Reger, Lisa Marie

This research will provide documentation of the trajectory of plant community succession
and carbon accumulation post-fire as well as a comparison between the effects of natural versus
prescribed fires on recovery trajectory. This study will take place in the A.R.M Loxahatchee
National Wildlife Refuge. Historical fire records will be used to select sites along a
chronosequence of time since the most recent occurrence of fire as well as sites differing in the
source of ignition naturally ignited vs. prescribed burns. Vegetation surveys will be performed to
assess the pattern of community change through succession. Aboveground plant biomass will be
estimated non-destructively at each site and soil cores from each plot will be used to quantify soil
accretion and soil quality across the chronosequence. Additionally, monitoring control points
will be established within both historically burned and new prescribed burned sites in the
Refuge. These control points will be revisited in subsequent intervals to document short-term
vegetation recovery. Results of this study will provide quantification of the effectiveness of fire
management practices in the maintenance and restoration of quality habitat in the northern
Everglades as well as provide further insight into how fire severity affects the trajectory of
habitat recovery.

Fire plays a key role in the ecology of the Everglades and is a ubiquitous tool for
managing the structure, function, and ecosystem services of the Greater Everglades
watershed. Decades of hydrologic modifications have led to the alteration of plant
community composition and fire regime in much of the Everglades. To create a better
understanding of post-fire recovery in sawgrass (Cladium jamaicense) communities,
sawgrass marshes in the northern Everglades were studied along a chronosequence of
time since fire and along a nutrient gradient. Areas closer to a water nutrient source and
with fewer mean days dry contained greater total and dead aboveground graminoid
biomass whereas live graminoid biomass was greater in areas with less time since fire
and with fewer days dry. Post-fire characteristics of sawgrass marshes can provide insight
on the effectiveness of fire management practices in the maintenance and restoration of
quality habitat in the northern Everglades.