Pine Flatwood / Scrubby Flatwood – Part 2

The purpose of this post is to show the details of the scrubby understructure of the flatwood pine of the Estero Bay State Preserve in Estero Florida. Additionally one can see the management of of the ecosystem with prescribed burning. in the first post about this site post we saw the general terrain of the pine flatwood of the State Preserve. Now we can compare this understructure to a previously explored Florida’s hard wood hummock.

The feature image is the Florida State flower. The Tickseed (Coreopsis Leavenworthii)

Scrubby flatwoods are characterized by an open canopy of widely spaced pine trees and a low, shrubby understory dominated by scrub oaks and saw palmetto, often interspersed
with areas of barren white sand.*

This image shows the size of the saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) scrubby flat.

Off the trails, it was very difficult to make any headway. I was insufficiently prepared for the hazards. Because of the dangerous anatomy of the saw palmetto growth, it was nearly impossible to walk. The stems of these palmettos were edged with saw like teeth. Without brush pants, shirt, gloves and boots it was impossible to venture by foot deep into the off-path areas without injury. There may be interesting animals living in this dense razor-sharp growth, however, that will wait for another day. In the future we will investigate these plants and this territory in more detail. I also walked into some of the previously prescribed burn areas.

Possible cogon grass. Seeds not visible. If it is this grass, it is invasive.

Bushy bluestem grass (Andropogon glomeratus)

There were also recently burned areas already showing extensive recovery. In these areas it is easy to see the root structure of the saw palmetto. They are like palm trees lying horizontally just below the surface of the soil. The fronds sprout horizontally from the roots. Without the herbaceous portion of the plants, it was much easier to walk off the path and see the regenerative behavior of the plants.

Roots and pinecones densely littered the surface and were robustly sprouting new growth. I could see no erosion of the soil caused by the surge in the areas with the saw palmetto roots. The burned areas were very interesting. It was evident that the green tops of the saw palmetto burn easily, probably because of their high oil content. The saw palmetto plants burn even when they are green. The surviving palm and pine trees were scorched and trunk surface burned but in the pines not down to the cambium and not into the tree crowns. Prescribed burning is an important part of the control measures for this area and deserve more attention.

Laurel dodder (Cassytha filliformis) Probably invasive vine.

The rich deep brown chromyl spectra of the charred forest ranging from deep chocolates to subtle cafe-au-lait plus the broad textural variety in this setting retains the promise of plant regeneration.

Prescribed burning:

Prescribed burn area showing the exposed sand surface with very low mineral and organic soil content

This view of the postburn area shows the root system holding the soil from erosion

Remnant of the saw palmetto growing from the remaining root

The surface of the slash pine scorched but not burned through to the cambium

The areas with prescribed burning seen a year ago also experienced a heavy flood surge from hurricane Ian. These areas have recovered. There are scorched trees and some deadwood, however, most of the scrub has regrown. It is difficult to distinguish the destruction of the trees from fire or from flood. There were also recently burned areas already showing extensive recovery. In these areas it is easy to see the root structure of the saw palmetto. They are like the trunks of palm trees lying horizontally just below the surface of the soil. The fronds sprout vertically from the roots. Without the herbaceous portion of the plants, it was much easier to walk off the path to see the regenerative behavior of the plants. Roots and pinecones densely littered the surface and were robustly sprouting new growth. I could see no erosion of the soil caused by the surge in the areas with the saw palmetto roots. The burned areas were very interesting. It was evident that the green tops of the saw palmetto burn easily, probably because of their high oil content. The saw palmetto plants burn even when they are green. The surviving palm and pine trees were scorched and surface burned but not down to the cambium on the pines and not into the tree crowns. Prescribed burning is an important part of the control measures for this area and deserve more attention.

