User talk:Ted Salad/sandbox

Hey Ted,

Great information here! I really don't have any critiques, the layout looks great and it's very well written. I think a picture of the oolitic limestone might be nice to include, maybe along with some of the species endemic to this ecosystem.

Kquincy (talk) 16:46, 21 March 2019 (UTC)

Comments from Emily
'''[So the existing Wikipedia page is called "South Florida Rocklands"; I assume you're going to change the name of that page to pine rocklands, and then add all of your new content to that page? Some of the content on that existing page, like the side box with map and picture, and the introductory text at the top, should definitely be kept, especially since I don't see those elements on your page here, so I assume you're planning to keep what already exists?'''

Description
[In this section and throughout, you need to link nouns to their existing wikipedia pages, e.g., for Florida, the lower keys, the Bahamas, etc.] The pine rocklands are a critically imperiled ecosystem located in southern Florida, the lower keys, the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, and Cuba. In Florida, the pine rocklands are uniquely located at the '''confluence [This is a very specific comment: I'm on Lauren Trotta's committee and recognize this as a word that she uses frequently to describe the Pine Rockland plant community. I notice that you haven't cited her publication on the Pine Rockland flora here or anywhere else on this page. You definitely need to do that, partly to avoid plagiarizing her, and partly because that paper is an important part of our scientific understanding of this habitat type.] between temperate and tropical flora [need a citation for this]'''. This helps explain why the pine rocklands are home to a wide variety of plants and animals, many of which are endemic to Florida, south Florida, or the pine rockland itself. It is characterized by an open canopy of South Florida slash pine (Pinus elliotti var. densa) and an extremely diverse subcanopy and herbaceous layer, growing atop Miami oolitic limestone [need to link to wiki pages]. Historically, the landscape was maintained by frequent low-intensity fires, but urbanization, agricultural expansion, exotic invasion and fragmentation have led to fire suppression and severe changes in plant community composition [citations needed].

Distribution
In south Florida, pine rocklands occur in Miami-Dade County, Monroe County, the Lower Keys, Everglades National Park, and Big Cypress National Preserve, but can also be found throughout the Caribbean Archipelago. Despite its range, the pine rocklands are limited in distribution. Urban development, agricultural expansion, and extreme fragmentation since the late 1800's have severely reduced the extent of its range. Of the original estimated 65,450 ha of Miami-Dade County pine rockland, around 920 ha, or 2%, remain outside of Everglades National Park. The remaining fragments scattered across the county are protected as public parks or Environmentally Endangered Lands and range in size from 0.1 ha to 324 ha, with the average size being 6 ha and the median being 1.7 ha [citations needed]. The Long Pine Key portion in Everglades National Park still holds around 9915 ha, or 80% of all pine rockland found in Florida. Limited reserves found in the Lower Keys are decreasing due to fire suppression and salt-water intrusion via rising sea levels.

Physiography
The pine rocklands in Miami-Dade County and Everglades National Park [this isn't necessary, you've already said where they are] are found on limestone substrates along the Miami Rock Ridge, an exposed oolitic limestone matrix 2-7 meters above sea level that extends from northern Miami to the southern Everglades with disjunct sections in the Lower Keys. This limestone is prone to weathering and dissolution and creates characteristic solution holes. These holes can house water, sand, or organic soil, and contribute to small changes in elevation that result in substantial changes in vegetation. Interlaced with the limestone ridge are lower elevation wet prairies and marshes and higher elevation rock hammocks. These wet prairies and marshes create an island-like effect isolating the higher elevated pine rocklands.

This interaction between elevation and water is particularly evident in Long Pine Key in Everglades National Park. Sections of Long Pine Key flood anywhere from 20 to 60 days per year. However, the hydrology of south Florida has changed drastically since the 1950's due to urban expansion and increased agricultural practices. The limestone of the Miami Rock Ridge was perfect for development, and subsequent drainage has led to a significant decrease in the water table. A lowered water table may harm sites prone to seasonal flooding and may increase the risk of salt-water intrusion. The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan is an attempt to restore the hydrology of the Everglades [citations needed].

Flora
The south Florida pine rockland is unique geographically. Southern Florida is located at the southern end of the temperate North American Floristic Region and at the northern end of the tropical Caribbean Floristic Region. This location allows for the mixture of vegetation from two distinct areas at the extremes of their ranges. Around 9% of all pine rockland plants found in Miami-Dade County alone are endemic to Florida, and around 14 taxa are endemic to the Miami-Dade pine rockland itself.

