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Composition And Change Of Maritime Hammock Flora In East-Central Florida After 20 Years, Donald John Spence

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The vegetation of eight east-central Florida maritime hammocks studied in 1997 were compared to similar data collected over 20 years ago. Study sites are located in the northern half of the Indian River Lagoon system mostly within Canaveral National Seashore and Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. The upland hammock vegetation throughout the state generally has an oak-palm association, but here these species dominate. Results show that sabal palm, live oak, laurel oak, and pignut hickory, the four dominant tree species in 1976-77, are still dominant in 1997; however, there has been a loss in tree species richness. Most shrub species …