The Florida dry prairie is a

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

upland plant community found in subtropical southern

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. It consists of plains covered in

grasses Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns and ...

, low shrubs, and few widely scattered trees. It was originally found on the plains near the Kissimmee River and

Fisheating Creek Fisheating Creek is a stream that flows into Lake Okeechobee in Florida. It is the only remaining free-flowing water course feeding into the lake, and the second-largest natural source for the lake. Most of the land surrounding the stream is eithe ...

connected to Lake Okeechobee, but conversion to agriculture and pasture have reduced its range. Frequent fires are necessary to maintain this system.

Geographic range

Dry prairie was once the dominant grassland endemic to central Florida, from the western shore of Lake Okeechobee and extending northeast into Osceola County. Historically, it is thought that Florida’s dry prairie covered approximately 1,931 square miles. Pre-settlement dry prairie could be separated into three regions: the “ Kissimmee River Prairie,” “the Big Prairie” across central Florida, and the “ Myakka Prairie”. These three regions are not geographically isolated.

Flora and fauna

Florida grasshopper sparrow and chicks FWS

There are 658 known vascular flora species, 115 families, and 317 genera found in Florida’s dry prairie, with 94% of species native to central Florida. There are no plants known to be endemic to the dry prairie environment, but there are a number of species endemic to the Florida peninsula. The shrub layer is dominated by saw palmetto (''Serenoa repen''s). Occasional trees include slash pine ( ''Pinus'' ''elliottii'') and cabbage palm ('' Sabal palmetto''). Wiregrass (''Aristidia beyrichiana''), toothache grass ( ''Ctenium'' ''aromaticum''), and beak rush (''

Rhynchospora ''Rhynchospora'' (beak-rush or beak-sedge) is a genus of about 400 species of sedges with a cosmopolitan distribution. The genus includes both annual and perennial species, mostly with erect 3-sided stems and 3-ranked leaves. The achenes bear a ...

'' spp.) are dominant grasses and sedges. Where slash pine is more abundant, this system grades into south Florida pine flatwoods. There are a number of species that are listed as “at-risk” that can be found in the Florida dry prairie. The

grasshopper sparrow The grasshopper sparrow (''Ammodramus savannarum'') is a small New World sparrow. It belongs to the genus ''Ammodramus,'' which contains three species that inhabit grasslands and prairies. Although sometimes found in crop fields and they will rea ...

(''Ammodramus savannarum floridanus''), sandhill crane (''Antigone canadensis pratensis''), burrowing owl (''Athene cunicularia floidan''a), and the

Florida panther The Florida panther is a North American cougar (''P. c. couguar'') population in South Florida. It lives in pinelands, tropical hardwood hammocks, and mixed freshwater swamp forests. It is known under a number of common names including Costa R ...

(''Puma concolor coryi'') are a few that are at risk, with the grasshopper sparrow and panther listed as “endangered” according to the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

Human influence

Agriculture

The increased settlement and growing population of Florida in the early 20th century came with expanded agriculture and the conversion of dry prairie to farmland. Extensive dairy and citrus farms have very little dry prairie vegetation and result in landscape fragmentation, subsequently reducing habitat for dry prairie wildlife. There may also exist a correlation between wetland development and encroachment of the pineland/prairie border.

Fire suppression

Historically, this system experienced fire intervals of 1-4 years, allowing fire-adapting vegetation to grow and maintaining the treeless landscape. Many vegetative species are found in greater abundance at sites with frequent fire . As the settlement of Florida expanded, fire suppression became common practice to prevent damage to homes and agriculture. Because the dry prairie system requires fire for maintenance, suppression has reduced the geographic coverage of this system. With regular prescribed burning, a resurgence in dry prairie vegetation and wildlife can be seen.

References

{{reflist Plant communities of Florida Ecoregions of Florida Flora of Florida