Upland Vegetation of Biscayne National Park
Cornett VC. 2002. Upland Vegetation of Biscayne National Park. Biscayne National Park
Biscayne National Park comprises 181,000 acres in area though most of the land (171 , 925 acres) is submerged. The areas that are above sea level are the barrier islands that run in a SWS direction down the center of the Park and a thin strip of upland area along the western coastline (Figure 1). Terrestrial vegetation communities within the Park can be categorized as mangrove, hardwood hammock, grasslands and marshes, which account for 6,905, 126, and 197 acres of Park land respectively {Stalter, Tamory, et aL 1999 #8361 }. Most of the investigations involving terrestrialsystems within Biscayne National Park boundaries have been conducted on the eastern barrier islands. These islands are composed of Key Largo Limestone underlain by porous Miami Oolite (limestone) and are exposed to saline conditions via wave action and salt spray. Freshwater for the vegetation is only available as rainfall of which a considerable amount is lost to runoff or leached through the highly porous limestone. As such, only drought- and salt-tolerant vegetation can thrive on the islands.
- Type
- Unpublished Report
- Authors
- Cornett, Virginia
- Date of Issue
- 2002-05-14
- Publisher
- Biscayne National Park
- Units
- BISC
- Keywords
- Biscayne National Park, Endangered Species, Endemic Species, Exotic Species, florida endemic species, Grasslands, hardwood hammock, Mangrove, Marshes, naturalized exotic species, state commercially-exploited species, state endangered species, state threatened species, Vegetation