State 1
Oak Hammock

This state describes mesic or xeric hardwood forests dominated mainly by oak species. These communities are typically found on well drained soil on knolls within the landscape. They are not typically pyrogenic but can tolerate low ground fires which maintain species diversity and community structure.

Community 1.1
Mesic Hammock

Mesic hammocks are well-developed evergreen hardwood and / or palm forests on soils that are rarely inundated. The low closed canopy is usually dominated by oaks and cabbage palms, with occasional subtropical species present in the canopy as well. The shrub layer can be either dense or open, tall or short, depending on the time since the last fire. This community forms on islands on high grounds within wetter environments such as freshwater wetlands, as patches of forest within prairie communities, and along higher ecotones with river levees and sandy ridgelines. The higher landscape position makes flooding rare in this community and is protected from fires on most sides, but often borders on pyrogenic community.

Resilience management. Species structure and composition may vary slightly based on time since last disturbance. Occasional disturbances which maintain this community include natural disturbances such as wind damage from weather events which may open the canopy, fire entering infrequently from surrounding pyrogenic communities which maintain ground structure, and infrequently flooding which deposit nutrients as well as drowning less flood tolerant species.

Community 1.2
Xeric Hammock

Xeric hammocks are similar to mesic hammocks characterized by low closed canopy forests dominated by oak species. This community may form when fire has been excluded from the reference community as well as a decrease in hydrology within the system. This allows for the establishment for more xeric species. This community usually forms as small pockets within mesic hammocks and other well drained communities (i.e. scrub/ sandhill vegetation). While more commonly found along ridgelines in the central peninsula, xeric hammocks may be found in this MLRA as a result of extensive drainage and urbanization.

Resilience management. This community is maintained by natural disturbances which maintain vegetative structure and composition. Common natural disturbances which help maintain community composition and structure include wind from storm events which open the canopy to successive growth, ground fires to control the growth of the sub canopy, or infrequently flooding which may kill less flood tolerant species.

Pathway 1.1A
Community 1.1 to 1.2

Disruption of natural hydrological regimes by draining or ditching or by excessive pumping of ground water lowers the water table and may shift species composition in some hammocks toward xeric hammock composition. Reduction of ground fires with the decreased hydrology may also allow growth of more xeric species.

Pathway 1.2A
Community 1.2 to 1.1

Increases in hydrology will shift the community structure away from xeric species towards more mesic species composition due to more hydric conditions of the soil. Fire reintroduced into the system can also shift the species composition to more fire tolerant mesic species.

State 2
Cabbage Palm / Pine Dominated Forest

This state describes the hammock community after a catastrophic fire burns through the duff layer and kills the roots of less fire tolerant species such as oaks. While oaks are tolerant of low intensity ground fires which burn surficial litter, high intensity fires can kill these species. The remaining vegetation are species that are tolerant of high intensity fires, and will remain as dominant species until the shade-tolerant species such as oak can become reestablished over time.

Community 2.1
Shade Intolerant Species dominated forest

Trees and shrubs that are able to rapidly recolonize an area after a destructive fire are those which are pyrogenic shade intolerant species such as cabbage palms and pine species. These species can grow fairly rapidly whereas shade tolerant species such as oaks take longer to grow and are able to grow in the understory under a pine canopy.

State 3
Invasive Non-Native Community

This state consists of Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) Non-Native Category 1 Species list . More information on these species list can be found: https://www.fdacs.gov/content/download/63140/file/Florida%E2%80%99s_Pest_Plants.pdf or by contacting the UF / IFAS Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants (http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/), the UF / IFAS Assessment of Non-native Plants in Florida's Natural Areas (https://assessment.ifas.ufl.edu/), or the FWC Invasive Plant Management Section (http://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/invasive-plants/). These species are common in areas where natural processes are interrupted via hydrology or fire regimes. The introduction of these species pose serious threats to endangered and threatened habitats and plants within Florida as they become outcompeted for habitats and nutrients.

Characteristics and indicators. Non-native species include species that exist outside of Florida's native range and introduced to the state by people, weather, or any other means.

