Upland Mixed Woodland By: Gene Galke

Laurel Oak Mockernut Hickory

It’s going down, I’m yelling timber… Description Overall Feeling Soil structure Layer breakdown Rare species Natural processes Current status Managing practices Variations Identifying imposters Synonyms

The rundown Category: High Pine & Scrub Recently recognized Soil Structure: Loamy soils Upland hardwood forest ----  ---- Upland pine

I got a feelin’, you’re feelin’ it too… San Felasco Hamock Preserve State Park Itchetucknee Springs State Park Slightly drier than upland hardwood forest Characteristic species The feeling: Loamy soil/ drier than upland hardwood forest Characteristic Set of Species: Southern red oak Mockernut hickory Post oak Shortleaf pine Longleaf pine Flowering dogwood

Home, home on the range In FL, Jackson to Marion counties, SE Georgia More clay Largely cultivated Fragmented Sandhill or upland pine & hardwood forest In FL from Jackson to Marion Counties, extends into SE Georgia Follows extent of older uplands in FL where Plio-Pleistocene sediments near surface give rise to richer soils CONTAINING MORE CLAY than usual sandy soils found in most of state Large amount previously cultivated Currently fragmented (range reconstructed from historical accounts) Dr. Ronald McMillan Harper dominant species of community w/I 5 regions in N.Florida along northward-curving arc from Jackson County through Liberty, Leon, Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, Columbia nad Alachua counties to the vicinity of Ocala in Marion County. Also, Suwannee, Levy, and Gilchrist counties W/exception of Tallahassee Red Hills area of Leon county where it was predominant cover for large areas, upland mixed woodland occurs primarily in ecotones b/w sandhill or upland pine & upland hardwood forest Also similar pine-oak-hickory communities in Texas, Louisinaa, western Arkansas, and southern Pieldmont Differ somewhat from FL due to containing mesic (white oak, sweetgum) or northern (northern red oak) species. Occur in similar situations b/w drier pine-dominated forests & more mesic hardwood forests Witness trees noted in General Land Office surveys, reconstruction of stand history from age structure all trees in a stand, and old forest maps, suggest these communities were present in presettlement times and are not the result of logging disturbance

Dirt class, once again… Horizon: Bt 12-48” Strong brown clay, common yellowish brown, prominent red mottles 35-60% clay Blocky structure Firm Sticky and plastic Few fine & medium roots Strongly acid

Just like that Georgia clay… Loamy sands Fine sandy loam Nutrients Examples Loamy sands or fine sandy loams Rich in phosphorus, potassium, and calcium than most FL soils & often contain phosphatic pebbles Orangeburg Lochloosa Kendrick

Raising the Roof Southern red oak Mockernut hickory Post oak Blackjack oak Black oak Shortleaf/ Longleaf pines Possibly: Pignut hickory White oak

In the middle of the ride… Subcanopy: Shrubs or small trees Flowering dogwood Sparkleberry Rusty blackhaw Sassafras Hawthorns Sparkleberry

Drop it down to the floor Grasses Forbs Coppicing hardwoods

Ground layer species New Jersey tea Eastern poison ivy Eastern poison oak Little bluestem Slender bluestem Legumes Yellow indiangrass Silver plumegrass Variable witchgrass Dogtongue wild buckwheat Oblongleaf twinflower Legumes: Lespedeza spp, Desmodium spp., Tephrosia virginiana) and composites (Ageratina jucunda, Liatris graminifolia, Solidago spp

Rare species Herbaceous Animals Flyr’s brickell-bush Florida spiny-pod Gentian pinkroot Bluffs blazing star Animals Sherman’s fox squirrel Invertebrates Mycotrupes cartwright Rare butterfly Autochton cellus WHY THERE?

Natural processes Current research in FL Extinguishing characteristic Burn regiment Tall Timbers Research Under consideration Recently recognized as distinct community in FL, little research has been done of the effects of fire in it (although fairly extensive research has been done outside FL Evidence in Florida from charcoal accumulation that fires started in the drier and more flammable sandhill or upland pine community and burned into the upland mixed woodland before extinguishing in the moist litter of the more heavily shaded upland hardwood forest Dr. Harper surmised concluded that UMW naturally burned less frequently than bordering longleaf pine and wiregrass communities (every 10 years) others say 5 intervals of 1-2 decades Others say this interval is too long Stewart A. Ware cite 5-10 years an interval for mixed pine oak forest in piedmont Upper Coastal Plain of Arkansas a similar pine-oak-hickory woodland community managed for 3 year fire interval Currently managed An upland mixed woodland at Tall Timbers Research Station in the Florida Panhandle (North Leon county) is burned on a 2 year interval and supports a high diversity of native herbaceous plants, while maintaining the hardwood component

Status Global Conservation Status Ranks Global 2/Subnational 2 Imperiled Global 2/Subnational 2 (vulnerable & at risk w/I particular state or province) Imperiled- At high risk of extinction or elimination due to restricted range, few populations or occurrences, steep declines, severe threats, or other factors

Workin’ all week for a backache Longer burn intervals than neighbors Fire resistance Mechanical removals Laurel oak Sweetgum Water oak What makes this habitat the way it is? Burned at longer intervals than adjoining sandhill & upland pine. Allow prescribed fires of adjoining sandhill & upland pine to burn into these bordering areas & naturally extinguish would be sufficient to maintain them Dominant hardwood species are more resistant to fire than upland hardwood forest and less resistant sandhills MECHANICAL REMOVALS When fire-sensitive hardwoods (laurel oak, sweetgum, and water oak) invade into UMW due to absence of fire & have grown up, mechanical removal of these invading species ay be necessary to ensure open canopy & allow light to reach ground layer Unsure if occurrence of UMW determined by fire frequency alone or by some other factor in physical environment. Recent study in Tallahassee Red Hills area found depth to Bt soil horizon was less, & mineral nutrients & pH higher, in stands of UMW than in stands dominated by longleaf pine & wiregrasss Things are heating up… Areas nearby frequently burned (sandhill or upland pine) Fire reaches into hardwood forest edge

Variation Shortleaf pine Longleaf pine in Alachua & Marion counties Canopy dominants differ in Alachua or Marion counties due to lack of shortleaf pine replaced by longleaf pine

Identifying imposters Distinguishing UMW from sandhill and upland pine Absence/low cover & co-dominance Distinguishing UMW from upland hardwood forest Absence/near absence, presence, ground diversity UMW distinguished from sandhill and upland pine Absence or low cover of turkey oak & wiregrass, and co-dominance of hardwoods such as mockernut hickory & southern red oak w/pines UMW distinguished from upland hardwood forest Absence or near absence of such mesic hardwoods as American beech & southern magnolia, and presence of longleaf &/or shortleaf pines, southern red oak, mockernut hickory, and diverse ground layer dependent on relatively high light intensity

By any other name… Southern red oak forest Red oak woods Hardwood-pine woodlands Shortleaf pine-oak-hickory Upland pine 83-broadleaf deciduous-needleleaf evergreen upland forest