SGER: Effects of Hurricane Andrew on Subtropical Hardwood Hammocks of Everglades National Park, Florida

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Hurricanes disrupt forest canopies, resulting in increased light levels both in gaps and beneath overstory trees. Because such increases are likely to be transient in forests in which advance recruits and resprouting trees grow rapidly, study of the responses of vegetation to hurricanes must occur within a short period of time following impact. On August 24, 1992, the south eyewall of Hurricane Andrew impacted patches of subtropical hardwood forests (hammocks) imbedded in slash pine savannas on Long Pine Key in Everglades National Park, Florida. Mapped plots in which all tress 2 cm dbh had been tagged and measured had been established at the time of the hurricane in both burned and unburned hammocks. First, the project will measure damage and mortality of trees in burned and unburned subtropical hammocks and examine patterns of recovery of trees in burned and unburned subtropical hammocks and examine patterns of recovery of trees over the year following the hurricane. Second, it will assess effects of the hurricane on epiphytes by censusing plants in plots located in both burned and unburned hammocks. These data will be used to explore whether the trees and epiphytes respond similarly (and in what ways) to the large-scale disturbances of fires and hurricanes. %%% Ecological systems must constantly respond to stresses on several temporal & spatial scales. This study provides quantitative assessment if the damage & patterns of recovery of populations of tropical trees in subtropical hammocks. Results of this study will be directly comparable to others in the impacts of severe hurricanes on subtropical forests. In addition, by comparing the impact of Hurricane Andrew on trees in burned & unburned hammocks, this study provides a rare opportunity to compare the effects of two major disturbances.