Resilience management. This state can be found as a part of any other state and can completely destroy the native habitat if not properly managed. Restoration to natural communities after exotic invasion include practices such as mechanical, biological, and chemical removal.

State 4
Managed Resource Areas

The following communities comprise the major land uses in the United States and the land uses receiving the majority of the conservation treatment that address soil, water, air, plant, and animal resources within the USDA.

Characteristics and indicators. These land uses consist of areas that are not completely naturalized (i.e. native habitat) and have been anthropogenically altered for commodity production.

Community 4.1
Rangeland

Rangelands are described as lands on which the indigenous vegetation is predominately grasses, grass-like plants, forbs, and possibly shrubs or dispersed trees. Existing plant communities can include both native and introduced plants. Primary export from Florida ranges are cattle and have been present in the state since their first introduction by Spanish explorers in 1521. This is the reference community for this state because it requires very little alterations to the landscape for grazing species. Rangelands provide a diversity of ecosystems and also provide a diverse and significant production of economic benefits and ecosystem goods and services. Livestock production along with sustainable wildlife populations provide for the major direct economic benefits, but also tourism, recreational uses, minerals/energy production, renewable energy, and other natural resource uses can be very significant. Vital ecosystem contributions include clean water, clean air, fish/wildlife habitat, as well as intangible considerations such as historical, cultural, aesthetic and spiritual values.

Resilience management. Grazing, by both domestic livestock and wildlife, is the most common ecological management process, with fire and weather extremes also being significant ecological factors. For information regarding specific cattle grazing techniques please contact your local NRCS office.

Community 4.2
Open Transitional Managed Communities

This is an area that is managed to maintain open land before shifting to another community. These communities are often used as transitional periods from one practice to another and could lead to an abandoned / fallow field.

Community 4.3
Pasture

Pasture is a land use type having vegetation cover comprised primarily of introduced or enhanced native forage species that is used for livestock grazing. Pasture vegetation can consist of grasses, legumes, other forbs, shrubs or a mixture. The majority of these forages are introduced, having originally come from areas in other states or continents. Most are now naturalized and are vital components of pasture based grazing systems. Pasture lands provide many benefits other than forage for livestock. Wildlife use pasture as shelter and for food sources. Well managed pasture captures rainwater that is slowly infiltrated into the soil which helps recharge groundwater. Many small pasture livestock operations are near urban areas providing vistas for everyone to enjoy. It is especially important as livestock grazers continues to experience extraordinarily high fuel and other input costs. This community correlates with the 2013 Florida Forage Suitability Group G156BC121FL (Sandy Soils on Rises, Knolls, and Ridges of Mesic Uplands).

Resilience management. Pastures receive periodic renovation and cultural treatments such as tillage, fertilization, mowing, weed control, and may be irrigated. For more information regarding specific pasture management please contact your local NRCS office.

Community 4.4
Agriculture

The agriculture industry includes cultivated crops, aquaculture, and apiculture. Cultivated cropland includes areas used for the production of adapted crops for harvest. These areas comprises land in row crops or close-grown crops that are in a rotation with row or close-grown crops. Primary exports from Florida consist of fruits, greenhouse and nursery products, sugar cane, and the signature export of citrus. Aquaculture includes the cultivation and maintenance of aquatic plants, aquatic reptiles, crustaceans, food/ ornamental fish, shellfish, and other miscellaneous species for harvesting. Apiculture includes the maintenance of honeybees and hives to provide beeswax, honey/ other edible bee products, crop pollination services, and sales of bees to other beekeepers. These areas have been modified resulting in land clearing practices and hydrologic management to fit the growers needs.

Resilience management. Major natural resource concerns facing agricultural lands include: (1) erosion by wind and water, (2) maintaining and enhancing soil quality, (3) water quality from nutrient and pesticides runoff and leaching, and (4) managing the quantity of water available for irrigation. For more specific information regarding cropland please contact your local NRCS office.

