This is a record of the observed plant life in Area #2 which is adjacent to Area #1. The purpose was to identify invasive species in a neighborhood wetland area. This allows us to compare the adjacent sites of Areas #1 and #2. The results show the unintended consequences of water managemant. The two observation sites are within ten feet from one another but are extraordinarily different.
The feature image is a view of the landscape of area #2
The observation location of Area #2 is shown in Fig 1. It is in the swamp beginning nine feet north of a junction of a cultivated butterfly garden and a wilderness swamp area. This swamp is part of the slough that runs through the community property joining Spring Creek to the Imperial River. The slough has been engineered to use this as a retention pond for excess water. Six observations were recorded because they are the sum of all the viable species in this two acre area. There were no viable native plants to be found.
METHOD:
Potentially invasive species were harboring in this neighborhood area. Visual observation of plant life was done. Observational data was gathered using the Epicollect5/Everglades Ark database.
Physical examination was done in a selected two acre area. It is a community property that is an extension of the swampy slough which transverses the community between the Imperial River and Spring Creek. This area was difficult to access as it required wading through the wilderness swamp area. The observations were made between the 3:00 and 5:00 PM, between rainstorms, on November 16, 2023. The water level was elevated because of the recent precipitation. The identification of plants was later confirmed by computer assisted photographic identification. The identity was confirmed by the agreement of at least three independent search results.
OBSERVATIONS:
The site #2 sample of Carolina Willow behavior.
FINDINGS:
Observation data was extracted from the collection site as a cdf and placed into two “Excel” files designated as A. and B. Title numbers correlate the information from both spread sheets.
- Survey and Catalogue Site #2 contains: Observation number, hyperlink of full plant image, quantity, date, time, GPS location, light exposure, environmental location, location risk level.
- Plant-Identity Site #2 contains: growth levels, plant type, hyperlinks to all photographs of plant and details of flowers, fruit, stems, common and scientific names and observation notes.
Survey and Catalog File Site #2 Spread Sheet and Plant Identity Site #2 are spread sheets enclosed in the accompanying file with their respective names. Swipe laterally to see the full sheet. Click on the hyperlinks to see the plant images.
Survey and Catalog File Site #2:
| created_at | title | 1_Observation_ | 2_Cell_Photo | 3_Camera_facing_dire | 4_How_many_items | 5_Date_default | 6_Time_default | lat_7_GPS_point_observat | long_7_GPS_point_observat | accuracy_7_GPS_point_observat | 8_Kingdom | 9_Plant_Identity | 137_Site_surface_con | 138_Site_weather_con | 139_Other_location_i | 140_Risk_level_to_lo | 141_Event_Note | 142_Photo_or_Audio_o | 144_Observer |
| 2023-11-16T19:35:40.716Z | 404 | 404 | https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=c2789940-7a8f-4a22-ab9a-b94b154df297_1700163199.jpg | E | 10 | 11/16/2023 | 14:33:31 | 26.340419 | -81.817153 | 7 | Plant | 1 | Wet soil | Overcast | Swamp | Photo recording file with same Observation date | John Knapp | ||
| 2023-11-16T19:28:50.961Z | 403 | 403 | https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=9624a326-e90f-4471-90d9-ae535daa201e_1700162784.jpg | D | 100 | 11/16/2023 | 14:26:35 | 26.340415 | -81.817234 | 4 | Plant | 1 | Dry soil | Overcast | Swamp | Invasive, Established, Non native | Photo recording file with same Observation date | John Knapp | |
| 2023-11-16T19:25:36.756Z | 402 | 402 | https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=feb1d4ad-d9f7-48d4-abda-effaf50fe892_1700162538.jpg | N | 1 | 11/16/2023 | 14:22:29 | 26.340417 | -81.817278 | 6 | Plant | 1 | In or on water | Overcast | Swamp | Established, Native, Non-Invasive | Photo recording file with same Observation date | John Knapp | |
| 2023-11-16T19:19:06.973Z | 401 | 401 | https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=77f89e49-3b60-4798-a904-2d6d9eec8446_1700162191.jpg | E | 3 | 11/16/2023 | 14:16:46 | 26.340481 | -81.817328 | 4 | Plant | 1 | In or on water | Overcast | Swamp | Native, Invasive, Range change | Photo recording file with same Observation date | John Knapp | |
| 2023-11-16T19:14:36.040Z | 400 | 400 | https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=e481bade-4434-4fd7-9254-0a672f845895_1700161912.jpg | D | 100 | 11/16/2023 | 14:12:02 | 26.340481 | -81.817333 | 5 | Plant | 1 | In or on water | Overcast | Swamp | Non native, Invasive, Range change, Introduced | No | John Knapp | |
| 2023-11-16T19:09:09.705Z | 399 | 399 | https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=ef647515-46e6-4285-9343-1e440e094796_1700161625.jpg | D | 100 | 11/16/2023 | 14:07:17 | 26.340482 | -81.817376 | 7 | Plant | 1 | Wet soil | Bright indirect sun | Swamp | Non native, Introduced, Invasive, Nuisance, Range change | Category I invasive climbing vine | No | John Knapp |
Plant Identity Site #2:
All of the master data file can be found on the Epicollect5/Evergladesark web site.