Costal plane stagger bush (Lyonia fruticose)

Discussion:

The scrubby flatwood and the flatwood pines or the Estero Bay Preserve are very different from the C.R.E.W. Cyprus Dome walking trails. The concept off highlands in Florida are evident in the CREW when you consider the major differences in flora between the two Preserves. Subtle changes in land height make a remarkable difference in vegetation. One could almost exchange the term ‘Highland’ for “Dryland’. In fact, “High Land” designation could practically be made on the basis of vegetation rather than measurement. That relative dryness provided by a few centimeters on height changes the entire biology of the environment. The height advantaged trees are also phototrophic. They grow toward the light and therefore at their climax are broad leafed and wide spread. The plants of the flats are are geotrophic,. They grow high and narrow. They are not competing for the light once they rise above the scrub. This height advantage allows them to bring the crown of needles out of fire harm’s way. When comparing the role of fire in the two environments, fire in the hardwood climax forest is calamitous while fire in the flats are regenerative. I suspect that the nutrative value of soil in the planes areas will also make an important differences in plant selection.

Tougher clothing is an imperative for exploring the saw palmetto scrub.

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References::

*Scrubby flatwood

Saw Palmetto Control: Individual Plant and Broadcast Application

A Study of the Physical and Chemical Properties of Saw Palmetto Berry Extract

Typical yields in harvestable areas range from a low of 200 lbs. to more than 1000 lbs. of berries per acre.https://patents.google.com/patent/US6669968B2/en

Saw Palmetto Market https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/saw-palmetto-market

Saw Palmetto Berries https://fenuccio-j.medium.com/saw-palmetto-berries-996329cbec20

Forest Herbicide Workshop https://programs.ifas.ufl.edu/media/programsifasufledu/florida-land-steward/events-calendar/Minogue-2021-Forest-Herbicide-Webinar-Pine-Mgmt-FINAL.pdf

Harvesting Saw Palmetto https://sustainableherbsprogram.org/explore/plants-in-commerce/saw-palmetto/harvesting-saw-palmetto/

Sustainability of Saw Palmetto https://www.herbalgram.org/resources/herbalgram/issues/132/table-of-contents/hg132-feat-sawpalmetto/

Saw Palmetto Structure https://nwdistrict.ifas.ufl.edu/hort/2021/03/04/saw-palmetto/

#flatwood #saw palmetto #prescribed burn #

February 28, 2024

Pine Flatwood / Scrubby Flatwood – Part 1

Here is our chance to see and compare exploration experiences These are observations of a Pine flatwood in Estero Bay State Preserve, Florida which we will compare to an observed hummock system. In theory, this flat should not be here in South West Florida because the karst is close to the surface however other soil conditions are present.* We explored a Florida hard wood hummock in the last two post. Part one of this observation shows the general landscape**. Part two will show the details of the smaller scrub plants.

The feature image is the Florida State flower. The Tickseed (Coreopsis Leavenworthii)

The Florida Estero Bay Preserve comprises 11,300 acres (17 square miles) and is part of the Estero River delta. It has a complex assembly of plants and animals. There are two entrances. The southern River Scrub entrance was chosen because it opens into a scrubby flatwood pine area. Often this area is wet, however, today the specific area of interest was the dry scrub area. February is among the seasonally drier months and the plants should be typical of the reserve’s description.

This feature image is emblematic of a SWFL Pine flatwoods. They are characterized by:
Low, flat topography
Relatively poorly drained, acidic, sandy soil
Plant growth composed of open pine woodlands with frequent fires

The last time I was here was in February 2023, three months after hurricane Ian flooded this area with salt water to a depth of more than twelve feet. I then reconnoitered the area for just an hour with the intention to revisit with good preparation. On this day I was surprised to find the area reasonable vital however, some of the grasses and palm trees were still quite distressed.

February 2023. The only live oak in the area was easy to see, but could not be found Feb 2024.

February 2024. This slash pine did not survive the hurricane and flood surge.

The walk-about:

For nearly five hours I walked through a five-mile portion on and off the trails in the southeastern portion of the preserve. The trails were well marked, wide and relatively easy to hike. Off the trails, it was very difficult to make any headway. I was insufficiently prepared for the hazards of the flats. Because of the dangerous anatomy of the saw palmetto growth, it was nearly impossible to walk.

Savanna like flat covered with saw palmettos. Slash pines were about 10 meters apart.

The Scrub flat seen a year ago is in recovery. The palm has scorched bark.

This pine flatwood area was burned last year and has made an excellent regeneration. In the middle of the picture the lower leaves of the palm burned however, the crown is still intact.

