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Nancy Dwyer
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Half Moon is blessed with a diverse mosaic of
natural plant communities. The Withlacoochee River and its
hardwood swamp comprise the south and western borders of the
management area.
The heart of Half Moon contains pine flatwoods with
marshes and oak hammocks scattered throughout. The Gum Slough
spring run stream and its floodplain forest makeup the northern
edge. Scrubby flatwoods and the Mill Creek swamp comprise much of
the eastern side. Half Moon also has pockets of baygall, sandhill,
and wet flatwoods.
Management
FWC strives to maintain and restore a diversity of
habitats on Half Moon Wildlife Management Area for the benefit of a
wide array of wildlife species and the people of
Florida.
Prior to FWC acquiring Half Moon, many of the previous land
management practices had a negative impact on wildlife and native
habitats, including ditching, poor timber management, and
converting much of the uplands to bahia pastures. Righting many of
these past wrongs has become a primary focus of FWC and area
managers.
Some of the many techniques area personnel use to aid in the
management and restoration process include prescribed burning,
mowing, roller chopping, and disking. Native plants and seeds as
well as longleaf pines are planted on Half Moon to help expedite
the restoration process. Grain crops like sorghum and millet are
planted in disturbed areas as supplemental food and cover for
wildlife in an otherwise barren pasture.
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The Florida scrub-jay is a threatened and declining species that
occurs sparingly on Half Moon. Scrub-jays rely on open scrubby
habitat with patches of bare sand and 3-10 feet tall oak trees.
Lack of fire made the oak stands too tall and dense for fire to
penetrate. This area was chopped to allow fire to spread through it
and to create the open habitat scrub-jays prefer. This was a
short-term solution to the long-term goal of scrub-jay habitat
management by fire alone.
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Longleaf pine was the original dominant tree on the
uplands and is thus the species used in reforestation on Half Moon.
Past logging removed much of the old-growth longleaf pine, leaving
slash, loblolly, and pond pine in the wetter, more inaccessible
sites to which they were normally confined by fire. Aggressive
fire-fighting efforts beginning in the late 1920s, inhibited the
germination of longleaf pine and encouraged the spread of these
species.
In cattle-grazed areas, flatwoods restoration is a
challenge since cattle can trample and destroy seedlings and small
trees. Cattle grazing, especially at the very low stocking rate of
24 acres per cow/calf unit found on Half Moon, does have some
management advantages, however. Grazing sets back ecological
succession to an earlier stage and reduces fuel in a way similar to
prescribed burning. Cattle grazing also produces revenue and
provides for the multiple use of public land.
Plant and animal monitoring and surveys are
frequently conducted on Half Moon to assist area personnel in the
management and hunt harvest recommendation process. These surveys
help us understand if our management actions are producing the
desired results.
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