[fix spacing at the start of these paragraphs] Pine rocklands are defined by an open canopy of South Florida slash pine with heights ranging from 20-24 meters, but can be less due to past disturbance. Seedlings are fire adapted and spend 2 to 5 years in the "grass stage" building nutrient reserves to facilitate growth above normal fire heights. Many sites were logged extensively in the early 1990s reducing slash pine coverage and killing understory vegetation. Subsequent plantings in the late 1980’s led to many even-aged stands with different stand densities.

The subcanopy is dominated by a variety of palms and tropical hardwoods, depending on the location, substrate, and fire regime. Pine rocklands in the lower Keys often have high amounts of Thrinax and Coccothrinax, while rocklands in Miami-Dade County have high amounts of Sabal palmetto, Ficus aurea, and Serenoa repens. Sites that share borders with hardwood hammocks or that are infrequently burned will have high amounts of hardwood species, including Metopium toxiferum, Quercus elliotti, Quercus virginiana, Sideroxylon salicifolium, and Lysiloma latisiliquum. The shrub layer near wet prairies and marshes is composed of wetland species such as Acacia pinetorum, Sambucus canadensis, and Taxodium ascendens.

The herbaceous layer is extremely diverse and home to several species considered rare, endangered, threatened or critically imperiled by one or more agencies. Many species found in rocklands throughout south Florida are restricted to individual plots or to specific regions due to changes in soil type, extreme fragmentation, and fire suppression. Most plants are fire-adapted and depend on frequent burning to limit shading and increased humidity from encroaching hardwood species. Grasses and sedges including Andropogon spp., Schizachyrium spp., Muhlenbergia capillaris, Arsitida purpurascens, and Rhynchospora spp. dominate the landscape. Flowering species include Croton linearis, Polygala incarnata, Stylisma villosa, Pinguicula pumilla, Ipomoea tenuissima, ''Amorpha herbacea var. crenulate, and a number of different Chamaesyce spp''.

[You don't actually say anywhere what the total size of the flora is, please give those numbers (and relative numbers of angiosperms, gymnosperms, etc. would be useful to know) 

'''[What is this list of species? There's no explanation for why these and only these are given bullet points here]'''
 * Broomsedge bluestem (Andropogon virginicus)
 * Blodgett's wild mercury (Argythamnia argothamnoides)
 * Brickel bush (Brickellia mosieri)
 * Carter's flax (Linum carteri)


 * Coontie (Zamia integrifolia)
 * Crenulate lead plant (Amorpha herbacea var. crenulata)
 * Deltoid spurge (Euphorbia deltoidea subsp. pinetorum)
 * Fivepetal leaf-flower (Phyllanthus pentaphyllus)
 * Florida bluestem (Andropogon floridanus)
 * Florida clover ash (Tetrazygia bicolor)
 * Florida Keys noseburn (Tragia saxicola)
 * Pineland Snakeherb (Dyschoriste angusta)
 * Pineland spurge (Euphorbia deltoidea)
 * Silver bluestem (Bothriochloa saccharoides)
 * Beyrich threeawn (Aristida beyrichiana)

Fire
Fire plays a critical role in maintaining the vegetative community. Most of the native plant species found in pine rocklands are adapted to periodic seasonal fires brought about by lightning between late spring and early summer. These fires help curb hardwood encroachment, spur pine regeneration, and allow light to reach the herbaceous layer. In the absence of fire, hardwood species from nearby hardwood hammocks invade and shade out natural vegetation. As the density of hardwood species increases, fire effectiveness decreases due to the increase in humidity and accumulation of poor fire fuels. This ecotone between pine rockland and hardwood hammock is clear when natural or frequent, low-intensity prescribed fires occur. In the absence of frequent fire, this distinction becomes less apparent.

Presently, many isolated pine rockland sites throughout Miami-Dade County and the lower Keys suffer from fire suppression, leading to drastically altered plant compositions. Most sites located in Miami-Dade County and the lower Keys are located near residential or commercial lots and are often unable to implement prescribed burns. The longer fire is suppressed, the harder and more dangerous it is to prescribe effective burns. Fuel loads increase between fires and result in hotter and higher flames. Fires that are too high or intense can result in crown fire or mortality at all levels of the canopy, including below ground biomass. Frequent fire is used to great effect in the Long Pine Key in Everglades National Park [citations needed for several of these sentences].