This area was burn after hurricane Ian, The defoliation is is the result of both storm surge wind damage and prescribed burn. Many of the plants suffered and died as as result of the salt water immersion.

This return visit was exactly one year after the last. This area is very open and bright. The savannah like landscape was covered with low growth saw palmetto and grasses. This was regularly punctuated by sabal palm and slash pine trees. The difference between this pine flatwood and the hardwood hummock of the C.R.E.W. could not be more dramatic. When compared to the hardwood hummock, the flats had very few large gymnosperms such as the live oak trees. There were no hummock islands of bunched trees. While this walk-about was during midday there were few insects or birds. It was very quiet. One mated pair of ospreys were flying through the trees near the river. They occasionally ventured into the flats.

Tidal swamp land with brackish water tolerant plants including mangroves.

Unburned flood tidal marsh areas were not explored; however, they seem to be fully covered with mangroves. Photos of that area show the limit of the walk to the northwest.

Riverbank of part of the Estero River delta with mangrove.

Chart of Estero Bay South – Ecosystems,
walking detail. Red line is the walking trail.

Discussion:

The hardwood hummock had a range of elevations. The high ground was about 10 inched above the pond level. Contrarily, this ecosystem is very flat and at this time of the year is dry. The hardwood hummock had live oak trees with some pines and palms. The flatwood area at this location is populated almost exclusively by slash pines with a few palms and oaks. The understory is scrub consisting mostly of saw palmettos. Walking toward the wetlands, some hardwoods were in the ectotone between the flats and the wetland mangroves. .

There is much more to see in this preserve. During dry periods, the southern portion could be traversed on the paths by bicycle. Go to part two of this exploration!

References:

*Natural Resource certification

**Scrubby pine flatwoods

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#pine flatwood #scrubby flatwood #prescribed burn #tidal marsh #surge #saw palmetto, #ecotone

February 25, 2024

Florida C.R.E.W. Hardwood Hummock – Part 2

This is a description of the grassy and herbaceous undergrowth of this small part of the C.R.E.W. Together with the Part 1 post, the purpose of this presentation is to reduce the confusion of seemingly random plants and to help you understand why you see the what and why of the plants you see when you explore this type of wilderness area.

The featured image shows the “American beauty berry” in the understory. It was found along the trail to the live oak hummock on the path in the C.R.E.W. Cyprus Dome Cypress Hummock. This is second of a two part presentation of this area. The part one has the GPS location, charts and maps and describes the walk-about of the Corkscrew Reserve Environmental Watershed.

Perhaps the best way to understand the hydrology and geology for an area is to look at the plants. They have adapted themselves to use the area without the need to follow the resources like the animals. In fact the animals seek out the plants for survival. In these two presentations you can see the variances in plant anatomy and physiology through a series of locations. The plant adaptations have taken eons to reach the characteristics that make them identifiable as genus and apecies. The plants have the ability to adapt to the changing environment using two tools. These include plant succession and genetic mutation. Succession occurs when an ecosystem changes gradually or even catastrophically. This may cause the plant climax species to expire. Opportunistic species then overtake an available environmental niche. Mutations are genetic changes that take place at a known rate and this may result in variations which are better adapted to survive in an ecosystem. These mutations can be cumulative and can be perpetuated in the genome of subsequent progeny by inheritance of the variance.

Two signs of animal activity. The bear has slashed through the outer surface of a palm to feast on the honey made by a nest of bees.

This is a view into the scrub before the pond. From this distance the green mid-growth seems to be mangroves.

Here is a scene off the path toward the marsh with reeds and sedges and other grasses.

Thorn apple bush (*Crataegus alabamensis*) with the thorns as an identifier.

Possible Florida alligator weed with changing colors

This view is in the periphery of the transition zone with no oaks but many palms and saw palmetto dominating the understory.

Coastal plain grass-leaved-goldenrod (*Euthamia* *caroliniana)* (I think)

Shiny blueberry (*Vaccinium myrsinites*)

Meadowsweet at the edge of the hardwood hummock. Identification of this would be better if the blooms were fresh.

This is a sample of plants in the late transition zone. Note the oak tree litter which acts as a plant inhibitor. Though the “beans” contain no caffeine, they can be roasted and consumed as a coffee-like beverage.*

Bull thistle (*Crisium vulgare*), Invasive

Rosary pea (*Abrus precatorius*), invasive, highly toxic.

