Woods Species
Photo credit: Ginny Southworth
Representative Flora and Fauna of Hitchcock Woods
Mammals | Birds | Reptiles | Plants (PDF Links)
While the tall, stately longleaf pine once covered 30 million to 60 million acres of the southeastern United States coastal plain, logging and land clearing have greatly reduced its range. One longleaf pine takes 100 to 150 years to become full size and can live to 300 years old, or even longer under the right conditions. Modern methods of reforestation are helping to restore these majestic trees to previously cleared woodlands.
A wide variety of wildlife depends on the longleaf pine ecosystem. Fire plays a major role in the development of this community, and is essential to the survival of certain wildlife species, too.
Gopher tortoises, Florida mice, gopher frogs, and eastern diamond-back rattlesnakes are among the native animals in the ecosystem. Among the many game species native to longleaf communities are white-tailed deer, bobwhite quail, wild turkey, and the fox squirrel. Endangered species such as the red-cockaded woodpecker and the indigo snake are threatened by the loss of the longleaf pine habitat.
From a botanical perspective, longleaf forests are incredibly diverse. Scientists refer to the Sandhills region as a center of southeastern biodiversity. Researchers studying one Sandhills longleaf pine community identified 124 plant species in a plot of 100 feet square. This ranks the Sandhills among the most diverse botanical regions anywhere in the world.
