Demographic measures of Liatris ohlingerae (Asteraceae) in 20 populations across multiple habitats and time-since-fire intervals in south central Florida from 1997-2017

Demographic data were collected on 2,858 tagged individually marked plants annually from 1997 to 2017 in 20 populations across three sites on the southern end of the Lake Wales Ridge in south central Florida, USA. Our goal was to understand demographic responses including recruitment, survival, reproduction and mortality of individuals across populations, habitat types and fire-return-intervals. Habitats include rosemary scrub, scrubby flatwoods and human created sandy roadsides. Populations spanned three sites including Archbold Biological Station (18 populations), Florida Forest Service Arbuckle Tract of the Lake Wales Ridge State Forest (1 population), and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Gould Road property (1 population). Annual demographic measures include survival (including plant dormancy), stage, measures of size, reproductive effort and herbivory. Plots were surveyed annually during flowering in August for previously marked plants and searched for newly recruited putative seedlings or previously missed larger adults. This landscape is managed with periodic prescribed fire impacting some populations with additional post-burn censuses completed after the burn. In addition, damage following three hurricanes in 2004 were recorded. Plants were followed through their lifecycle and after four years of no aboveground growth, plants were assumed dead and tags removed from the field.