Beauty berry *(Callicarpa americana)*. The berries are edible to humans, although should be consumed in small amounts. Raw berries are edible, but generally are used to make jellies and wines.**

Observation of a confined area environment is a complicated but fun puzzle. The area should be visited during multiples of seasons, time of day intervals and length of observation to begin to grasp a comprehensive understanding of the area and begin to understand the reasons for classification and to understand the interactions of the plants and animals. Even simple identification is difficult when the plants are not blooming or in leaf. From this first time visit it can be discerned that there is a progression of plant types and land elevations in this small area. At the end of this presentation there is a simplified map of the area under observation.

This image of the understory in the oak hummock canopy shows the more dense plant undergrowth. This may occur because the oak tree litter is less prevalent and because some plants are less susceptible to the shedding of oak allelopathogens..

This is a sample of plants in the late transition zone. Note the abundance of oak tree litter which acts as a plant inhibitor.

No oak tree litter here and hence no trees, however, there are many herbaceous plants. That is a Fritillary Butterfly.

This simplified chart shows the four major ground areas that were observed. The hardwood hummock is about ten inches higher than the scrub flats. The scrub flats are about two inches above the level of the pond water.

The undergrowth depends upon water, sunlight, soil minerals and a range of allelopathic inhibitors. Be sure that you check out part 1 of this series. This understory is very different from that found in the Estero River Scrub Preserve State Park. We will go there in the near future.

Here is a recommendation. Go out into the nearby wilderness area. Pick a quiet spot and try to identify the type of environment classification you see or identify the undergrowth plants. It can be a fun and an educational challenge! Share your experiences or photos in the comment box below.

Reference:

Wild Coffee1

Wild coffee 2

Wild Weeds – American Beautyberry

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#hummock #succession #mutation #climax species #herbaceous understory #CREW #allelopathic #oak hummock #scrub flats #hydrology #geology

February 13, 2024

Florida C.R.E.W. Hardwood Hummock – Part 1

Let’s go to see Florida upland hardwood trees at a hummock in the CREW. The second part of this blog will focus on the herbaceous plants of the area.

The cover image shows the landscape at the northern end of trail. It is a live oak hammock.

The word hummock is sometimes written as hammock. There is some controversy regarding the origin of the word and the use of the word in context helps to facilitate understanding. In Florida it describes a fertile area that is easily distinguishable from the surrounding Pine Flatwoods and is characterized by broadleaved trees (here, primarily Laurel and Live Oaks) and often cabbage palms and vines. Another term used is ”upland” which may be only a few inches above the flat plane scrubland. In this observed instance the upland may be 5 to 10 inches above the nearby plane.

The C.R.E.W. is an eponym for the Corkscrew Reserve Ecosystem Watershed. It includes more than 60,000 acres and is the largest watershed in Southwest Florida. The plants in this watershed filter, trap and metabolize compounds in the water that may be toxic in downstream waterways, resevoirs and aquifers. The watershed also provides habitat for wildlife and recreation for guests.

This exploration of the Oak-Palm Hammock in the Cypress Dome Hiking Trail of the CREW Land and Water Trust was done on February 1, 2023.

Note the GPS location to geolocate via google maps.

The walk-about:

I walked northward along the green and yellow path. The general terrain varied from wetlands through mesic to xeric elevated land and extensively through the grass and brush undergrowth. I did see a black bear and continued to keep warily looking for him as we both moved northward. There were no bear citing photo opportunities, however, there were other signs of his behavior.

The trail is part of a diverse woodland ecosystem alongside a broad marsh area. It begins with an open grassy area and gradually parses into pine and palm flatwoods. This area shows signs of extensive fire damage with considerable succession regrowth. There were signs of fire that may have been not a prescribed burn. Extensive scorching up the trees including the tree crowns at least 30 feet above the floor were evident. Many of the trees including the slash pines were burned completely to ground level leaving only stumps. There were, however, numerous scorched trees and palms which survived.

