Top 20 Most Threatened Bird Habitats in the U.S. - American Bird ...

Many endemic plants and animalsevolved on the isolated islands thateventually became Lake Wales Ridge.The ridge contains one of the highestconcentrations of threatened andendangered species in the UnitedStates—over 20 plant and six animalspecies.Bird species of particular importanceon Lake Wales Ridge are the endangeredFlorida Scrub-Jay and Red-cockadedWoodpecker. Florida Scrub-Jaysin particular are highly dependentupon this habitat. They are territorialbirds that live in family groups, and soare particularly vulnerable to fragmentationand other human disturbance.The ridge also provides habitat forABC Green List species such as theSwallow-tailed Kite, as well as endangeredreptiles such as the easternindigo snake and gopher tortoise.Some 80,000 acres of scrub habitatexisted along Lake Wales Ridge beforeEuropean settlers arrived. This sandy,sparsely vegetated landscape provedeasy to farm and develop; over 85%of the scrub on the ridge has nowvanished, cleared for citrus groves andhousing developments. Fire suppressioncauses underbrush to grow toodense for species such as the scrub-jay,further degrading the ridge ecosystem.Invasive, exotic plants, such as OldWorld climbing fern, have invadedthis habitat, growing and spreadingrapidly, choking out already rare nativeplant species.Lake Wales Ridge will be challengingto manage and restore. In addition tothe threat of increased development,most of the scrub is overgrown, oftenmeaning that fire management isneeded to restore the habitat. Thisis made difficult by the fragmentednature of the landscape, particularlythe number of roads that crisscross thecountryside.However, public and private organizationsbegan to acquire conservationlands along the ridge in the 1990s.These lands form a jigsaw-like networkof preserves, owned and managedby federal, state, and county governments,as well as private groups suchas The Nature Conservancy. Membersof these groups formed the Lake WalesRidge Ecosystem Working Group in1991 to ensure long-term protectionof the region’s remaining flora andfauna, promote research along theridge, and generate public awarenessand support.The two most important publicly-fundedacquisition programsare Conservation and RecreationLands (CARL) and Florida Forever(FF), both managed by the FloridaDepartment of Environmental Protection.Florida Forever is the world’slargest conservation land acquisitionprogram, having purchased more thanone million acres in the last five years.The Lake Wales Ridge CARL-FF projecthas identified over 43,000 acres forstate purchase, approximately half ofwhich has so far been acquired. Alsosignificant is the Lakes Wales RidgeNational Wildlife Refuge which willultimately total 19,630 acres. This isthe first refuge created specifically forthe recovery of threatened plants, includingthe Florida ziziphus and scrubblazing star.Red-cockaded Woodpecker: Bill HubickOther initiatives are providing muchneeded habitat enhancements. Thefire strike team, an inter-agency collaborationcoordinated by The NatureConservancy and funded in part bythe Disney Wildlife ConservationFund, conducts prescribed burns onthe ridge. Together these programs arehelping to ensure a brighter future forthe Florida Scrub-jay, Red-cockadedWoodpecker, and the other birds ofLake Wales Ridge.Swallow-tailed Kite: © M. Hyett/VIREOIndigo snake: FWSPage 31 of 48