A Decade of Monitoring the Miami Tiger Beetle: Conservation Insights and Future Directions
Jonathan Mays, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Prescribed burn effects on a pine rockland fragment leaf litter depth, canopy coverage and species frequency
Cristina Whelan, Soleil Gonzalez, Mila Nobregas, Johnny Navarro, Biotech@Richmond Heights school.

Rare Plants of South Florida 20 year Review: A Pine Rockland Perspective (note: this is also a lightning talk)
Lauren Trotta, George Gann, The Institute for Regional Conservation

Effect of hydrologic restoration and fire on Pine Rockland understory plant diversity
Natalia Herrera-Blitman, Brittany Harris, Michael Sukop, Michael Ross, Florida International University; Pablo L. Ruiz, Everglades National Park.

A review of Fairchild’s pine rockland field-seeding efforts
Kyra Wells, Nick Matsumoto, Noah Frade, Lydia Cuni, Lisa Kruger, Jennifer Possley, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden

Response patterns of trees during the first decade of the Deering Estate flow-way
Katherine Castrillon1,2 Michael Ross1,2, Jay Sah1, Cara Rockwell1
1 Institute of Environment, Florida International University, Miami, Florida 2Department of Earth and Environment, Florida International University

A Decade of Monitoring the Miami Tiger Beetle: Conservation Insights and Future Directions

Jonathan Mays, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

After remaining undetected for nearly a century, the Miami tiger beetle (Cicindelidia floridana) was rediscovered in the Richmond Pine Rocklands of South Miami in 2007 and was subsequently listed as federally endangered in 2016. Beginning in 2015, a collaborative partnership among county, state, federal, and private organizations was established to inventory remaining habitat, monitor extant populations, and evaluate management strategies to conserve both the Miami tiger beetle and its fire-dependent pine rockland ecosystem. We present findings from a decade of surveys and monitoring, including assessments of habitat characteristics, detectability, phenology, and population trends. These long-term data provide valuable insights into the species'; ecology and inform adaptive management of one of Florida's most endangered ecosystems. Continued multi-agency collaboration and science-based management will be critical to ensure the persistence of both the Miami tiger beetle and its critically imperiled pine rockland habitat in an increasingly urban landscape.

Prescribed burn effects on a pine rockland fragment leaf litter depth, canopy coverage and species frequency

Cristina Whelan, Soleil Gonzalez, Mila Nobregas, Johnny Navarro, Biotech@Richmond Heights school.

During the 2023–2024 school year, Biotech@Richmond Heights high school students characterized the pine rockland adjacent to the Biotech Zoo campus by measuring canopy cover, leaf litter depth, and plant species frequency. The site had not experienced a prescribed burn in more than 30 years before being burned on November 18, 2025. Land managers also mechanically removed cabbage palm crowns to reduce their abundance within the management unit. Students compared changes in plant species composition, canopy cover, and leaf litter depth before and after the burn. Twelve 50-m transects were established in 2023–2024 at 10-m intervals, with sampling conducted every 5 m along each transect. In January 2026, students resampled to evaluate post-burn conditions. Following the burn, leaf litter depth and canopy cover decreased. Plant community composition shifted, with reductions in cabbage palm (Sabal palmetto), saw palmetto (Serenoa repens), and pine, along with increases in grasses and bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum). Students will continue monitoring the site in collaboration with Natural Areas Management to assess restoration efforts and improve the health of this pine rockland parcel. This project provides students with authentic research experiences and opportunities to participate in habitat management alongside professional land managers. These experiences can foster appreciation for Florida’s natural areas, support conservation efforts, and inspire future careers in science and natural resource management.

Rare Plants of South Florida 20 year Review: A Pine Rockland Perspective (note: this is also a lightning talk)

Lauren Trotta, George Gann, The Institute for Regional Conservation

The Rare Plants of South Florida, published in 2002 by the Institute for Regional Conservation (IRC), has served as the definitive baseline for ranking imperilment of rare species in South Florida. In the period since this work was first published, standards for ranking species imperilment have been developed and implemented at a global, national, and state scale by NatureServe. To align the IRC ranking with modern NatureServe Standards and document any changes to the ranks of South Florida’s most imperiled species, a collaborative team of regional experts conducted a 20 year review.