Throughout this morning and mid-day walk with numerous stops the area was remarkably silent. There were no birds, very few insects, and the only mammal was the distant black bear. The air was also very still with a temperature of 58 to 65 degrees F. There was a very gradual rise in ground elevation. This was hardly perceptible except for the reduction in moisture of the ground and the gradual change in the flora. Here was an increased density of slash pines and mixed sabal palms. The understory was shorter than the mesic areas near the pond. These uplands may be as little as 10 inches higher than the flats.

This flat scrub has grasses and the dominant tree is the cabage palm. If you look closely you can see the palms have been burned up to and into the crown of leaves.

This shows a grassy transition area that was not burned .

The grassy palm area transitioned to an oak and palm hummock

The walk progressed up the hillock where palmettos were no longer a significant part of the undergrowth. The pine trees have been totally displaced by the succession oak tree growth.

In this live oak hillock undergrowth of herbaceous plants has nearly disappeared. This area is relatively small, however, it follows all of the classic descriptors of a hardwood hummock.

Only native live oaks were growing in this area. The very short undergrowth of grass suggests that fire is not an important controlling factor for reproduction or inhibition of growth in the understory.

Discussion:

The understory of this live oak hammock shows no scorched or burned trees. Yet, there is very little undergrowth even in the areas of bright sunshine. Without testing I suspect that this is the result of chemistry. The trees may release biochemicals that influence the germination, growth, survival, and reproduction of other plants. These allelochemicals may have beneficial or detrimental effects on the organisms and more widely the ecosystem. These trees may release phenolic compounds with which I have had experience. They may be like the black walnut trees on the family farm in Michigan. I suspect also that the generous load of fallen leaves and fruit of these trees will also acidify the soil upon their decomposition.* Along with a less mesic soil, this allelofication and acidification of the understory may significantly alter the growth of herbaceous plants and grasses. This provides less fuel for fire. The growth and reproduction of these trees does not depend upon fire. They have their own survival advantages.

The concept of allelopathic competition between and among plants suggests that grasses might also reduce the growth of small oaks similar but opposite to the effect seen when the oaks are mature. I could not find published reports of this potential phenomenon.

This map represents my view of the area in the reserve that I walked. It is a landscape map of terrain that represents the change in vegetation. The red line is the marked trail of the combined green and yellow trails in the visitor map. The areas marked with colored crosshatching are approximations of growth areas.

What’s next?

Future visits to this area could be in the months of April and May and at an earlier start time when the plants may be in bloom and when the animals will be more active. Additional equipment should include a small shovel for examination of the soil and more specimen collection should be done for chemical analysis and microscopic examination. More time could be spent if there were less construction traffic. The eastward section of this reserve area was not explored at this time. It may have another diverse plant library including the cypress dome. With permission, the adjacent private property north of the fence line could also be explored.

Thank you for your interest in this blog. Please continue to part two of this series of observations of Florida Hardwood Hammocks. Its focuses on the scrub and understory.

References:

*Determination of Allelochemicals in the Environment surrounding ceratiola Ericides

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#hummock #succession #mutation #climax species #herbaceous understory #CREW

February 12, 2024

Lessons for SWFL from the Fulda River, Community Garden Project

This is a recounting of the re-wilding of a portion of the Fulda River valley in the city of Fulda, Germany. We have been to Fulda in the past. See the post on Chrysanthemums. The city of Fulda is geographically, historically, culturally, and politically important. At one time it was the most important place on earth. During the height of the Cold War tens of thousands of NATO and Warsaw pact troops faced each other with troops, tanks, canons, and nuclear weaponry ready to engage in what would have been the start of WW III. That was in the valley nearby area called the Fulda gap. We have learned a lot from the experiences of Fulda and today we have a lesson of a different nature. It is a lesson of peace, beauty, and imagination. It is a lesson of water and land conservation. It is the bio-diversification and restoration of a portion of the swamps and river of the valley. It is the creation of a garden park and habitat for wildlife. It reflects cooperation rather than confrontation.

