COASTAL SCRUB RESTORATION: A CASE STUDY FOR THE URBAN INTERFACE

摘要

Selective development pressures and fire suppression have resulted in a major decline in coastal scrub habitat and the Florida scrub-jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens) populations in Southwest Florida. Lemon Bay Preserve, a county-owned parcel adjacent to the Intracoastal Waterway in Sarasota County, was used as a case study for restoring scrub-jay habitat. The restoration was to compensate for various infrastructure impacts. The Preserve contains distinct areas of scrubby flatwoods and spoil material from intracoastal waterway dredging operations. As a result of years of fire suppression, timbering, and road construction, the scrub jay habitats were left in an overgrown state until the site was recently restored. Scrub-jay surveys on the Preserve and the surrounding residential areas revealed that jays were only using the periphery of the restoration site. The jay groups encountered primarily exhibited behavior and territorial boundaries typical of urban jays, and they largely relied on undeveloped single-home lots and hand-outs for subsistence. Methods employed for restoring the site to natural scrubby flatwoods conditions were selected with the primary goal of attracting neighboring groups of jays. Mechanical canopy thinning, mechanical fuel reduction, root-raking of bare sand areas, and limited fire applications were employed in this urban interface setting. The land management goals for this coastal scrub restoration project were to reduce canopy coverage, decrease understory height, increase bare sand patches, and maintain desirable oak coverage. Overall the restoration areas met these vegetative criteria. Although scrub-jays have not nested in the Preserve, preliminary results indicate that they are now utilizing the site more extensively than before the restoration.