Tropical Hardwood Hammock

Alltrails justin dittmar if you re an outdoor or nature enthusiast this hike will bring about much enjoyment as it shows you a different side of florida.

Tropical hardwood hammock.

Tropical hardwood hammocks can occur within marshes pinelands and mangrove swamps. These islands can support more than 20 species of tropical trees shrubs and vines and provide critical habitat for numerous animals. Tropical hardwood hammock is a closed canopy forest dominated by a diverse assemblage of evergreen and semi deciduous tree and shrub species mostly of west indian origin. It is also important habitat for ferns and orchids of west indian origin.

Tropical hardwood hammock are pretty hard to find nowadays and along this trail you ll see them in abundance. These plants may be found in other tropical climates like the west indies but in the united states they only occur in the tropical hardwood hammocks of south florida. For example marshland can quickly transition to tropical hardwood hammocks with a dense canopy thin soil and no water inundation. These habitats function as small island ecosystems that are markedly different from their surroundings.

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. If you were to look straight up you might have trouble seeing the sun and sky because of all the trees growing close together. Hardwoods are broad leaved trees that grow well in the everglades.

Subject to thin soils and a tropical climate hardwood hammocks form a dense canopy with a tangle of shrubs and vines at the ground level and its outer edges. In the deeper sloughs and marshes the seasonal flow of water helps give these hammocks a distinct aerial teardrop shape. Tropical hardwood hammocks provide critical habitat for a number of plants whose northernmost portions of ranges extend into south florida. Tropical hardwood hammocks are found along both coasts of south florida as well as throughout the everglades and florida keys.

The tropical hardwood hammock is an ecosystem consisting of broad leafed trees shrubs and vines nearly all of which are native to the west indies with live oak quercus virginiana being the only significant temperate species. A hardwood hammock is a dense stand of broad leafed trees that grow on a natural rise of only a few inches in elevation. Tropical hardwood hammock is not a fire maintained community although fire may burn into tropical hardwood hammocks under certain conditions. 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.

The tropical hardwood hammock is a self maintaining community that usually remains untouched by fire or flood. Tropical hardwood hammock is not a fire maintained.