The feature image is an abandoned rail-line learning to the Fulda Gap

The Fulda River is one of the headwaters of the Weser River. It flows northwestward through central Germany for about 224 Km. (Fig 1.) The Fulda River is an important recreation area for the city of Fulda. It has been engineered several times over the past years, however, there has been a water area with a persistent overgrowth of cyano/alginate bloom in two accidently created retention ponds. Historically this area was a meadow and an open pit mine which had a clay base suitable for making masonry bricks. The open pit mine was not remediated, it simply filled with ground water. The meadow is in a depression which was also infiltrated by ground water forming a second pond. (Fig 2, Ponds adjacent to but not fed by the Fulda River) ground water supplying the lakes is a runoff from the nearby farmland. It is rich in organics with high concentrations of potassium, nitrogen, phosphorus, and chlorophyll. The retention ponds are fed by groundwater and without flow were stagnant. A growth of algae covered the surface of the ponds thereby depleted the oxygen content of the water (Fig 5). It was toxic to the fish and other plants. In the summer months with much less precipitation, algae growth increased and oxygen percentage was very low. Fish in the ponds died. The only surviving result was an ugly mass of blue-green algae.

Fig 1. Map of the central area of Germany with the country map as an insert and the Fulda river indicated in red in the larger portion of the image

Fig 2. Google map of the Fulda river in blue and the pond area in dark green.

The city hosted the Landesgartenschau from April through October 2023. This was an important regional horticultural show for the State of Hessen, Germany. Prior to the show the mess in this area needed to be resolved. It would seem reasonable to solve the polluted water problem by simply circulating the fresh water of the Fulda River through the two ponds and thereby improving the water supply. This well intended effort would have had terrible consequences. With testing and surveying and due consideration of alternatives, a more effective management was employed. The testing found that the water of the retention ponds had an assay of mineral and organic compounds equivalent to the neighboring farmland ground water. The surrounding farmland has been treated with animal manure and fertilizers and has the remnants of decayed vegetation. The river was very different. The Fulda River water is high in phosphates and low in other nutrients because it originates in the Rhön region mountains. Introduction of the pond water would have contaminated the downstream river.

Fig 4. Detail of pond continuous remediation areas

Fig 3. Schematic of reengineered combined ponds

The derived solution to the problem of the stagnant ponds was ingenious. It included connecting the two ponds, installing a multi-port hydraulic line (Fig 3) through the length of the resulting lake and connected to a pump to recirculate the water and placing pond overflow gutters. These two methods direct the flow through a large stone/gravel pack over the southern banks to filter and re-oxygenation the water. (Fig 4)The surface algae is filtered and removed from the lakes and placed into a land fill area. The two water types are not comingled and soon the pond was clean, safe, and suitable for swimming (Fig 6). Separated from the pond, the undisturbed river flood plane is not toxic and native German beavers have been reintroduced into the river wilderness to facilitate the control of the vegetation.

Fig 5. Pre-remediation ponds overgrown with algae

Fig 6. Pond in September 2023 after remediation

The horticultural show was a wonderful display of crops, gardens, and my favorites which are the flowers and the wilderness. Here are some examples.

The lesson for Florida to be learned from the Fulda River water management is this.

Research and think before acting.
Combining community stagnant retention pond water with river water must one done with careful thought and planning.
Reducing the nutrient value of the pond water by removing the pond plants and algae is effective.
Aeration of water by the natural process of tumbling-through-stone is an effective re-oxygenation method.
Use of wiers, gutters and pumps is sometimes necessary to facilitate the process.

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#Fulda #hydrology #Fulda Gap

January 4, 2024

Reference Library for Everglades Ark

The Reference Library page of Everglades Ark is an information resource indexed to the material used in the publication of our posts. It is organized by topics. It is a fixed page in the banner of this site. This was created for our friends and followers who requested a quick method to access the references used in the posts.

Thanks is extended to some contributors who lecture on specialized topics through the Florida Master Naturalists Program of Florida University. The program has inspired me to learn and discover more about the natural environments of Florida. By extension it has helped to solidify my understanding of the global interconnection of ecosystems in all of the distant places where I have traveled. I highly recommend participation and support of this program and the issues to which it is committed.

The contributors are listed in the Friends Page of this site.

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November 25, 2023

Native and Invasive Plant Species in Local Area #2

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.

Fig 1. This is a Google map illustrating the location Area #2. The black numbers indicate the observations. #22 is the site of Area #1 from the previous post.

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.

