Rare Florida Bristle Fern Now Has 4000 Acres Designated Critical Habitat in Sumter and Miami-Dade Counties

Critical habitat of more than 4000 acres has been designated for the rare and endangered Florida bristle fern. The protected parcel is situated in the counties of Sumter and Miami-Dade.

Under the Endangered Species Act, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has designated 4,195 acres across 10 parcels as critical habitats for the rare and endangered Florida bristle fern (ESA).

30 days after the Federal Register's publication, the rule becomes operative.

Only found in Miami-Dade and Sumter counties, the Florida bristle fern was classified as endangered by the Service in 2015.

During the public comment period for the proposed rule in February 2020, significant comments from peer reviewers and the general public called for expanding a few of the units as well as adding parcels to the critical habitat designation.

Concerning the addition of Charles Deering Estate Hammock, five parcels-Matheson Hammock, Snapper Creek, Hattie Bauer Hammock, Castellow, Ross Hammocks, and Fuchs and Meissner Hammocks-were also enlarged.

Florida Bristle Fern

The Florida bristle fern is a small bright green plant that forms a mat and thrives in the moist microclimates produced by rock solution holes, much like those found in terrariums at home.

Four populations of the fern are found in the Rockland hammocks of the Castellow, Hattie Bauer, Fuchs, and Meissner hammocks in Miami-Dade County, south Florida.

Two populations flourish in tiny hammocks on state-owned property in the Jumper Creek Tract (Withlacoochee State Forest) in Sumter County, central Florida.

A large portion of the plant's habitat has been altered or destroyed as a result of the agricultural conversion, urban development, the construction of canals, and land drainage.

Critical Habitat

The ESA mandates that the Service identify areas that are critical habitats, as defined by the ESA, for the preservation of threatened or endangered species.

Leopoldo Miranda-Castro, the FWS regional director, said that critical habitat creation will increase public awareness of this endangered plant and concentrate the efforts of the state's conservation partners.

Critical habitat designations, according to NOAA Fisheries, do not change land ownership, create a wildlife refuge, reserve, preserve, or another conservation area, and do not grant the government or general public access to private lands.

Individual landowner activities are unaffected by the designation of critical habitat on private property unless they also involve federal agency activities or demand federal funding or permits.

The Service examined the possibility that the designation would have a significant negative economic impact on nearby small businesses and came to the conclusion that it would not.

Conservation of the Florida Bristle Fern

Because they contain the biological and physical characteristics required for this plant to survive and reproduce, all of the occupied parcels are regarded as being essential to Florida bristle fern conservation.

According to the US Fish & Wildlife Service, the vacant parcels are crucial because they offer areas with the right habitat to spread Florida bristle fern populations farther across their historical range.

According to the Center for Biodiversity, The Florida bristle fern and some other species were swiftly protected thanks to a historic settlement agreement that the Center and the Obama administration reached in 2011.

Over 200 animals and plants have so far benefited from the agreement's protection.