Sweetwater Creek Watershed Mgmt. Plan 2007 Update--Part 2

EXISTING NATURAL SYSTEMS CONDITIONS
8.4.1 Upland Natural Systems
The following upland habitat descriptions are based on the information contained in Carlisle
(1978), Harper (1921), Florida Department of Transportation’s FLUCFCS Manual (1999), and
the Soil Surveys of Hillsborough County from 1916, 1958, and 1989. In the plant community
descriptions below, only the species that are most characteristic of the plant community in the
Sweetwater Creek watershed are mentioned as being present; however, the natural plant
communities that still remain in the watershed are highly diverse and contain many more
species than are mentioned in this report. For ease of reading, only common names of plants
are used in the report narrative, but Section 8.10 provides a list of all scientific names of plants
and animals included in the report.
Pine flatwoods (411)
The most common upland plant community in the state and in the Sweetwater Creek watershed
in the pre-development period, pine flatwoods were associated with Myakka fine sands. The
primary canopy species common to pine flatwoods is slash pine with some longleaf pine, while
the shrubby understory is dominated by saw palmetto with some gallberry, staggerbush,
blueberry, and tarflower. Herbaceous ground cover is sparse and includes wiregrass, several
species of bluestem, and goldenrod. This community occurs on flat, moderately to poorly
drained terrain composed of acid sands overlying an organic/clayey hardpan. Even on better
drained terrain, flatwoods can experience periods of inundation when rainfall amounts are in the
normal to above normal range. On less well drained terrain, a wet phase of pine flatwoods
occurs in which obligate to facultative-wet plant species can be found flatwoods regularly.
These species include trees: sweetbay, gordonia, red maple; shrubs: wax myrtle, gallberry,
fetterbush; and herbs: spikerush, redroot, bog buttons, pink sundews, and yellow-eyed grass.
Pine flatwoods is a fire-maintained community that will transition to a hardwood-dominated
community with very dense canopy dominated by live oak, laurel oak, and pignut hickory if fire is
excluded. In the Sweetwater Creek watershed, pine flatwoods have been used for pasture, row
crops, and (with drainage) some citrus. By 1950, pine flatwoods occupied 36.2% of the
watershed but were replaced by other land uses in 2004.
Longleaf pine-xeric oak (412)
The longleaf pine - xeric oak plant community, also known as sandhill, is associated with Zolfo
fine sands in the Sweetwater Creek watershed. Natural canopy vegetation is dominated by
longleaf pine, and characteristically has a mid-canopy of bluejack oak, turkey oak, sand live
oak. The understory contains a medium to low density shrub community consisting of shiny
blueberry, Darrow’s blueberry, gopher apple, Adam’s needle, and beautyberry. Herbs compose
the ground cover and include: wiregrass, sky-blue lupine, drumheads, Carolina elephant’s foot,
dwarf pawpaw, and eastern milk pea. This community also is a fire-maintained community that
will transition to a hardwood-dominated community with few to no pines and a very dense
canopy dominated by sand live oak, turkey oak, bluejack oak if fire is excluded. This plant
community was largely replaced by citrus by 1950. In 2004, this community is not included on
land use mapping.
8-8
Sweetwater Creek Watershed Management Plan