Carolina Willow, native but spreads and alters environment

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

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=c2789940-7a8f-4a22-ab9a-b94b154df297_1700163199.jpg

11/16/2023

14:33:31

26.340419

-81.817153

Plant

Wet soil

Overcast

Swamp

Photo recording file with same Observation date

John Knapp

2023-11-16T19:28:50.961Z

403

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=9624a326-e90f-4471-90d9-ae535daa201e_1700162784.jpg

100

11/16/2023

14:26:35

26.340415

-81.817234

Plant

Dry soil

Overcast

Swamp

Invasive, Established, Non native

Photo recording file with same Observation date

John Knapp

2023-11-16T19:25:36.756Z

402

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=feb1d4ad-d9f7-48d4-abda-effaf50fe892_1700162538.jpg

11/16/2023

14:22:29

26.340417

-81.817278

Plant

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

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=77f89e49-3b60-4798-a904-2d6d9eec8446_1700162191.jpg

11/16/2023

14:16:46

26.340481

-81.817328

Plant

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

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=e481bade-4434-4fd7-9254-0a672f845895_1700161912.jpg

100

11/16/2023

14:12:02

26.340481

-81.817333

Plant

In or on water

Overcast

Swamp

Non native, Invasive, Range change, Introduced

John Knapp

2023-11-16T19:09:09.705Z

399

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=ef647515-46e6-4285-9343-1e440e094796_1700161625.jpg

100

11/16/2023

14:07:17

26.340482

-81.817376

Plant

Wet soil

Bright indirect sun

Swamp

Non native, Introduced, Invasive, Nuisance, Range change

Category I invasive climbing vine

John Knapp

Site survey, interactive spread sheet. Click on hyperlinks to see images.

Plant Identity Site #2:

uploaded_at

title

10_Observation_

11_Choose_best_PLANT

13_If_CULTIVATED_or_

28_If_FERN_which_ord

29_Which_growth_stag

36_Which_fern_specie

43_If_Climbing_which

44_Which_plant_growt

45_Flower_present

46_Flower_photo

47_Seed_present

49_Leaf_or_Stem_pres

50_Leaf_stem_photo

51_Bark_present

52_Bark_photo

53_Common_Name_

54_Observation_notes

55_Scientific_Name

2023-11-16T20:05:38.000Z

Cultivated or herbaceous

404

Cultivated or herbaceous

Swamp understory

Under growth

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=0846278e-45d7-41f0-b2d7-b614fe483de1_1700163273.jpg

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=0846278e-45d7-41f0-b2d7-b614fe483de1_1700163295.jpg

Great Bougainvillea

Very large spreading, sharp thorns

Bougainvillea spectabilis

2023-11-16T20:12:17.000Z

Cultivated or herbaceous

403

Cultivated or herbaceous

Swamp understory

Under growth

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=3423cf53-590f-4087-91e1-e237a1b4b3bc_1700162844.jpg

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=3423cf53-590f-4087-91e1-e237a1b4b3bc_1700162886.jpg

Tropical Whiteweed

Ageratum conyzoides

2023-11-16T19:52:25.000Z

Fern (POLYPODIOPSIDA)

402

Fern (POLYPODIOPSIDA)

Polypodialis

Sporophyte

Giant Leather Fern

Under growth

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=e247ff50-daa9-48d3-afa2-ee21f9a08426_1700162687.jpg

Leather fern

Acrostichum danaeifolium

2023-11-16T22:00:21.000Z

Woody

401

Woody

Overgrowth

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=fd1b96e3-8a57-4d2b-97d8-66052782d7c2_1700162282.jpg

Yes

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=fd1b96e3-8a57-4d2b-97d8-66052782d7c2_1700162298.jpg

Carolina or Costal plane willow

Salix caroliniana Michx

2023-11-16T22:07:48.000Z

Cultivated or herbaceous

400

Cultivated or herbaceous

Swamp understory

Under growth

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=4d6cdf14-85cd-4224-974f-ee276600930f_1700161978.jpg

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=4d6cdf14-85cd-4224-974f-ee276600930f_1700162023.jpg

Bitter melon

No fruit at this time

Momordica charantia

2023-11-16T22:17:30.000Z

Climbing

399

Climbing

Twinning, Tendrilll shoots

Under growth

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=aaa74fb5-767c-4994-9fc7-d7598f0fe2df_1700161705.jpg

Arrowhead

Syngonium podophyllum

Plant identification, interactive spread sheet. Click on hyperlinks to see images.