As one of South Florida’s most iconic and critically imperiled habitats, pine rocklands were assessed to host 74 presumed extirpated (eight SFX), potentially extirpated (one SFH) or critically imperiled (65 SF1) plant species. During our review process 31 species from the pine rockland flora that were previously unranked or ranked as imperiled or vulnerable were reranked to critically imperiled. Many of these species, such as Rockland Morningglory (Ipomoea tenuissima) and the Deltoid Spurge complex (Euphorbia deltoidea), are found in many preservation areas across the Miami Rockridge due to habitat fragmentation, but have a very narrow extent of occurrence. The past 20 years has also marked the rediscovery of six species belonging to the pine rockland flora in South Florida and the notable absence of 19 species historically documented in pine rocklands that can still be found elsewhere in South Florida. 

Effect of hydrologic restoration and fire on Pine Rockland understory plant diversity

Natalia Herrera-Blitman, Brittany Harris, Michael Sukop, Michael Ross, Florida International University; Pablo L. Ruiz, Everglades National Park.

Pine Rocklands are a critically imperiled habitat type, native to the Miami Rock Ridge, in South Florida; Long Pine Key, Everglades National Park (ENP), holds the largest protected and connected tract of Pine Rockland forest in South Florida. Hydrologic restoration projects such as the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), aim to re-establish the hydrologic connectivity of the Everglades, thereby bringing more water south of Tamiami Trail, to the southern Everglades. However, it is not well understood how rising water levels may have an impact on habitats such as Pine Rocklands, which rely on dry conditions and fire to maintain an open canopy and understory diversity which is unique to this habitat. We sampled vegetation at about 24 sites across 7 fire blocks, with a random-stratified design, to understand how variation in groundwater depth, and time since fire, influence understory plant composition on Long Pine Key’s Pine Rocklands. Sites were stratified based on Everglades’ National Park designated understory classification of Pine Rockland understory, which delineates the prevailing cover under four types: shrub, graminoid, mixed (the previous three types combined), and palm.

A review of Fairchild’s pine rockland field-seeding efforts. 

Kyra Wells, Nick Matsumoto, Noah Frade, Lydia Cuni, Lisa Kruger, Jennifer Possley, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden

Over the past fifteen years, Fairchild’s conservation team has tried field-sowing seeds of dozens of grass and herb species into pine rocklands, to “expand the footprint,” into disturbed areas adjacent to intact pine rockland. For most of these efforts, we had the luxury of abundant seeds, but lacked staff time to monitor and quantify results in a statistically meaningful way.  Here, we take a look back at these projects to see what patterns emerge, including which species show the greatest potential for seed restoration. We also consider lessons learned and recommendations for the future.   

Response patterns of trees during the first decade of the Deering Estate flow-way (Cutler Slough Rehydration Project)

Katherine Castrillon1,2 Michael Ross1,2, Jay Sah1, Cara Rockwell1

1 Institute of Environment, Florida International University, Miami, Florida 2Department of Earth and Environment, Florida International University, Miami, Florida

Impacts of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan’s Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands' Deering Estate Flow-way (DEF) on trees within the Deering Estate Natural Area (DENA) was explored to assess shifts in vegetation communities in response to changing hydrological conditions. Six vegetation types across two stable states—post-drainage and DEF re-hydrated land—were studied using non-metric multidimensional scaling ordination trajectory analysis, analysis of variance, and species distribution models. To examine tree dynamics, data was collected along three transects in DENA in 2016 and 2021, capturing tree location, species, status (live or dead), and diameter-at-breast height converted to basal area. Hydrology was also assessed with 15 HOBO water-level loggers from 2019 to 2023. Findings revealed a shift towards flood-tolerant species at lower elevations, significant changes in vegetation assemblages, and potential expansion of Roystonea regia and its associates. These findings highlight the DEF’s influence on creating more hydric communities and the need for adaptive management to improve ecological outcomes from the ongoing DEF water management practices.