Land Cover of Florida

Pinelands

The pinelands category includes north and south Florida pine flatwoods, south Florida Pine rocklands, and commercial pine plantations. Pine flatwoods occur on flat sandy terrain where the overstory is characterized by longleaf pine, slash pine, or pond pine. Generally, flatwoods dominated by longleaf pine occur on well-drained sites, while pond pine is found in poorly drained areas, and slash pine occupies intermediate or moderately moist areas.

The understory and groundcover within these three communities are somewhat similar and include several common species such as saw palmetto, gallberry, wax myrtle, and a wide variety of grasses and herbs. Generally wiregrass and runner oak dominate longleaf pine sites, fetterbush and bay trees are found in pond pine areas, while saw palmetto, gallberry, and rusty lyonia occupy slash pine flatwoods sites. Cypress domes, bayheads, titi swamps, and freshwater marshes are commonly interspersed in isolated depressions throughout this community type, and fire is a major disturbance factor.

An additional pine flatwoods forest type occurs in extreme south Florida on rocklands where the overstory is the south Florida variety of slash pine, and tropical hardwood species occur in the understory. Scrubby flatwoods is another pineland type which occurs on drier ridges, and on or near old coastal dunes. Longleaf pine or slash pine dominate the overstory, while the groundcover is similar to the xeric oak scrub community.

Commercial pine plantations are also reluctantly included in the pinelands association. This class includes predominately planted slash pine, although longleaf pine and loblolly pine tracts also occur. Sandpine plantations, which have been planted on severely site prepared sandhill sites in the north Florida pandhandle, are also included in this category. An acceptable accurate separation of areas of densely stocked native flatwoods and older planted pine stands with a closed canopy was not consistently possible.

Prepared by: Terry Gilbert, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Office of Environmental Services

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Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Last Update - 9/7/99