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS:
Risk level to local environment, statistical analysis:
| Descriptive Level of Risk | COUNT | PERCENT of 6 |
| Native | 2 | 33 |
| Non-native | 4 | 66 |
| Highly invasive | 5 | 83 |
| Rapidly spread | 4 | 66 |
| Non-native subject to high range change | 1 | 17 |
| Native subject to high range change | 1 | 17 |
| Non-native subject to high range change, nuisance, noxious? | 1 | 17 |
RESULTS:
- Within 100 feet of one another, multiple examples of 6 species of herbaceous plants and trees were identified. These were the only species of green plants in the area. There were no other observable viable plants.
- The remainder of the vegetative remains were brown and appeared to be non-vital. This is consistent with the observations made during the year after hurricane Ian.
- The relative percent of non-native to native plants is very high when compared with the distribution of plant types in the State of Florida.
- It appears that the native population is less capable of regeneration when compared to the native species.
- Range change represents the capability of plants to spread into neighboring areas either actively or passively. This seems to be the dominant criteria to include in the invasive status by most authorities.
- One plant is native, capable of great range change, and is classified as capable of changing the environment. It is observation #401. The name is Costal Willow (). It is not classified as noxious nor invasive.
- One plant is non-native, introduced, invasive, nuisance, range change capable. It is the arrowhead, observation #399
DISCUSSION:
This narrow range of species was difficult to observe in this poorly defined space. Walking into the swamp was problematic. A larger observation area resulted in very different findings. The sample was not biased. A continuing limitation in this study was to measure the percentage of the individual plant species mass relative to the totality mass of the vegetation.
Site #2 is significantly different from site #1. Site #2 has a significantly high percentage of brown and brittle plant remnants which have been unchanged in the last year. One year ago, hurricane Ian’s flood surge covered everything in site #2 with 15 feet of salty ocean water. This resulted in the death of most of the plants in this spot. The community has 24-inch deficiency of standard rainfall. The observed area #2 has not experienced a dilution of the salt because of the relative drought and the lack of water circulation. Although the native plant species are reputed to be more salt tolerant this does not appear to be seen here. The Carolina willows are 25 to 30 feet high and are therefore mature. The fallen limbs of these trees are generating new sprouts. The herbaceous plants may be spread from areas in higher ground from runoff and from wind dissemination. Contrarily, area #1 stands on higher ground, is plumbed for irrigation and is, in part, a tended garden.
There is considerable difference of opinion in assigning local environment risk levels to plants. The assignment of risk may not be current. The Carolina willow is a native plant species and is a good example of good things gone bad as a result of mismanagement by unintended consequence. Seedlings and small saplings cannot survive variable water levels in marshes with alternating conditions of dry and wet. However, once plants become larger, willows can survive droughts and tolerate floods and are very difficult to eradicate. Stable water levels created by water management projects allow the Carolina Willow to spread and thrive. As a result, the Willow thickets use tremendous amounts of water, leaving less available for wildlife. They also block out other plant species and thus by changing the environment are regionally classified an invasive species.
This is also a practical application of the Epicollect5/Evergladesark data file.
CONCLUSIONS:
It was relatively difficult to observe the variety of plants in this uncontrolled area. This detailed experience helped to increase awareness of the lack of variety of plant species in a larger sample area. The numbers of invasive species in this small area were surprising. The extent of apparently dead vegetation was distressing and the fact that the only viable organisms were invasive species suggests that the future native plant population for replacement of the dead plants is not promising. These plants will continue to seed or spread to all of the surrounding local gardens. Wholesale extermination of the invasive species, removal of the non-viable plant remnants and replanting of the area with salt tolerant native species seems to be the only alternative to the existing condition.
For comparison Check out Area #1 I n the previous post.
References: Some of the sources used to assist in the identification of the observed plants.
- https://www.fann.org
- https://www.flawildflowers.org/
- https://plantlust.com/
- https://ifas.ufl.edu/
- https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/
- https://explorer.natureserve.org/
- https://www.utexas.edu/
- https://www.inaturalist.org/
- https://wordpress.com/sites/evergladesark.com
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#invasive plants #swamp #slough #Carolina willow