The Important Bird Areas of Florida - National Audubon Society

The Important Bird Areas of Florida: 2000–2002 – Pranty – 2-Jul-02 81BIG BEND ECOSYSTEMBig Bend Wildlife Management Area (58,435 acres 23,374 ha], including Hagens Cove [1200 acres;480 ha]), Cedar Key Scrub State Reserve (4875 acres; 1950 ha) and adjacent private properties(>3400 acres; >1360 ha), Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge (832 acres; 332 ha), LowerSuwannee National Wildlife Refuge (50,838 acres; 20,335 ha), and Waccasassa Bay PreserveState Park (34,032 acres; 13,612 ha)Dixie, Levy, and Taylor counties149,303 acres (59,721 ha)LOCATION: along the Gulf of Mexico encompassing most coastal portions in western Taylor, Dixie, andLevy counties. Nearly contiguous with the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge IBA to the northwest,and with the Crystal River marshes IBA to the south.DESCRIPTION: a great expanse of tidal marshes and adjacent uplands stretching nearly continuously for120 miles (192 km) from the Aucilla River south to the Withlacoochee River. Hagens Cove is a smallnon-hunted portion of Big Bend Wildlife Management Area, a site for which no other data weresubmitted. Annual visitation of the sites is as follows: ____ to Big Bend Wildlife Management Area,____ to Cedar Key Scrub State Reserve, 25,000 to Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge, 8000vehicles to Hagens Cove, 10,000 to Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge, and ____ toWacassassa Bay Preserve State Park. Annual hunter use of the sites is: ____ to Big Bend WildlifeManagement Area, ____ to Cedar Key Scrub State Reserve, 8000 to Lower Suwannee NationalWildlife Refuge, and ____ to Wacassassa Bay Preserve State Park. Cedar Keys National WildlifeRefuge and Hagens Cove are not hunted.OWNERSHIP: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge and LowerSuwannee River National Wildlife Refuge), Florida Division of Recreation and Parks (Cedar KeyScrub State Reserve and Waccasassa Bay Preserve State Park), Florida Division of Wildlife (BigBend Wildlife Management Area), and private owners (north and east of Cedar Key Scrub StateReserve)HABITATS: Big Bend Wildlife Management Area: ____. Cedar Key Scrub State Reserve: *pineflatwoods, *xeric oak scrub, sandhills, sand pine scrub, cattail marsh, artificial. Cedar Keys NationalWildlife Refuge: *temperate hammock, *tidal marsh, *estuarine, *coastal strand, mangrove forest.Hagens Cove: *tidal marsh, *estuarine, pine flatwoods, artificial. Lower Suwannee NationalWildlife Refuge: *pine plantation, *cypress swamp, *freshwater marsh, *sawgrass marsh, *tidalmarsh, *riverine, *estuarine, longleaf pine flatwoods, sandhills, temperate hammock, xeric oak scrub,fields, bayhead, cattail marsh, lacustrine, coastal strand. Waccasassa Bay Preserve State Park:____.LAND USE: Big Bend Wildlife Management Area: ____. Cedar Key Scrub State Reserve:*conservation, *hunting, recreation. Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge: *conservation,recreation. Hagens Cove: *recreation, conservation. Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge:*conservation, *hunting, recreation, timber production. Waccasassa Bay Preserve State Park: ____.IBA CATEGORIES: Big Bend Wildlife Management Area: ____; significant natural habitats. CedarKey Scrub State Reserve: significant populations of Threatened species; and significant naturalhabitats. Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge: significant populations of Special Concern,FCREPA, and IBA species; significant numbers of wading birds and shorebirds; and significantnatural habitats Hagens Cove: significant populations of Threatened and Special Concern species;significant numbers of shorebirds; and significant natural habitats. Lower Suwannee NationalWildlife Refuge: significant populations of Threatened species; and significant natural habitats.Waccasassa Bay Preserve State Park: ____; significant natural habitats.AVIAN DATA: _____. Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge supports one of the largest wading birdrookeries in the northern half of the Peninsula, and a large roost of Magnificent Frigatebirds. TheCedar Key area contains significant numbers of shorebirds, including very large numbers of wintering