Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Reconstruction Of Fire History In The National Key Deer Refuge, Monroe County, Florida, U.S.A.: The Palmetto Pond Macroscopic Charcoal Record, Desiree Lynn Kocis

Masters Theses

The pine rocklands in the Lower Florida Keys are considered endangered because of rises in sea level, urbanization, and human impacts on the natural fire regime. Macroscopic charcoal in a sediment core recovered from Palmetto Pond (24°41’45.15”N, 81°19’43.84”W) in 2010 was examined in contiguous 1-cm intervals to reconstruct Late Holocene fire history. Palmetto Pond is a shallow freshwater solution hole located within the pine rocklands of No Name Key in Monroe County, Florida. Radiocarbon dating of plant material at 247 cm depth in the Palmetto Pond profile indicates the sediment record extends back to ca. 4500 cal yr BP. Charcoal …