Brooker Creek

Our class visited Brooker Creek to learn about High Pine Grasslands and Pine Flatwoods. Pine communities originally were located in the north and central parts of Florida. They were the most common ecosystem in Florida. That changed in the 19th century due to logging. High pine grasslands are found in spots with higher elevation where pine flatwoods are in lower elevation with flat terrain. The high pine grasslands have two forest layers which is the canopy and the ground layer. The pine flatwoods have 3 forest layers that are the canopy, shrub layer, and groundcover. Pine communities are very fire dependent and therefore the park does prescribed burns. It's basically a prescription to burn certain sections of the park to help the ecosystem. It helps the ecosystem by releasing nutrients, opening up space, reducing litter, and controlling disease. The organisms in this ecosystem are adapted to deal with fire. The wire grass is the most common ground layer that has a thick base with lots of leaves coming out of it. The slash pine has 3 stages. The grass stage is the first with leaves to protect from fires. Next  is the broom stage which is the most sensitive. The last  is the adult stage which has bark to protect from fires. Within the community there are indicator and keystone species. Indicator species are absolutely essential to the community and show signs that the ecosystem is intact. An example of this would be worms because plants need them. Keystone species are those that other species depend on to survive. The golfer tortoise is a good example because the holes they build are used as shelter for other species.The functions of  pine communities are protection, shelter, lumber, carbon storage, water retention, and source of fire. Elevation changes in this ecosystem make all the difference. We saw secondary succession on the left and right sides of the trail. We could see that the whole understory looked different. The biggest threats to this ecosystem are fires, people, droughts, and development.