Community 4.5
Silviculture

Silviculture is land used in controlling the establishment, growth, composition, health, and quality of forests and woodlands to meet the diverse needs and values of landowners and society such as wildlife habitat, timber, water resources, restoration, and recreation on a sustainable basis. These are forestry practices that include thinning, harvesting, planting, pruning, prescribed burning and site preparation, for managed goals such as wildlife habitat creation or harvesting. Many managed silvicultural lands in Florida include tree plantations for growth of tropical ornamental species such as palms; and lumber, pulp, and paper species such as slash pine, longleaf pine, cypress, and eucalyptus. This community also include management practices of agroforestry, the intentional mixing of trees and shrubs into crop and/or animal production systems to create environmental, economic and social benefits. This is included in this community and not any other state because the primary management is for tree species. This may include practices such as riparian forest buffers, windbreaks, forest farming, silvopasture, and alley cropping.

Resilience management. Management of silvicultural lands require specific prescriptions based on the management goals for the stand, and may include thinning, harvesting, planting, pruning, prescribed burning and site preparation. For more information regarding specific management for silviculture practices please contact your local NRCS office.

Pathway 4.1A
Community 4.1 to 4.2

This pathway is driven by land use conversion practices that prepare for modified land use. In some circumstances, conversion might include the removal of existing vegetation and habitat.

Pathway 4.2A
Community 4.2 to 4.1

This pathway is driven by the restoration of the native habitat for the use of rangeland. This includes restoration of both the hydrology and landscape in advance of re-establishing native species. This is a time-consuming process and often results in slightly altered community structure and composition more susceptible to invasive or undesirable plant establishment. Once restored to a natural capacity the introduction of grazing species to the system creates a managed rangeland.

Pathway 4.2B
Community 4.2 to 4.3

This pathway is driven by preparing the land for pasture. This includes the planting of vegetation consisting of grasses, legumes, other forbs, shrubs or a mixture that will provide preferred forage for managed grazing species.

Pathway 4.2C
Community 4.2 to 4.4

This pathway is driven by the preparation of land for agricultural uses. This change is dependent on the type of agricultural community being created, but often depends on the growing, maintenance, and cultivation of an agricultural product for consumers. This community may require modification to the land to fit the hydrologic requirement of the growing crop.

Pathway 4.2D
Community 4.2 to 4.5

This pathway is driven by the preparation of the land for silvicultural purposes. This change is dependent on the type of silvicultural product being cultivated, as many different practices require different growth requirement.

Pathway 4.3A
Community 4.3 to 4.2

This pathway is driven by land use conversion practices that prepare for modified land use. In some circumstances, conversion might include the removal of existing vegetation and habitat.

Pathway 4.4A
Community 4.4 to 4.2

This pathway is driven by land use conversion practices that prepare for modified land use. In some circumstances, conversion might include the removal of existing vegetation and habitat.

Pathway 4.5A
Community 4.5 to 4.2

This pathway is driven by land use conversion practices that prepare for modified land use. In some circumstances, conversion might include the removal of existing vegetation and habitat.

State 5
Human Altered & Human Transported Areas

These areas include soils that were intentionally and substantially modified by humans for an intended purpose, commonly for terraced agriculture, building support, mining, transportation, and commerce. The alteration is of sufficient magnitude to result in the introduction of a new parent material (human-transported material) or a profound change in the previously existing parent material (human-altered material). They do not include soils modified through standard agricultural practices or formed soils with unintended wind and water erosion. When a soil is on or above an anthropogenic landform or microfeature, it can be definitely be associated with human activity and is assigned to a unique taxa, usually found as an "Urban land complex" within that communities natural soil properties (e.g., Immokalee sand-Urban land complex, 0 to 2 percent slopes).

Characteristics and indicators. Evidence of these areas include soils with manufactured items (e.g. artifacts) present in the profile, human altered-materials (e.g., deeply excavated or plowed soil) or human-transported material (e.g., fill), and position on or above anthropogenic landforms (e.g., flood-control levees) and microfeatures (e.g., drainage ditches). Detailed criteria regarding the identification of anthropogenic (artificial) landforms, human-altered materials, and human-transported material are in the "Keys to Soil Taxonomy" (Soil Survey Staff, 2014).

