GREENWAYS & NATURAL LANDS

Prescribed Fire Monitoring

Prescribed fires are an integral part of habitat management in the southern United States and many Florida ecosystems depend on frequent disturbance by fires (Veno 1976) to maintain ecological integrity. Prescribed fire will be closely monitored on all SCNLP’s sites in which fire is a management tool. Most of the monitoring activity will rely on a comparison between pre and post burn conditions and various monitoring methods will be employed to document fire’s effect on natural communities. A minimum of four photo points will be established in various habitat types on each SCNLP Wilderness Area. The photo points will be established in the field with rebar and the locations recorded using a Global Positioning System (GPS). At each of these locations photos will be taken in a north, east, south, and west direction.  Other pre and post burn surveys include vegetation transect and gopher tortoise burrow census.