Rockdale Pineland Preserve - Earthcache EarthCache
Rockdale Pineland Preserve - Earthcache
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This geocache is in the Rockdale Pineland Preserve just off the main trail. Park hours are Sunrise to Sunset. A Parking and Trailhead Waypoint is provided below (please don’t block the gate).
This geocache is placed with the permission of Miami-Dade County’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces, and The Environmentally Endangered Lands (EEL) Program. Miami-Dade County’s Endangered Lands Program’s focus is the purchase and conservation of environmentally endangered lands. The purchase and conservation of these lands ensure that they are shielded from development and will continue to thrive as natural habitats. For more information about the EEL Program, please use this link: Visit the EEL Program
MIAMI ROCK RIDGE
Each of the three regions where pine rocklands occur in Florida has unique geological attributes. In Miami-Dade County, the community is associated with the Miami Rock Ridge, a formation of Miami Oolite Limestone which extends for 70 miles from northeastern Miami-Dade County to the Mahogany Hammock region of the Everglades National Park. The elevation of the Miami Rock Ridge varies from greater than 20 feet above sea level in the Miami area to less than 6 feet above sea level in the Long Pine Key area of Everglades NP with an average elevation of approximately 10 feet . In pine rocklands on the Miami Rock Ridge, outside of Everglades National Park, the water table seldom reaches the surface.
PINE ROCKLANDS
Pine Rocklands are a savanna-like forest on limestone outcrops with a single canopy species, South Florida slash pine, and a diverse understory of shrubs and herbs. It is a fire-maintained community requiring periodic burns every 3 to 7 years (if possible). Pine rocklands occurs on relatively flat, moderately-to well-drained terrain. Drainage varies according to the porosity of the limestone substrate, but it is generally rapid. Consequently, most sites are wet for only short periods following heavy rains. The surface is often irregular with solution holes up to several feet in width and depth. Organic materials and humus accumulate in these solution holes.
SOIL
The depth and composition of pine rockland soils varies from almost nonexistent in the Long Pine Key area (Everglades), to very little exposed rock found in the Northern Biscayne pinelands. Because limestone bedrock is at or very near the surface, soils are generally small accumulations of sand loam, marl, and organic material in depressions and crevices in the rock surface. In larger solution holes, the soils and rooting medium may contain as much as 30 to 50 percent organic matter. Prescribed burns are fires that are set by biologists in order to help the pines sprout and also reduce the number of invasive plant species. The ashes are recycled back into the earth and provide much needed nutrients to the soil. Extensive soil tests of pine rockland soils on the Miami Rock Ridge and has found that all pine rockland soils are slightly basic/alkaline (versus acidic). This is likely due to the fact that Miami limestone is made up of Calcium Carbonate which is alkaline.
ROCKDALE PINELAND PRESERVE
The Rockdale Pineland Preserve is a 36-acre remnant Pine Rockland. By 1985, the Miami-Dade County had identified this particular Rock Ridge pineland on bustling US-1 as a place worth saving. It is mostly made up of South Florida slash pine, 9 acres of tropical hardwood hammock, and 6 acres of developed property. Less than 2% of the pine forest remains, most of it within the protective border of Everglades National Park and within a few state and county preserves. This is one of those fractured preserves that the County protects. Please take some time to identify the geological, and ecological factors of this precious urban pineland. Please stay on the trail and note the Interpretive Signs along the way. At the Posted Coordinates, the sign depicts the extent of the pines in this area more than 50 years ago. Note that the pine forest to the Southeast, across US 1, is barely evident now and is mostly gone, replaced by exotics.
NOTE
We would appreciate if you could please report the following either in your log or via Email to eel@miamidade.gov. The number of cachers in your party. Any evidence of illegal dumping. Any evidence of human habitation in the preserve. Any evidence of damage to the shrubs or trees.
References: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Miami-Dade County Environmentally Endangered Lands Program Management Plan, Wikipedia
Questions:
To get credit for completing this Earthcache, please Message us or send to our Profile Email, your best answers to the following questions:
1. What is the average elevation above sea level of the Miami Rock Ridge?
2. From the text provided and your own observations in the Preserve, do you think that the area that the pines are growing on drains rainwater quickly, or slowly?
3. What % of the pine forest on the Rock Ridge remains today?
4. At the posted coordinates you will find an interpretive sign. Facing the sign you will see a “wall/ledge”. What material is that wall made of? How high do you estimate that wall is (in feet)?
5. From the sign at the posted coordinates, what year was that Aerial Photo taken?
"When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world." - John Muir
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