Community 5.1
Reclaimed Areas

Reclaimed areas are areas that have been modified through anthropogenic means that are restored to a natural community. Areas that can be reclaimed are any intensely urbanized areas, and may be required to be reclaimed after urban use (e.g., active mines must be reclaimed). Examples of reclaimed lands may be shut down phosphate mining operations, superfund sites, or brownfields. These practices include the identification, removal, and stockpiling soil materials before altering the land, and revegetation and replacement of soil materials after altering the land. This also applies to nearby urban areas that have been adversely affected by the anthropogenic activities.

Community 5.2
Urban

This urban community consists of development for human use. Urban areas include a variety of land uses, e.g., inner city or urban core, industrial and residential areas, cemeteries, parks, and other open spaces; the overall function which may benefit the quality of human life. These often form an urban soil mosaic, where the natural landscape has been fragmented into parcels with distinctive disturbance and management regimes and, as a result, distinctive characteristic soil properties. Within this community there are three different levels of urbanization, based off population dynamics, residential density, and intensity of development. These are labeled as low-intensity, medium-intensity, and high-intensity urban areas, which can eventually be split apart into its own separate state. Low-intensity urban areas may consist of single dwelling homes with little impact on the surrounding community which still somewhat represents the natural community (e.g., represents natural landscape, hydrology, and vegetation) , other examples of this are urban parks, cemeteries, or campgrounds with little urban development. Medium-intensity urban areas consist of larger urban dwellings with some natural features, but have been modified to meet urban needs (e.g., towns). High-intensity urban areas are areas of heavily modified areas with complete alterations of the natural landscape, hydrology, and vegetation to support a very large population, which once constructed is permanently altered (e.g., metropolis areas).

Community 5.3
Non-Reclaimed Areas

Non-reclaimed areas are areas that have been modified through anthropogenic means that are unable to be restored to a natural or second-hand natural community. Areas that cannot be reclaimed are areas under active mining status or mined areas before the Phosphate Land Reclamation Act in 1975, which leaves shut down operations alone. These areas also include fallow mines that have been flooded and are now permanent bodies of water.

Community 5.4
Landfills

This is an anthropogenic site for the disposal of waste material. It includes manufactured layers (artificial, root limiting layer below the soil surface) that are representative of human altered and human transported sites. These layers are often alternative between natural fill material and geotextile liners, asphalt, concrete, rubber or plastic that are built up and can rise above the surrounding landscape by 30 meters or more often impeding water, gas, or roots from moving through the profile.

Pathway 5.1A
Community 5.1 to 5.2

This shift in communities is driven by clearing and developing the land for the desired community.

Pathway 5.1B
Community 5.1 to 5.4

This transition is driven by the deposition of manufactured layers along with anthropogenic waste which is consistently built upon.

Pathway 5.2A
Community 5.2 to 5.1

This transition is driven by the revegetation, reestablished hydrology, and replacement of displaced soil materials after altering the land.

Pathway 5.2B
Community 5.2 to 5.3

This transition is driven from heavy industrial or urban development which causes the land to become non-reclaimable. This transition is rare due to the many environmental laws and regulations that must be followed when developing.

Pathway 5.2C
Community 5.2 to 5.4

This transition is driven by the deposition of manufactured layers along with anthropogenic waste which is consistently built upon.

Pathway 5.3A
Community 5.3 to 5.1

This transition is driven by the revegetation, reestablished hydrology, and replacement of displaced soil materials after altering the land.

Transition T1A
State 1 to 2

This transition is driven by the removal of overstory oaks which allows for the growth of shade intolerant species to thrive. This transition can occur naturally from windthrow or a catastrophic fire that may occur due to lowered hydrology or in periods of extreme drought which burns the duff layer and kills the roots of fire intolerant species. While oaks can tolerate low intensity ground fires, high intensity fires may kill the root system of the oaks, transitioning the community to a cabbage palm / pine forest while the oak species resprout. This transition can also be caused anthropogenically from selective logging of the overstory oaks.

