The hawk’s Bluff area of the
Savannas is my favorite part of the preserve. I hope you
enjoy learning about this unique area as much as I did by putting
this together. Take your time on the loop trail and make sure
to take in all this diverse natural community has to
offer.
The
Savannas Preserve State Park lies
within a basin locally known as the
“Savannas” which is bounded on
its east side by the Atlantic Coastal Ridge and on its west side by
a topographical ridge which separates the “Savannas” basin from the
North Fork St. Lucie River basin. This narrow basin extends from
Ft. Pierce south to Jensen Beach. The Savannas Preserve State Park
occupies the major portion of this basin.
Historical information suggests
that the “Savannas” was most
likely two main water bodies separated by extensive marsh. The
southern water body drained southward through Warner Creek into the
St. Lucie River. The northern water body drained northward via
Platt’s Creek into the North Fork St. Lucie River. The Platt’s
Creek outflow no longer exists, but Warner Creek still flows.
Current topographic maps suggest that historical flow through these
two creeks was minimal until high water levels in the “Savannas”
were reached.
Today the basin appears far
different. At least half of the basin has been modified for
residential and commercial interests. Water quality and quantity
entering the preserve have been degraded due to the presence of
storm water. The “Savannas” is a
low-nutrient system. It depends on periodic natural draw downs to
maintain this regime. It receives most of its water directly from
precipitation, which has historically always been the case.
Currently, it receives storm water with varying levels of
treatment.
The soils map shows the different
types of soils that are present in the preserve. While not
all types are represented in the Hawk’s Bluff area I thought it was
very interesting that there is this number of different
types. The Hawk’s Bluff area is located in area 41-A.
The park contains seven distinct natural communities in addition to
ruderal and developed areas. The Hawks Bluff area of
the park contains most of these.
Mesic Flatwoods
Flatwoods represent the dominant
natural community in the preserve. The vast majority is found
on the western half of the property associated with wet
prairies. This is a typical South Florida slash pine – saw
palmetto – gallberry association with a diverse grouping of grass
and herbaceous groundcover. The flatwoods of the preserve
have received a number of human-caused disturbances, such as old
fire plow scars, ditches and off-road vehicle trails that have
altered its hydrology and continuity. Most of these disturbances
can and will be improved by restoration activities. Perhaps
the most important activity will be the implementation of a
prescribed burn program. Fire has been mostly excluded from the
landscape. The fires that have occurred were wildfires, which
burned under extreme conditions of fuel and weather and resulted in
high pine tree mortality.
Scrub
This
community is located along the eastern side of the park. The
Florida Natural Areas Inventory lists this community as globally
and state endangered. It has a sand pine dominated canopy with a
scrub oak-dominated sub-canopy. Ground vegetation is generally
sparse. A significant number of listed species are found within
this community such as the fragrant prickly apple (Harrisia
fragrans), four-petal pawpaw (Asimina tetramera),
Florida scrub-jay (Aphelocoma floridana), and the eastern
indigo snake (Drymarchon corais).
The scrub in the preserve has
received varying degrees of disturbance. Over the years some areas
were cleared for pineapple plantations, some were cleared in
anticipation of development, many were cut-up by off-road vehicle
trails, and some are in good shape. Scrub is sensitive to
disturbance with some scars taking more than 50 years to restore.
To maintain the integrity of this community, controlled burns will
have to be introduced back in to this landscape.
Scrubby
Flatwoods
The majority of this community is
found in bands adjacent to and west of the scrub. The canopy is
mostly slash pine and the understory is a mixture of saw palmetto,
scrub oaks and various grasses and herbs. It has received varying
degrees of disturbance, but overall is in good health. As with most
of the natural communities within the preserve, it suffers from a
lack of fire. To maintain the integrity of this community,
controlled burns will have to be introduced back in to this
landscape
Basin Marsh
This community comprises the
dominant wetland type in the preserve. It is located at the bottom
of the Atlantic Coastal Ridge slope. This is a high quality
wetland, which is strikingly temporary. During wetter times, it is
dominated by various grasses, sedges and emergent plants. During
drought times, major areas are open, white sand with the deeper
areas still containing wetland vegetation. The vistas associated
with this community are outstanding.
Depression Marsh
This community is located within
the flatwoods. It is dominated by various grasses, sedges, herbs,
and woody plants. These temporary wetlands are important breeding
and feeding areas for a variety of animals.
Wet Prairie
This community is located within
the flatwoods and is dominated by various grasses, sedges, herbs
and woody vegetation. Like the depression marsh, it is temporary
and important for a variety of animals, and requires fire. Many of
these prairies are perched, so their water levels can apparently
move independent of the basin marsh.
Marsh Lake
This community is located within
or adjacent to the basin marsh. The marsh lakes are deeper wetland
communities, with mostly floating or emergent plants such as water
lilies and pickerelweed and a peat bottom. The boundaries of this
community blend with the basin marsh and make a precise boundary
difficult to ascertain. For this reason, the community type is
described but not included on the Natural Community Map.
Ruderal and
Developed
These areas
are minor components of the preserve. At present, there are three
developed sites, the preserve office complex area, the new
Environmental Education Center, and the canoe launch area. The
ruderal areas include ditches and the site of a
former ultra-light landing strip
adjacent to the Savannas office. There are no ruderal or
developed areas at the Hawks Bluff site.
To claim this Earth cache you
must complete the following:
The coordinates are for the sign
at the trail head. There is parking for only one or two cars
at a time. From the Trail head go South along the road till
you find the second entrance. The signs are in order if you
travel this way.
Please
stay on the trail, this is an environmentally sensitive area.
Make sure that it is just as nice for the next
visitor.
1 - Locate and record the name of
the foliage on signs 2, 9, 7 & 12 and tell me which
environment you feel they are located in. You must e-mail
these answers to me separately. Logs that include this
information will be deleted.
2 – Take a
picture similar to this only with you or your team in it, on the
bridge located on the loop trail and post it with your log.
If you do not have a digital camera, you can tell me in your e-mail
what community is to the North West of the Bridge.
Once you receive a confirmation
E-mail from me you may log the cache. In your log please pick one
of the four areas I've asked you to find plants and describe and
list the soil type associated with it.
I hope you enjoy this area as much
as I do. Make sure that you look for the caches that are
located nearby and take advantage of finding them while you are
here.