This small, pale yellow-green ground lichen is found on Santa Rosa Island, a barrier island that is part of the Eglin base. The perforate reindeer lichen prefers exposed patches of sand in coastal grassland and scrub and, other than at Eglin, is found several hundred miles away in south Florida. Resource Management Many of the rare plants at Eglin require specific growing conditions and can benefit from resource management activities. Natural resource managers can set controlled fires, for example, to maintain or alter vegetation composition in natural communities. Many plants and animals inhabiting the base are adapted to periodic fires, and several species depend on fire to eliminate competitive plants and to trigger their own reproduction.
Fire also releases nutrients bound up in standing vegetation.
Such releases stimulate flower and fruit production and are ideal for seed germination on fire-exposed soil. Exotic plants not native to the area can threaten native vegetation and must be aggressively managed. On the base, the two most invasive and problematic plants are cogon grass and Chinese tallow trees. Cogon grass spreads rapidly, crowds out native grasses, and survives seasonal fires, dense pine needle ground cover and shade. The Chinese tallow tree was originally introduced as an ornamental but now must be eradicated because it too threatens native communities with its rapid growth.