Tropical Hardwood Hammock The Everglades

The strangler fig is a very important tree in a typical hammock but not the only tree.

Tropical hardwood hammock the everglades.

Hammocks can be found nestled in most all other everglades ecosystems. To walk into a hardwood hammock is to walk through a shady tropical forest. Doi link for the everglades handbook. Hardwoods are broad leaved trees that grow well in the everglades.

One of the special habitats of the everglades is the tropical hardwood hammock. Tropical hardwood hammocks are found along both coasts of south florida as well as throughout the everglades and florida keys. If you were to look straight up you might have trouble seeing the sun and sky because of all the trees growing close together. In the deeper sloughs and marshes the seasonal flow of water helps give these hammocks a distinct aerial teardrop shape.

Understanding the ecosystem fourth edition. A fig s tree cover type or biome includes cabbage palm slash pine gumbo limbo saw palmetto poisonwood and live oak. One can take a bike ride on the 15 mile loop or simply walk the main trail. The everglades handbook book.

These areas are scattered throughout the everglades and the dense vine entangled tropical hardwood hammock looks like a tiny islands dotting the marsh landscape. A hardwood hammock is a habitat that is found on higher elevations making it like the pinelands a dry habitat. Understanding the ecosystem fourth edition. In the northern portion of the everglades hammocks are dominated by trees of temperate origin including the live oak quercus virginiana and the hackberry celtis laevigata.

Habitat loss primarily from development has left only small patches of tropical hardwood hammocks throughout coastal south florida the everglades and the keys. Doi link for the everglades handbook. Tropical hardwood hammocks were once found as far north as cape canaveral on florida s atlantic coast and tampa bay on the state s gulf coast. Tropical hardwood hammocks date back thousands of years to when coral reefs were exposed by receding water levels.

Tropical hardwood hammocks. A hardwood hammock is a dense stand of broad leafed trees that grow on a natural rise of only a few inches in elevation. The everglades handbook book. This is a familiar location for many locals.