Endemism in Florida Scrub

Florida scrub is a hotspot for endemism (e.g., Dobson et al. 1997, Estill and Cruzan 2001). Many plant species endemic to Florida scrub are found largely on the Lake Wales Ridge (Christman and Judd 1990). In recently burned areas, there are greater numbers of species that are endemic, herbaceous, and specialists for gaps (Johnson and Abrahamson 1990, Menges and Kohfeldt 1995, Menges and Hawkes 1998). Many plant species are very abundant shortly after fire. These include endemics such as Dicerandra species (Menges et al. 1999), Eryngium cuneifolium (Menges and Quintana-Ascencio 2004), Hypericum cumulicola (Quintana-Ascencio et al. 2003), Bonamia grandiflora (Hartnett and Richardson 1989), and Warea carteri (Menges and Gordon 1996). In contrast, most species that are more abundant with fire suppression are common and woody (Menges and Kohfeldt 1995).

Endemic animals also are found in Florida scrub, and many of these are specialists for fire-maintained scrub and open microsites. These include the Florida scrub jay (Woolfenden and Fitzpatrick 1996, various herptiles (Greenberg et al. 1994, McCoy and Mushinsky 1992, Hokit et al. 1999) and a myriad of insects and spiders (Deyrup 1990, Deyrup and Eisner 1996, Marshall et al. 2000, Carrel 2003). Invertebrate groups such as flightless grasshoppers are endemic to some scrub ridges that have few or no endemic plants (Deyrup and Franz 1994).