MAERC at Buck Island Ranch
300 Buck Island Ranch Road Lake Placid, Florida 33852 USA
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Wetland Restoration on Buck Island Ranch

Vegetation Maps and Permanent Vegetation Transects 

USDA Wetland Preserve Program Sites

MacArthur Agro-ecology Research Center (MAERC)

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Wetland Plant Community Types

Preliminary descriptions of vegetation mapping units for MAERC Wetland Reserve Program sites were performed by Edwin Bridges in 2004.  The location of general vegetation mapping units are shown below.  The general vegetative characteristics of the different mapping units are as follows: 

A – Tame or mostly tame grass pastures – areas with at least 50% ground cover dominance of Bahia grass (Paspalum notatum), carpet grasses (Axonopus spp.), torpedo grass (Panicum repens), or other planted pasture grasses – with or without a shrub or tree canopy

A1 – Bahia grass pasture – over 90% dominance by Bahia grass, with few to no shrubs, trees, or native grasses or forbs

A2 – Bahia grass – mixed grass pastures – generally with 50% to 90% cover of Bahia grass, mixed with scattered native grasses and forbs.  Other commonly occurring grasses include Andropogon virginicus var. virginicus, Andropogon glomeratus var. glaucopsis, Panicum longifolium, Axonopus compressus, and Sporobolus indicus.  Scattered shrubs, including Myrica cerifera and Baccharis halimifolia, may be present.

A3 – Bahia grass pasture with scattered oak canopy – generally 50% or greater cover of Bahia grass, mixed with other pasture grasses and scattered native grasses and forbs.  Somewhat more open ground than type A1, due to partial shading of some areas.  Canopy of open-grown Quercus virginiana with a total canopy cover of 20 to 50% in most areas.  Trees density and open-grown nature indicates that this type is not naturally an oak hammock, but rather a pasture that has later been colonized by oaks.

B – Shallow mixed grass marshes – areas with over 50% native grasses, sedges, and forbs, with or without a low cover of scattered shrubs, and less than 10% Cladium jamaicense (sawgrass) cover.  

B1 – Panicum longifolium – Andropogon spp. disturbed mixed grass shallow marshes – areas dominated by a mixture of Panicum longifolium, Andropogon glomeratus var. glaucopsis and Andropgon virginicus var. virginicus, with or without a lower ground cover layer of Eleocharis spp. and Centella asiatica.  Other grasses are uncommon in this type, and sawgrass is essentially absent.

B2 – Diverse shallow mixed grass/sedge marshes – areas of variable dominance, often with large patches of colonial grasses and sedges – including Paspalidium geminatum, Panicum hemitomon, and Rhynchospora inundata, mixed with Panicum longifolium, Panicum rigidulum, Leersia hexandra, Andropogon virginicus var. virginicus, and Axonopus furcatus.  Both Paspalum notatum and Cladium jamaicense have less than 10% cover in this type.  Many other sedges and forbs can be mixed with the dominant grasses and sedges, often including Lippia nodiflora, Hyptis alata, Centella asiatica, Rhynchospora colorata, and R. microcarpa.  Scattered shrubs of Myrica cerifera and Baccharis halimifolia are present in some areas.

B3 – Juncus effusus – mixed herb shallow marshes – areas with generally greater than 50% cover of Juncus effusus, not particularly associated with defined elliptic depressions, but rather in slightly lower areas within shallow marsh zones.  Landscape position (within an almost flat marsh landscape) differentiates these areas of Juncus dominance from the Juncus dominated depression marshes of the formerly dry prairie upland landscape.

B4 – Mixed grass-Juncus shallow old drainageway – May not be much different in vegetation than B2 or B3, but perhaps a combination of both types.  Landscape position is old shallow drainageway through marsh rather than flat typical marsh landscape position.

B5 – Spartina bakeri shallow marshes or Cabbage palm/Spartina bakeri open savannas – areas dominated or co-dominated by Spartina bakeri, often with Andropogon glomeratus var. pumilus, Aristida patula, and wetter species of the calcareous fringing wet prairies, usually with an open canopy of Sabal palmetto or fringing areas of Sabal palmetto nearby.  Was likely once a common outer marsh zone type of the region, now very uncommon.

C – Sawgrass and mixed sawgrass marshes and savannas – Cladium jamaicense (sawgrass) is at least 50% of total cover, and often over 90% cover.  Scattered Sabal palmetto canopy or Salix caroliniana shrub layer present in some areas.  Generally wetter than the Shallow Mixed Grass Marshes (B).  Found in either depressional wetlands or in broad strands in larger basin wetlands.

C1 – Sawgrass depression marsh – over 90% sawgrass cover in a defined elliptical depression surrounded by shallower marsh types.  Few other species present, these typically being Ludwigia peruviana, Sagittaria lancifolia, and Pontederia cordata.

