus virginiana ), elm ( Ulmus americana ), sweetbay magnolia ( Magnolia virginiana ), Red Maple ( Acer rubrum ), swamp laurel oak ( Quercus laurifolia ), southern live oak ( Quercus virginiana ), Sweetgum ( Liquidambar styraciflua ), Sugarberry ( Celtis laevigata ), and cabbage palm ( Sabal palmetto ). Dahoon holly ( Ilex cassine ) is a typical shrub. [1] [3]
Quercus virginiana, also known as the southern live oak, is an evergreen oak tree endemic to the Southeastern United States. Though many other species are loosely called live oak, the southern live oak is particularly iconic of the Old South. Many very large and old specimens of live oak can be found today in the Deep South region of the United States.
The Northeastern coastal forests are a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion of the northeast and middle Atlantic region of the United States. The ecoregion covers an area of 34,630 sq miles (89,691 km2) encompassing the Piedmont and coastal plain of seven states, extending from coastal southwestern Maine, southeastern New Hampshire, eastern Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, southward through Connecticut, New York State, New Jersey, southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland.
Laurel forest, also called laurisilva or laurissilva, is a type of subtropical forest found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable, mild temperatures. The forest is characterized by broadleaf tree species with evergreen, glossy and elongated leaves, known as "laurophyll" or "lauroid". Plants from the laurel family (Lauraceae) may or may not be present, depending on the location.
Myakka River State Park is a Florida State Park, that is located nine miles (14 km) east of Interstate 75 in Sarasota County and a portion of southeastern Manatee County on the Atlantic coastal plain. This state park consists of 37,000 acres (150 km2), making it one of the state's largest parks. It is also one of the oldest parks in the state. It was delineated in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. A small portion of the park was the gift of the family of Bertha Palmer to the state. The park is named after the Myakka River.
The Atlantic coastal pine barrens is a now rare temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of the Northeast United States distinguished by unique species and topographical features, generally nutrient-poor, often acidic soils and a pine tree distribution once naturally controlled by frequent fires.
The Apalachicola National Forest is the largest U.S. National Forest in the state of Florida. It encompasses 632,890 acres and is the only national forest located in the Florida Panhandle. The National Forest provides water and land-based outdoors activities such as off-road biking, hiking, swimming, boating, hunting, fishing, horse-back riding, and off-road ATV usage.
Big Talbot Island State Park is a state park in Florida, United States. It is located on Big Talbot Island, a coastal barrier island 20 miles east of downtown Jacksonville on A1A North and immediately north of Little Talbot Island State Park along the Atlantic coastal plain.
Washington Oaks Gardens State Park is a Florida State Park located near Palm Coast, Florida, along A1A. The park is most famous for its formal gardens, but it also preserves the original habitat of a northeast Florida barrier island.
Hammock is a term used in the southeastern United States for stands of trees, usually hardwood, that form an ecological island in a contrasting ecosystem. Hammocks grow on elevated areas, often just a few inches high, surrounded by wetlands that are too wet to support them. The term hammock is also applied to stands of hardwood trees growing on slopes between wetlands and drier uplands supporting a mixed or coniferous forest. Types of hammocks found in the United States include tropical hardwood hammocks, temperate hardwood hammocks, and maritime or coastal hammocks. Hammocks are also often classified as hydric, mesic or xeric. The types are not exclusive, but often grade into each other.
The Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests is an ecoregion of the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund. It consists of mesophytic plants west of the Appalachian Mountains in the Southeastern United States.
Florida sand pine scrub is an endangered subtropical forest ecoregion found throughout Florida in the United States. It is found on coastal and inland sand ridges and is characterized by an evergreen xeromorphic plant community dominated by shrubs and dwarf oaks. Because the low-nutrient sandy soils do not retain moisture, the ecosystem is effectively an arid one. Wildfires infrequently occur in the Florida scrub. Most of the annual rainfall falls in summer. It is endangered by residential, commercial and agricultural development, with the largest remaining block in and around the Ocala National Forest. Lake Wales Ridge National Wildlife Refuge also holds a high proportion of remaining scrub habitat, while the Archbold Biological Station near Lake Placid contains about 20 km2 (7.7 sq mi) of scrub habitat and sponsors biological research on it.
The New England-Acadian forests are a temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecoregion in North America that includes a variety of habitats on the hills, mountains and plateaus of New England in the Northeastern United States and Quebec and the Maritime Provinces of Eastern Canada.
The Middle Atlantic coastal forests are a temperate coniferous forest mixed with patches of evergreen broadleaved forests along the coast of the southeastern United States.
A cypress dome is a type of freshwater forested wetland, or a swamp, found in the southeastern part of the United States. They are dominated by the Taxodium spp., either the bald cypress, or pond cypress. The name comes from the dome-like shape of treetops, formed by smaller trees growing on the edge where the water is shallow while taller trees grow at the center in deeper water. They usually appear as circular, but if the center is too deep, they can form a “doughnut” shape when viewed from above. Cypress domes are characteristically small compared to other swamps, however they can occur at a range of sizes, dependent on the depth.
The Interior Low Plateaus are a physiographic region in eastern United States. It consists of a diverse landscape that extends from north Alabama across central Tennessee and Kentucky into southern Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Its natural communities are a matrix of temperate forests, woodlands, and prairies.
A bayhead or baygall is a specific type of wetland or swamp habitat. The name baygall is derived from sweetbay magnolia and sweet gallberry holly. Baygalls are recognized as a discrete ecosystem by ecologist and the swamps have been described as "distinct wetland communities in the Natural Communities of Louisiana". Baygall swamps are most often found in the low laying margins of floodplains and bottomlands with little or poor drainage to the main creek, bayou, or river channel. Baygall or bayhead swamps found on slopes and hillsides are sometimes referred to as a forest seep or hanging bogs. Hanging bogs are typically found in hardwood-pine forests. Most baygall swamps are semi-permanently saturated, or flooded.
The Southeastern conifer forests are a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of the southeastern United States. It is the largest conifer forest ecoregion east of the Mississippi River.
The Southern coastal plain oak dome and hammock is a forest type occurring in small patches in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. These forests consist of thick stands of evergreen oaks on shallow depressions or slight hills. They are distinct from their surrounding habitats, which are often woodlands dominated by longleaf pine.
Gulf Hammock is a wetlands area in the southern end of Levy County, Florida. It extends along the Gulf of Mexico coast from Cedar Key to the Withlacoochee River, and reaches several miles inland. Gulf Hammock includes the largest expanse of hydric hammock in Florida. The area is mostly uninhabited, with the area closest to the Gulf coast in a state park, and the inland areas primarily used for logging and hunting.
The upland hardwood forests of Florida are closed canopy forests dominated by deciduous and evergreen trees, and shrubs.