J.W. Corbett - Major Natural Communities

• Pine flatwoods
• Cypress sloughs and domes
• Marshes and prairies
• Hammocks

Pine Flatwoods

Dominated by slash pine with cabbage palm as an occasional subdominant. The understory consists of saw palmetto, wax myrtle, and gallberry. Fire maintains the flatwoods community by controlling competing hardwoods. Natural fires have always been a component in the pine flatwoods and species here are adapted to fire. Slash pine has thick, insulating bark that protects it from the fire's heat. Saw palmetto, gallberry, and wax myrtle resprout quickly and prosper after a fire. Wild animals avoid the flames by fleeing or hiding underground. Later, they benefit from the nutritious regrowth of vegetation after a fire. Red-cockaded woodpeckers prefer to nest in pine stands that are kept open by frequent fire.

Cypress Sloughs and Domes

Dominated by bald cypress with willows, wax myrtle, and a mixture of hardwoods. Airplants and orchids are commonly found on cypress trees. Sedges and rushes are more prevalent in sloughs while ferns are more dominant in domes.

Marshes and Prairies

Hundreds of small circular ponds dot the landscape of Corbett. These basins hold water most of the year and support stands of sawgrass, maidencane, and St. Johns wort. Woody plant species like wax myrtle and seedling slash pines invade these wetlands when there is overdrainage or absence of fire.

Marshes are an important source of food and cover for wetland wildlife species. Herons, egrets, and other wading birds thrive on the abundant supply of fish, frogs, and invertebrates. Common yellowthroats use the thick sawgrass for escape cover and nesting. Apple snails lay their cluster of small white eggs on vegetation just above the waterline. When other sources of water dry up in the spring, wildlife such as snail kites, river otters, woodstorks, and alligators concentrate in deeper marshes.

Hammocks

Dominated by cabbage palm, several oak species, red bay, red maple and other overstory trees. Understories are a diverse mixture of temperate and tropical small trees and shrubs.