Hardwood Hammock Plants And Animals

Tropical hardwood hammock fragments up to four hectares in size remain on south key largo but may no longer be able to support key largo cotton mice.

Hardwood hammock plants and animals. Tropical hardwood hammocks provide habitat food water shelter and space for a variety of wildlife. A hardwood hammock is a habitat that is found on higher elevations making it like the pinelands a dry habitat. To walk into a hardwood hammock is to walk through a shady tropical forest. Significant work has been initiated to restore existing disturbed tropical hardwood hammocks and to control exotic plant species.

Hardwoods are broad leaved trees that grow well in the everglades. Poor soil management is the cause of poor soil management is the plants in the ecosystem can die the animals can migrant to. Tropical hardwood hammocks have been heavily impacted by outright destruction conversion to agriculture exotic plant and animal species collecting pressure on plants and animals anthropogenic fires and alterations in hydrology. Fauna of tropical hardwood hammocks.

Hammocks can be found nestled in most all other everglades ecosystems. These hammocks may be too small and isolated to support viable cotton mouse populations. There are very few animals that live exclusively in hammocks but many animals take advantage of the relatively cool interior and slightly higher elevation provided by hammocks. Common tropical plant species found within the hammocks of ten thousand islands national wildlife refuge include gumbo limbo strangler fig and ironwoods.

In the deeper sloughs and marshes the seasonal flow of water helps give these hammocks a distinct aerial teardrop shape. Other tropical species may include mahogany mastic and royal palm. Many tropical species such as mahogany swietenia mahogoni gumbo limbo bursera simaruba and cocoplum chrysobalanus icaco grow alongside the more familiar temperate species of live oak quercus virginiana red maple acer rubum and hackberry celtis laevigata. If you were to look straight up you might have trouble seeing the sun and sky because of all the trees growing close together.

Hammocks can be found nestled in most all other everglades ecosystems. Pioneer species associated with hammock disturbance include trees shrubs and herbs such as common nightshade solanum americanum firebush potatowood solanum erianthum rougeplant rivina humilis and wood fern dryopteris ludoviciana as well as vines such as muscadine grape and greenbrier. In the northern portion of the everglades hammocks are dominated by trees of temperate origin including the live oak quercus virginiana and the hackberry celtis laevigata.