back

Habitat Description: characterized as high density, longleaf pine dominated forests. The surface is very level, poorly drained and often intersperesed with frequent and (sometimes large) swampy patches or wet prairies. Flatwoods can start just above the tidewater and extend inland to about 130 feet above sea level. Productivity is high and longleaf pines can reach heights in excess of 120 feet tall. This longleaf pine habitat type has the highest diversity of ground cover of herbs and shrubs. Since the soils are relatively poorly drained and typically have low reserves of available nutrients, numerous orchids and carnivorous plants are common in the ground cover. Found in seven of the eight states of the longleaf pine range. Often described as both the Atlantic Coastal Flatwoods and the Gulf Coastal Flatwoods.

Soils: moderately to poorly drained terrain. The soils are typically acidic, have low reserves of available nutrients, are low in organic matter content and maintain an ash-colored silty clay appearance.

Mammals - bobcat, fox squirrel, gray fox, eastern cottontail rabbit, hispid cotton rat, white-tailed deer, skunk, raccoon, opossum, marsh rabbit.

Birds - red-shouldered hawk, Bachman's sparrow, Bobwhite quail, brown-headed nuthatch, eastern meadowlark, piliated woodpecker, pine warbler, red-bellied woodpecker, rufus-sided towhee, night jars, yellow-throated warbler, yellow-rumped warbler.

Reptiles and Amphibians: pine woods snake, eastern diamondback rattlesnake, pine snake, pygmy rattlesnake, yellow rattlesnake (canebrake), eastern king snake, coral snake, water moccasin, oak toad, Southern chorus frog, Florida chorus frog, barking tree frog, pine woods tree frog, cricket frog, little grass frog, squirrel tree frog, Brimley’s chorus frog, ornate chorus frog, dusky gopher frog, Florida gopher frog, Carolina gopher frog.

Common Plants - tarflower, wiregrass, toothache grass, bluestems, silk grass, hatpins, muhly grass, pineweeds, pitcher plants, sundews, flytraps, Catesby's lilly, white star grass, morning glory, milkweeds, quail pea, butterfly pea, goat's rue, lespedezas, iron weed, deer tongue.

Common Trees and Shrubs - water oak, sweet gum, red maple, ash, saw palmetto, gallberry, fetterbush, wax myrtle, yaupon, ilex, dwarf live oak, sweet bay, titi, southern magnolia, persimmon, black gum, creeping blueberry, blackberry,

Rare/Endangered Species: gopher tortoise, American chaffseed, Chapman's rododendron, roughleaf loosestrife, cooley's meadowrue, Canby's dropseed, Eulophia ecristata Ames, sandhill crane, Henslow's sparrow, southeastern kestrel, red-cockaded woodpecker, sandhill crane, loggerhead shrike, southern hognose snake, eastern indigo snake, mimic glass lizard, flatwoods salamander, black bear, Florida panther, red wolf

Fire Frequency: every 2 - 5 years. Since most the shrubs in these flatwood/savannas contain volatile chemicals in their leaf structure, fires after a period of exclusion can be quite intense

Without Fire: succeed into a thicket of everygreen shrubs (such as saw palmetto and titi) or closed canopy hardwood/mixed pines.

Causes for decline: Exotic plant pests (e.g., cogon grass, privet and kudzu), fire suppression, urban development, forest conversion (mainly to loblolly and slash pine).