Eleven Species You Can Find in a Fire-Dependent Ecosystem

Many fascinating creatures thrive in fire-adapted ecosystems like those you can find in our Conservation Parks and Nature Preserves. These ecosystems, often characterized by longleaf pine-wiregrass or scrub habitats, are shaped by the natural occurrence of fires. The flora and fauna that live in these habitats have evolved unique adaptations to coexist with and even benefit from these fires. Without periodic fire, all of these species are negatively affected. 

Tampa Butterfly Orchid (Encyclia tampensis)
 Photo by Malcolm Manners, 2011. (CC Attribution 2.0 Generic)

When visiting our parks and preserves, don’t forget to look up once in a while or you’ll miss sights like the Tampa butterfly orchid (Encyclia tampensis) growing on a variety of trees in some of our hardwood forests. Orchids often depend on very specific light conditions for optimal growth and reproduction. The open canopy resulting from periodic fire allows for increased light penetration, benefiting epiphytic plants that thrive on trees, including the Florida butterfly orchid.

Partridge Pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata)
   Photo by Cbaile19, 2015. (CC0 Public Domain Dedication)

For those closer to the forest floor, the love for the partridge pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata) is hard to beat. These plants grow naturally in scrub, sandhill, and flatwoods where periodic fire keeps them free from other plants out-competing them, and keeps canopies clear for optimal sunlight. This yellow-flowered plant is a host for growing butterflies but is interestingly only pollinated by long-tongued bees, and the seeds are loved by many species of birds.

Cloudless Sulphur Caterpillar on Partridge Pea, Photo by Wildreturn, 2013. (CC Attribution 2.0)

Cloudless Sulphur Butterfly (Phoebis sennae)
   Photo by Alan Schmierer, 2012. (CC0 Public Domain Dedication)

One friend of the partridge pea is the cloudless sulpher (Phoebis sennae), a bright yellow butterfly. While in the summer they may migrate as far away as Colorado, they spend their winters here in Central Florida.

Fire Beetle (Melanophila acuminata) Photo by AG Prof. Schmitz. (CC Attribution-Share Alike 2.5)

During a fire, fire beetles (Melanophila acuminata) are attracted to the site and deposit eggs in the freshly burned wood. These beetles are attracted to the heat of a fire and like to arrive while the trees are still burning and deposit their eggs in the freshly burned wood. Melanophila initiate the process of breaking down dead trees before the fire is out, and therefore well before other wood boring insects arrive on scene to compete for the resource.

Frosted flatwoods salamander, St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, Florida. Photo by USGS, for public domain.

Periodic fires help reduce the density of competing vegetation in habitats and help maintain a more open canopy. Both of these attributes necessary for pine flatwoods and wiregrass habitats to have ephemeral wetlands, or temporary pools of water that form after heavy rains or during the rainy season. These wetlands are crucial for the frosted flatwoods salamander's (Ambystoma cingulatum) reproduction. The frosted flatwoods salamander will travel to lay its eggs in these shallow pools, and the larvae develop in the water. When not laying eggs, the adult salamanders return to dryer areas of wiregrass and flatwoods habitats where they exclusively live.

Squirrel treefrog on a fire dependant plant, the Pine lily, at Bell Creek Nature Preserve, 2017.

Meanwhile in those ephemeral ponds, the squirrel treefrog (Hyla squirella) is also feeling romantic. In the summer as increased rain forms the ponds, these frogs will be on the move nearby. You’ll hear the “waaak waaak” calls of males trying to attract the females, who will then lay eggs in these ponds protected by small plants - but too many new plants can be a problem. Prescribed fire prevents heavy encroachment from vegetation that dehydrates treefrog habitat. Like the frosted flatwoods salamander’s larvae, the treefrog’s tadpoles go through their early stages in these wetlands before growing and moving into the pine flatwoods and oak hammocks.

Eastern fence lizard, appropriately on a fence at Fish Hawk Creek Nature Preserve, 2018.

There’s a theme happening, have you noticed it yet? Like other species mentioned already, the eastern fence lizard (Sceloporus undulatus) also thrives in environments that have sandy soils, bright sunshine, a variety of abundant vegetation, and areas for basking. When fire occurs, there is often an influx of insects in the area afterwards looking to take advantage of plant decay, and the open conditions created by fires make it easier for eastern fence lizards to hunt these insects.

Gopher tortoise emerging from a recent prescribed burn,
Upper Tampa Bay Park, 2020.

Gopher tortoise in pine needles,
Upper Tampa Bay Park 2020

A Floridian’s favorite fire-adapted reptile, the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) is one of a kind. These keystone species love habitats with periodic fire because the open understories, reduced accumulation of vegetation, and new growth of native grasses and forbs is ideal for these tortoises. Their extensive burrows famously play host to over 300 different species – some for their entire life cycles and others only seeking refuge in the stable-temperature burrows during fire events.

Bobwhite Quail, Photo by Tim from Ithaca, 2008. (CC Attribution 2.0)

Some may argue that prescribed burning in the United States was “brought back” after colonization by the bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) when hunters realized that fire-suppression was also reducing the availability of these game birds. Bobwhite quails live in grasslands and savannahs maintained by fire and forage on seeds and insects. Fire helps stimulate the growth of new vegetation, increasing the availability of seeds and insect prey. In the absence of fire these ecosystems may also become densely wooded, limiting the availability of suitable habitat for bobwhite quail.

Florida Grasshopper Sparrow, Photo by Mary Peterson, USFWS, 2014. (Public Domain)

Much like the quail, the Florida grasshopper sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum floridanus) primarily inhabits dry prairies with a mix of grasses and sparse shrubs. These habitats are characterized by a periodic regime of low intensity fire that plays a significant role in maintaining the open conditions necessary for the sparrows. These birds are critically imperiled, and prescribed burns are essential for maintaining the open, grassy conditions necessary for their survival.

White-tailed doe and young adult, Fish Hawk Creek Nature Preserve 2017.

White-tailed deer – yes, even the ubiquitous Odocoileus virginianus also benefits from a fire-touched environment. Brush may grow thick in some of Florida’s habitats; saw palmetto can be so dense that deer cannot thrive– but a beautiful savannah with wiregrass is the perfect place for a deer to forage and bed down, and like the gopher tortoise, deer love snacking on fresh regrowth after a fire.