Transition T1B
State 1 to 3

The invasion of non-native or exotic species can be driven by a multitude of different environmental factors such as hydrology or changes in fire regimes. Typically once a change in one of the two factors mentioned above occurs, non-native or exotic invasive species become established and begin to compete with native species for habitat and nutrients.

Constraints to recovery. Recovery from non-native or exotic invasive species may be difficult due to many adaptations which allow them to outcompete and survive in intolerable conditions. Localized knowledge for each species must be known for best removal of it without harming the native environment, and often different treatments must be applied over one given area.

Context dependence. Growth of non-native and exotic invasive species can be rapid following a change in a natural stressor such as fire or hydrology which might have once kept the invasive specie at bay.

Transition T1C
State 1 to 4

Modify the land for the desired land use. This may include the establishment of grazing species or the modification of land for the cultivation of crops of other desired products.

Transition T1D
State 1 to 5

This transition is driven by the alteration and/ or transportation of materials via anthropogenic means.

Restoration pathway R2A
State 2 to 1

Time is the mechanism for the transition back to oak hammocks if the seed stock hasn't been destroyed in the stand clearing event. Oak are shade tolerant species which can filter sunlight in shaded conditions, allowing them to grow slowly. Over time they can become reestablished as part of the overstory, creating a low closed canopy with an emergent layer of pine species and cabbage palms.

Transition T2B
State 2 to 3

The invasion of non-native or exotic species can be driven by a multitude of different environmental factors such as hydrology or changes in fire regimes. Typically once a change in one of the two factors mentioned above occurs, non-native or exotic invasive species become established and begin to compete with native species for habitat and nutrients.

Constraints to recovery. Recovery from non-native or exotic invasive species may be difficult due to many adaptations which allow them to outcompete and survive in intolerable conditions. Localized knowledge for each species must be known for best removal of it without harming the native environment, and often different treatments must be applied over one given area.

Context dependence. Growth of non-native and exotic invasive species can be rapid following a change in a natural stressor such as fire or hydrology which might have once kept the invasive specie at bay.

Transition T2C
State 2 to 4

Modify the land for the desired land use. This may include the establishment of grazing species or the modification of land for the cultivation of crops of other desired products.

Transition T2D
State 2 to 5

This transition is driven by the alteration and/ or transportation of materials via anthropogenic means.

Restoration pathway R3A
State 3 to 1

Mechanical, biological, and chemical removal strategies include removing the unwanted species through various mechanisms. Localized knowledge for community species composition is needed for specific management. Mechanical removal might include roller chopping, harvesting, or cutting and removal of invasive species. Chemical removal might include aerial dispersal from planes, or basal bark injection treatments.

Context dependence. Mechanical, biological, and chemical removal of unwanted species is a time dependent process, with removal types taking long times to be considered effective.

Restoration pathway R3B
State 3 to 2

Mechanical, biological, and chemical removal strategies include removing the unwanted species through various mechanisms. Localized knowledge for community species composition is needed for specific management. Mechanical removal might include roller chopping, harvesting, or cutting and removal of invasive species. Chemical removal might include aerial dispersal from planes, or basal bark injection treatments.

Context dependence. Mechanical, biological, and chemical removal of unwanted species is a time dependent process, with removal types taking long times to be considered effective.

Transition T3A
State 3 to 4

Modify the land for the desired land use. This may include the establishment of grazing species or the modification of land for the cultivation of crops of other desired products.

Transition T3B
State 3 to 5

This transition is driven by the alteration and/ or transportation of materials via anthropogenic means.

Restoration pathway R4A
State 4 to 1

These practices include the restoration of both the hydrology and landscape in advance of revegetating the area (if needed).

Restoration pathway R4B
State 4 to 2

These practices include the restoration of both the hydrology and landscape in advance of revegetating the area (if needed).

Transition T4A
State 4 to 5

This transition is driven by the alteration and/ or transportation of materials via anthropogenic means.

Restoration pathway R5A
State 5 to 4

This transition is driven by the restoration of a reclaimed land towards a naturally managed resource such as agriculture, rangeland, silviculture, or improved pasture.