Tropical hardwood hammock

Tropical hardwood hammocks are closed canopy forests, dominated by a diverse assemblage of evergreen and semi-deciduous tree and shrub species, mostly of West Indian origin. Tropical hardwood hammocks are found nearly throughout the southern half of South Florida, with large concentrations in Dade County on the Miami Rock Ridge, in Dade and Monroe counties in the Florida Keys and along the northern shores of Florida Bay, and in the Pinecrest region of the Big Cypress Swamp.

They are not fire maintained communities, although fire may burn into tropical hardwood hammocks under certain conditions. Tropical hardwood hammocks are habitat for a few endemic plants, and are critical habitat for many West Indian plant species when the northernmost portions of their ranges extend into South Florida. Tropical hardwood hammocks also provide important habitat for many species of wildlife, including nine federally listed species. While the majority of the remaining tropical hardwood hammocks outside the Florida Keys have now been acquired, hammocks are still significantly threatened by development in the Keys. Tropical hardwood hammocks have been heavily impacted by outright destruction, conversion to agriculture, exotic plant and animal species, collecting pressure on plants and animals, anthropogenic fires, and alterations in hydrology. Significant work has now been initiated to restore existing disturbed tropical hardwood hammocks and to control exotic plant species. Numerous opportunities also exist to create or maintain tropical hardwood hammocks within the developed landscape.

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