C2 – Cabbage palm / sawgrass marshy wet savanna – about 50% or more sawgrass cover, mixed with some other wetland grasses and forbs, with a less than 50% canopy of scattered Sabal palmetto.  Common other grasses include Andropogon glomeratus var. pumilus, Panicum rigidulum, Paspalum floridanum, and Panicum dichotomiflorum.  Forbs common in this type include Euthamia graminifolia var. hirtipes, Crinum americanum, Kosteletzkya virginica, Teucrium canadense, and Aster subulatus.

C3 – Sawgrass – mixed grass marshes – transitional zones between types B2 and C1, generally with 10% to 50% sawgrass cover, mixed with a diverse group of other grasses and sedges, including Andropogon virginicus var. virginicus, Rhynchospora inundata, Leersia hexandra, Panicum hemitomon, and Paspalidum geminatum.

C4 – Fringing sawgrass marshes – composition much like type C1, but in defined bands fringing deeper wetlands in larger basins, rather than in small defined depressions.

C5 – Sagittaria – Pontederia broadleaf marshes – dominated by Sagittaria lancifolia and/or Pontederia cordata, usually with some areas of unvegetated open water and some submersed or floating aquatic plants, with less Cladium jamaicense cover than cover of broadleaf marsh species.

D – Forested and shrub swamps – areas with greater than 50% cover of trees and shrubs, in areas with deep seasonal inundation (at least in undrained state)

D1 – Magnolia virginiana / mixed grasses old drainageway – Sites with at least some canopy cover of Magnolia virginiana, perhaps mixed with Acer rubrum and Nyssa sylvatica var. biflora.  All that remains of the extensive bay swamps which may have reached their eastern limit (grading into sawgrass to the east) in the West 770 Marsh site.

D2 – Salix caroliniana shrub swamp – Sites with at least 50% cover of Salix caroliniana (willow), perhaps with some other shrubs present.  Remaining cover is mostly of deep marsh species, including Cladium jamaicense, Thalia geniculata, Sagittaria lancifolia, Pontederia cordata, and Ludwigia peruviana.

E – Hardwood-palm mesic and hydric hammocks – Sites which appear to support a mostly closed (more than 50% canopy cover) canopy of oaks (Quercus virginiana) and cabbage palm (Sabal palmetto), usually with some shrubs and groundcover species which prefer shaded sites, including Callicarpa americana, Oplismenus hirtellus, Paspalum conjugatum, Panicum anceps, and Dichanthelium commutatum.  Only areas with some potential of being naturally closed canopy sites are included, excluding those areas of oaks and palms which seem to be naturally more open-canopied or have invaded former grassy open sites.

E1 – Quercus virginiana – Sabal palmetto drained hydric hammock – mostly closed canopy, sites still subject to seasonal inundation, but not for long periods

E2 – Quercus virginiana – Sabal palmetto drained mesic hammock – canopy often somewhat more open, with some grassy areas between clumps of trees, and rarely if at all inundated.

F – Depression marshes – Areas of diverse, often strongly zoned, depression marsh species in elliptic depressions on upland landscapes.  This is a community more of the dry prairie landscape than of the marsh landscape, and as such, is rare in the sites studied.

F1 – Depression marsh with wet prairie margin – Only one example of this type is in the study area, in the northwest corner of the East Marsh North tract.  Many of the species found here are not found elsewhere in either tract, and are more indicative of depression marshes further towards the dry prairie landscape.  Concentric zones of vegetation at this example are correlated with hydrology.

G – Disturbed areas – Areas where vegetation pattern varies dramatically over small areas due to scraping, dredging, or filling activities, or maintenance of roads, berms, and canals.

G1 – Roads and embankments – areas maintained as roads or affected by the dredging and filling to create roads or canals. 

G2 – Ditches and ditchbank spoil piles – areas of large ditches or canals and their associated spoil mounds

H – Wet prairies – grass and sedge dominated communities which are only seasonally inundated, and to only a shallow depth, with shorter hydroperiods than the shallow marshes.

H1 – Calcareous fringing wet prairies – Diverse seasonally wet prairies usually occurring as a narrow fringe between dry prairie or hardwood hammocks and deeper depression marshes or basin marshes.  These have many co-dominant grasses and sedges, most of which are otherwise rare or absent from central Florida, including Muhlenbergia sericea, Schizachyrium rhizomatum, Eriochloa michauxii, Fimbristylis spadicea, Rhynchospora colorata, R. microcarpa, R. divergens, and Scleria verticillata.  This community has high species richness, with between 100 and 150 species found in most intact examples.  They are most easily recognized when Muhlenbergia sericea is in flower in October and November.

Vegetation Maps and Permanent Sampling Transects [Top]

The distribution of the vegetation mapping units and the approximate location of the permanent plant sampling transects (red lines) are shown in the following two images.

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