How the frequency of fires influences the relative abundance of tree species in south Florida tropical forests on the mainland of the United States will be studied. The stewardship of such forests within Everglades National Park requires understanding how their composition may have been altered by an increased frequency of fire following the partial drainage of the Everglades in the last century. Such questions can be answered by constructing a simple computer model in which the abundance of certain types of trees (e.g. shade tolerant or shade intolerant) is predicted in forest that burn at differing intervals of time. Permanent plots, in which ass trees are tagged and mapped, will be established. Some of these permanent plots are being established within forests that burned during a large, drought-induced natural fire in 1989. These plots will, for the first time, document the initial recovery of these forests from fire. Greenhouse experiments, to assist in the construction of the model, are also planned. When combined with information from additional plots established in forests that burned in the more distant past, a better understanding of the current species composition in the tropical forests of south Florida, and whether it would differ significantly from forests within a consistently wetter, less altered Everglades habitat, will result.
