Most of Florida is sandy. But while many habitats have rich organic matter mixed with sand, scrub soils have lost almost all of their organic components to the action of wind, waves, and water and are chronically low in nutrients. Because water soluble compounds leach out quickly, only plants adapted to the dry, sandy soil and low nutrient levels can survive. Fire-frequency Fire affects almost all plant communities in Florida, but the frequency of fire in scrub is higher than for other habitats. Fires usually occur at intervals of about 5-25 years in scrub.
Lightning strikes central Florida more frequently than anywhere else in the United States.
Historically, lightning-ignited wild fires periodically scorched, yet regenerated, patches of the scrub landscape. These regularly occurring fires swept across the landscape in erratic patterns, keeping scrub relatively low and open and ensuring a mosaic of scrub that varied in stages of growth. More than anything else, plants define Florida scrub. Florida scrub has a very distinct plant community. Instead of the trees or grasses found in many other Florida habitats, scrub is dominated by shrubs and dwarf oak trees, with an occasional pine mixed in.