By B.C. Manion
Tromping through Lake Dan Nature Preserve, visitors step on branches, pine needles and chunks of wood where mature oaks once stood.
Sunlight streams into open spaces in sandhill habitat and pine flatwoods forest, where the oak hammocks’ leafy canopy once provided shade and beauty.
To onlookers, the aftermath of heavy equipment knocking down and grinding up oak trees may seem to be evidence of a devastating attack against nature.
Environmental specialists from Hillsborough County, however, tell a different story. The oaks had to be cleared to create conditions that support gopher tortoises, Sherman’s fox squirrels, indigo snakes and other wildlife on the property at 11009 Tarpon Springs Road in Odessa.
A multitude of oak trees became established in the area because of decades of fire suppression by humans, said Stephen Dickman, an environmental specialist for the county’s parks, recreation and conservation department.
“The problem with fire suppression is, it changes the habitat over a period of time,” said Bernie Kaiser, a biologist with the county’s parks, recreation and conservation department.
Forests need fires to burn dead vegetation, to generate regrowth of native plants and grasses and to improve the habitat for wildlife, Dickman said. The oak canopy was shading out plant life on the forest floor, Kaiser added.
“It would be like you took your rose bush and you put it under your balcony,” he said.
“If fire had been permitted to continue through this system every few years, it would have remained open,” Dickman said.
“Tortoises prefer an open habitat,” he said, noting most of the roughly 130 gopher tortoise burrows that were found near the clearing were on wide-open land.
The burrows serve as habitat not only for the tortoises, but also for other species, Kaiser said. “There’s a whole suite of insects that live in there. There are several rodents that live in there. There’s snakes that live in there.
“They’ll live in there, alongside the tortoise, or they’ll just use it occasionally, as shelter,” he said.
Clearing for the upland habitat restoration project, in a 25-acre area, was completed in March. Trees that were cleared had diameters ranging from 3 inches to 20 inches. The area represents a small portion of the preserve, which covers hundreds of acres and was purchased through Hillsborough County’s Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection Program.
The preserve has oaks, pine flatwoods, cypress swamps and open pasture, and there are frequent sightings of deer, turkey, wood storks, gopher tortoises, blue herons, ibis and other wildlife.
It’s a great place for hiking and horseback riding, said Nadine Pedersen, who lives near the preserve.
Pedersen said she understands the goal of the clearing, but she thinks the county could have explained it better in advance and could have been more sensitive about the trees that were removed. Instead of heavy equipment knocking down and grinding trees, she would have preferred a more selective removal by crews using chainsaws. She thinks the heavy equipment was disruptive to wildlife.
Dickman said he understands why preserve users might be concerned.
“I can see their point. I can understand why someone would be upset. It’s an emotional reaction. If I were in their shoes, I would probably feel similar,” he said. “I saved some trees. I probably could have saved more.”
Kaiser characterized the removal of the oaks as “sort of a drastic step,” but one that was necessary.
“The only way you’re going to reset everything is to come in here and do something drastic to get rid of the hardwood,” he said.
People may enjoy the beauty of oaks, he noted, “but for a lot of those species that live there, it’s no different than the intersection of Kennedy and Nebraska — it’s simply not suitable habitat.”
Historically, most upland habitat in Florida burned on a three-year cycle, Kaiser said, sparked by lightning.
“Before the whole place (state) got chopped up with streets and roads and fence lines, these fires would carry for hundreds of miles and they weren’t really these intense wildfires that you see.”
While wetlands creation tends to instantly add beauty to an area, uplands restoration generally doesn’t, he said.
“We like to say, ‘For the first few years, they’re very ugly babies,’ ” Kaiser said.
The county also has been using prescribed burns in small areas to clear debris on the forest floor.
“When we do burns, we burn on a very specific wind direction and humidity and dispersion, to manage the smoke impact on the surrounding areas – roads, highways,” Dickman said.
Once plant life has a chance to rebound, the area will look much different, Dickman and Kaiser said.
“When we were surveying, we found some areas that had some pretty good ground cover. When we apply fire to this, those plants will be able to produce flower and produce seed and begin seeding the place in,” Dickman said.
“If you come back out here at the first of September, you’ll see a radical difference,” Kaiser said.
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For more information
To learn more about upland habitat restoration, fire ecology and prescribed burns, visit these websites:
http://hillsboroughcounty.org/parks/resources/publications/prescribedfireinformation.pdf http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/florida/index.html
www.archbold-station.org/
www.talltimbers.org/
http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/florida/index.htm