The Important Bird Areas of Florida - National Audubon Society

The Important Bird Areas of Florida: 2000–2002 – Pranty – 2-Jul-02 206WEKIVA–OCALA GREENWAYWekiva–Ocala Greenway CARL–FF Project (68,904 acres [27,561 ha], with 37,215 acres [14,886 ha]acquired as Seminole State Forest) and Royal Trails development (3500 acres; 1400 ha)Lake and Volusia counties72,000 acres (28,800 ha), with 37,215 acres [14,886 ha] acquiredLOCATION: in eastern Lake County and western Volusia County, mostly west of the St. Johns andWekiwa rivers between State Road 40 and State Road 46. Contiguous with the Ocala NationalForest–Lake George IBA to the north and the Wekiva Basin GEOpark IBA to the south.DESCRIPTION: the critical link between Ocala National Forest and Wekiwa Basin GEOpark. Most of thisIBA is part of the Wekiva–Ocala Greenway CARL–FF Project, which was initiated in 1992 to helppreserve the regional population of black bears. The Royal Trails development, which is mostlyundeveloped and not sought for acquisition, supported dozens of Florida Scrub-Jay groups in 1993,and adjacent areas were estimated to contain dozens of other groups. State acquisition efforts haveprotected over 37,000 acres (14,800 ha) of the CARL–FF Project, much of which is scrub. Privatelyowned acreage is added to Seminole State Forest when publicly acquired. The Forest receives ____recreationists and ____ hunters annually.OWNERSHIP: Florida Division of Forestry (Seminole State Forest), Florida Division of Recreation andParks (other publicly acquired lands; added to Wekiwa Basin GEOpark, which is its own IBA; seepages 208–209), and private owners (Royal Trails and remaining acreage of the Wekiva–OcalaGreenway CARL–FF Project)HABITATS: *pine flatwoods, *xeric oak scrub, *sand pine scrub, fields, non-native pasture, artificialLAND USE: *conservation, *private property (proposed for development), recreationIBA CATEGORIES: significant populations of Threatened species; and significant natural habitatsAVIAN DATA: the Wekiva–Ocala Greenway IBA supports a regionally significant population of FloridaScrub-Jays.SPECIES DATES NUMBERS COMMENTSFlorida Scrub-Jay16–18 Apr and14–15 May 1993Aug and Nov 1997Data from +Pranty (1996b) and +Blanchard et al. (1999)30 groups counted,and dozens ofothers predicted3 groupsnearly 1% (R); Royal Trails area only;much additional scrub to the northwas inaccessible and undoubtedlycontained several other groups.