Angela Tringali
Balancing the Needs of
Species in Scrub
Florida Scrub-Jay Conservation Coordinator
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Florida Scrub
is home to many endemic or rare species
Require Different Fire Return Intervals
* For Lake Wales Ridge
Require Different Fire Return Intervals
* For Lake Wales Ridge
Scrub-Jay Umbrella
* For Lake Wales Ridge
Photo by Terry Doonan
Photo by FWC
The Scrub-Jay
Umbrella
Photo by Alex Kropp
The Scrub-Jay
Umbrella
Photo by Terry Doonan
Photo by Alex Kropp
No
fair!
35
The Scrub-Jay
Umbrella
7
# o
f sp
ecie
s
Who doesn’t fit?
Sand skink
Blue-tail mole skink
Striped newt
Photo by Bill Turner
Photo by FWC
Probably yes
Euphorbia rosescens
Persea humilis
Short-tailed snake
Photo by Kevin Enge
Unknown – Not enough info
Chionanthus pigmaeus
Lechea lakelae (possibly extinct)
Generalizations
Rarity requires special management
Requires more frequent fire
Atypical scrub species
Oncidium bahamense
Ziziphus celata
Polygala lewtonii
Harrisia fragrans
Photo by Craig Faulhaber
Under the umbrellaThe Scrub-Jay Umbrella
81%(yes or
probably)
19%
FWC/FNAI Scrub
Management Guidelines
2009
Used FSJ as an umbrella
Emphasized pyrodiversity
Efforts to meet the needs of more spp
Appendices
FRLI Workshop
Photo by Craig Faulhaber
Appendices Aim To
Provide species-specific information to
managers
Identify species not under the scrub-jay
umbrella
Photos by Craig Faulhaber
Who is included?
Listed species and FNAI S1-S3
Florida rosemary (Ceratiola ericoides)
Photos by Craig Faulhaber
Rosemary vs. Oak scrub
Key differences in management
What is included?
Optimal Fire Return Interval
Response to fire & fire exclusion
Response to mechanical treatments
Under the “scrub-jay umbrella?”
Additional management recommendations
Photo by Craig Faulhaber
What is included?
But it’s not so simple…
Variation, even under the umbrella
Some species prefer more
frequent fire
BLM.gov
But it’s not so simple…
Other species have special considerations
Unburned refugia for Cladonia perforata
Appendices
So how do we strike a balance?
?
Alex Kropp
NRLI Workshop 2014
Florida Natural Resources Leadership
Institute (NRLI) practicum
Matt Corby & Craig Faulhaber
NRLI Workshop 2014
Land managers
Species experts
Scrub-jay
Scrub herps
Rare plants
Bald eagles
Black bears
NRLI Workshop 2014
Topics discussed
Identify conflicts
Identify solutions
Develop recommendations
Regional perspective
Consider the regional context for species
Each property plays a different role
Examples
State of the Scrub report
FWC’s Wildlife Conservation
Prioritization & Recovery Program
(WCPR)
Alex Kropp
Each property has its niche.
Adjust management
accordingly!
Pyrodiversity
Varying application of fire…
in space
and in time
A “bet-hedging strategy” (Menges 2007)
Photo by Cheryl Millett
Spatial variability
Creating a mosaic of habitat conditions
Type of mosaic influenced by… Species present
Regional context
vs. large-scale patchinessSmall-scale
David Bender
Complete burns can be problematic May displace scrub-jay families
Scrub-jays do poorly if the entire territory is
< 3 ft
No refugia for other species
Spatial variability
Mosaics can be among units…
…or within units
Slide courtesy of Reed Bowman, Archbold Biological Station
If burn units are relatively small,
mosaic can be among units
Cover adjacent to burn
unit
Cover within the burn
unit
If burn units are relatively large,
establish mosaic within unit
Immigration
Slide courtesy of Reed Bowman, Archbold Biological Station
Cover adjacent to burn
unit
Temporal variability Vary fire return interval
Consistent burning on low end of
scrub-jay fire return interval…
Photo by Alex Kropp
… could be good for gopher tortoises,
but bad for scrub-jays
Photo by TNC
Temporal variability Habitat structure as guideline
rather than time interval
Photo by TNC
Temporal variability means
Open areas for scrub lizards
Litter for sand skinks
Photo by FWC Bill Turner
“The scrub-jay is a leaky
umbrella…
“The scrub-jay is a leaky
umbrella…
… but we can plug
the holes.”
Challenges Variability can be difficult to achieve
Need to consider constraints
Mosaics unpredictable
Narrow burn window
Burning into black
Unburned patches can reignite
Burning on lower side of interval for safety
More fire line maintenance
Staff turnover
Evaluation on # of acres burned
Challenges Variability can be difficult to achieve
Need to consider constraints
Mosaics unpredictable
Narrow burn window
Burning into black
Unburned patches can reignite
Burning on lower side of interval for safety
More fire line maintenance
Staff turnover
Evaluation on # of acres burned
Challenges Variability can be difficult to achieve
Need to consider constraints
Mosaics unpredictable
Narrow burn window
Burning into black
Unburned patches can reignite
Burning on lower side of interval for safety
More fire line maintenance
Staff turnover
Evaluation on # of acres burned
Opportunities
Collaboration of species experts & land
managers
Create realistic recommendations
Take into account constraints
Photo by Adam Kent
Opportunities
Scrubby flatwoods / Coastal scrub
workshop in 2011
Discussed techniques for mosaics
Opportunities
Regional working groups
Southern Fire Exchange southernfireexchange.org
Other forums?
Barbara RobertsBarbara Roberts
Conclusions#
of
sp
ecie
sThe Scrub-Jay
Umbrella
Conclusions#
of
sp
ecie
sThe Scrub-Jay
Umbrella
Conclusions#
of
sp
ecie
sThe Scrub-Jay
Umbrella
Conclusions#
of
sp
ecie
sThe Scrub-Jay
Umbrella
Next steps
Revised Scrub Management Guidelines are
going out to review soon!
Would a workshop on mosaics help?
What additional resources do you need?
Any thoughts
or questions?