Potential Historic Distribution of Cladonia perforata in Escambia County FL

Mahar, Timothy; Hugli, Wil

dThis paper intends to ‘prove or disprove’ whether the listed endangered species of reindeer lichen known as Cladonia perforata currently inhabits sections of viable habitat in areas thrice recently disturbed by storms and whether it has been able to colonize new sites as yet undocumented. Historically confusion arose because of original samples from 1945 and 1952 being marked as having been found in ‘Escambia’, yet Cladonia perforata has not ever been rediscovered or documented in the Florida panhandle outside of Okaloosa County. [Fall 2010 Update: Those already familiar with Escambia C. Perforata labeling mystery are directed to the ‘Update’ section at the end of this paper. Research by the author, following presentation of this paper, has since cleared up this past confusion. TM] The purpose of this project is to attempt to demonstrate -through attempted discovery of current undocumented populations- whether or not it is likely Cladonia perforata is or ever was in evidence on appropriate habitat in Escambia County. For good measure, other nearby coastal property determined by FNAI (Florida Natural Areas Inventory) to be potentially suitable habitat will be researched as well within a reasonable distance. These areas are to include Escambia County from the Ft Pickens and Gulf Island National Seashore properties in Escambia as well as protected dunes of Pensacola Beach, UWF property (east of Portofino development) on Santa Rosa Island, Opal Beach, and Navarre Beach Park, all in Santa Rosa county, Beasley Park and Henderson Beach State Park in Okaloosa county and Topsail Hill Preserve State Park in Walton County FL. The author readily points to other known populations of C. perforata which exist –notably in the protected areas of Eglin AFB- on the Florida peninsula, but stipulates that for the purposes of this project, the survey of distribution is herein limited to feasible –yet as yet unknown- locations of the so-name Okaloosa population. It is believed that at a time of lower sea level previously, the population in Okaloosa likely would have been contiguous with the peninsular population. Okaloosa’s Cladonia perforata is likely a relic population which survived a time when much more of Florida was under water. The Suwannee Channel-created Gulf Trough flowed through Florida, Georgia and into the Carolinas (Bryan 2008) separating what is modern south Florida from the panhandle. This seems the most likely reason Holocene habitat of Okaloosa C. perforata being removed from the main population in central Florida. (Mahar)