The Ecology of Hydric Hammocks - USGS National Wetlands ...

ears in spr.ing is dominated by cabbage. .palm hearts, early growths of al-P'-- ll-L-7,. - rrl\n;r,17>f 3) ??C(I lYdtLJi ! lay [ r s w >L,r......saw palmetto, and other non-fruitplant parts, plus honeybees (Apis me7-7 ifera) and carpenter ants(Campanotus). In summer the dietshifts from soft vegetative parts toripening soft mast and early hardmast, including blueberries, gal 1 berries,blackberries, saw palmettoberries, honeybees, bess beet1 es(Odontotaenius disjunctus), carpenteraiits, w;? ki ngsti cks (Anf somorphabuprestoides) , paper wasps (Pol istes) ,and bumblebees (Bombus bimacul atus).In autumn and winter the diet consistsof hard mast and fruits of oaks, sawpalmetto, swamp tupelo, cabbage palm,needle palm, gal 1 berries, honeybees,and yellow jackets (Vespula). Bearsfeed on acorns both on the ground andarboreally. Vertebrates account foronly about 5% of the diet; species include gopher tortoi se (Gopheruspolyphemus), armadi 11 o, feral hog, andwhite-tailed deer. Black bears activelymaintain certain species in theplant communities they occupy by dispersingundigested seeds of the fruitsthey eat (Rogers and Applegate 1983;Maehr 1984). Major species invol vedin this mutualism ,include saw palmetto,cabbage palm, needle palm,swamp tupelo, blueberry, and raspberry,Probably numerous otherspecies (see Maehr and DeFazio 1985)also gain this advantage as minor dietarycomponents of bears.Sites preferred by black bears forwinter denning are cavities in largetrees, which provide protection fromweather and disturbance (Hami 1 ton andMarchinton 1980; Pelton et a7. 1980).Denning is especi a1 ly important forsows with cubs. The smaller size ofsows and the tendency of sows to denearlier than boars (Pelton et a7.1980) may give females access tosmall er cavities and the best-protectedden sites. Large, dense thicketsprovide escape cover from mostdangers (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service1978), but hunters' dogs are deterredonly by very 1 arge water-fill edareas. In Florida the best such escapecover is bayheads, titi swamps,and hardwood swamps (Layne 1976;Williams 1978). The home ranges ofblack bears over1 ap broadly, but indi -vid~~al c avoid one another. Subadul tmales may be killed or driven away byadult ma1 es . Di spersi ng subadul ts of -ten move out of suitable habitat andare shot by humans. Home ranges ofblack bears in the Osceola NationalForest (which contains many very smallpatches of hydric hammock) are largeand variable relative to those inother areas of the United States,probably because of low quality of thehahi tat (James Mykvtka. Reynolds,Smith and Hills, Tampa; pers. comm.).The Florida panther inhabited hydrichammock near the town of Gulf Hammock(Levy County) and east of Cedar Keyuntil about 1950 (e-g., Pearson 1954).Now it is widely thought that allbreeding popul ati ons have been ext i r-pated from northern Florida. However,occasional reports 1 i ke the confi rmedsighting near the northern edge of theOcala National Forest (Table 12) andregular reports in the 1970's and1980's in and near hydric hammock onthe west bank of the St. Johns Riverin Orange and Seminole Counties indi -cate that a few individuals remain inthis habitat.Domestic hogs were first introducedinto Florida in 1539 by Hernando DeSoto (Lewis 1907). Although now abundantin hydric hammock, feral hogshave not been studied there. In SouthCarol ina, feral hogs usually avoidsalt marsh but make heavy use offresh- and bracki sh-water marsh and ofcypress-gum swamps (except during autumn);they use upland pine habitatsin proportion to avail abil i ty, andthey use upland hardwood forestslightly except when acorns are available(Wood and Brenneman 1980). Feralhogs feed in oak stands in autumn andwinter as long as acorns are available,and at other times they feed ongrasses, roots, and tubers on the marginsof marshes and swamps (Wood andRoark 1980). Where fewer habitats arepresent and individual hogs competeintensely for food (e.g., on OssabawIsland, Georgia), feral hogs frequentlyuse salt marsh (Graves and