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

Tabel 1. Listing level of risk, the number of plants in the group of six, the percentage of the the six plant types

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.

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#invasive plants #swamp #slough #Carolina willow

November 20, 2023

NATIVE AND INVASIVE PLANT SPECIES IN LOCAL AREA #1

This post describes one location in Bonita Springs, Florida, with interest in identifying native and invasive species this neighborhood area. The featured image shows Area #1. It was made November 3, 2023 at 8:30 AM. The trees variably shade the garden throughout most of the day.

Figure 1. Google map of location of observation site showing 21 observations centered in Area #1. Numbers indicate observation titles with lines leading to observation site.

The observation location is shown in Google map as the central light lavender spot in Fig 1. It is at the junction of a cultivated butterfly garden and a wilderness swamp area. Twenty-one observations were made at this point.

METHOD: Physical examination was done in a selected 40m² area of a private easily accessible residential garden including a back yard intended to attract butterflies. This back yard also abutted a community wilderness swamp area. The identification of plants was facilitated by computer assisted-photographic identification. The identity of the plants was confirmed by the agreement of at least three independent search results. (See References)

OBSERVATIONS: Site #1, where observations were recorded, is pictured in two photographs. The first photograph is the feature image. It pictures the northward view of landscape showing the butterfly garden in the foreground. On the same day the second photo, is shown in Fig 2. This was photographed at 9:00 AM and shows that the proximating swamp area has greater light penetration. Considering the cotton mouth snake sightings, boot protection in this area is recommended.

Figure 2. Northward view of swamp wilderness in Site #1 at the terminal edge of the butterfly garden

PLANT OBSERVATIONS: Attached are two Excel pages which show two data files of the observations described in table1.

SITE SURVEY Excel file	PLANT IDENTITY Excel file
Observation #	Observation #
Cell Photo	Plant description
Camera facing direction	Site surface conditions
How many items	Site weather conditions
Date	Risk level to local environment
Time	Photo or Audio High resolution recording
GPS point
Observer name

Table 1. This summarizes the variables assembled from observations and entered into the database.

Observation data are assembled and listed into two “Numbers” files designated as A. and B. To correlate the information from both spread sheets use title numbers.

Survey and Catalogue Site #1 contains: Observation number, hyperlink of full plant image, quantity, date, time, GPS location, light exposure, environmental location, location risk level.
Plant-Identity Site #1 contains: growth levels, plant type, hyperlinks to all photographs of plant and details of flowers, fruit, stems, common and scientific names, and observation notes A.

A. Survey and Catalog File Site #1 Spread Sheet. To view the full spread sheet use the slider at the bottom of the sheet to scroll laterally. To open the image file click once on the hyperlink text to choose open option; click again in the option text box to view images. For simplicity don’t click on-open-in-new-tab. To return, just click on the back button in your browser.

created_at

title

Cell_Photo Link

Camera_facing_dire

Count

Date

Time

lat_7_GPS_point

long_7_GPS_point

accuracy

Kingdom

Site_surface

Site_weather

location

Risk_level

Note

Photo_or_Audio_o

Observer

2023-11-09T13:33:51.056Z

398

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=b50b9d4d-7662-4916-b544-42c861152a90_1699536650.jpg

11/9/23

8:31:05

26.340219

-81.816556

Plant

Dry soil

Bright sun

Yard, private

Native, Established

John Knapp

2023-11-09T13:30:06.397Z

397

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=4ae134fd-9fb5-4138-bcfb-078c6637d8a3_1699536425.jpg

11/9/23

8:27:13

26.340232

-81.816515

Plant

Dry soil

Bright sun

Yard, private

Native

John Knapp

2023-11-09T13:25:20.193Z

396

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=1973a3e7-cb39-4f73-819f-64ce09a5e55e_1699536164.jpg

11/9/23

8:22:58

26.340257

-81.816372

Plant

Dry soil

Bright indirect sun

Yard, private

Native, Established

John Knapp

2023-11-09T13:21:59.365Z

395

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=fe5c7aac-7736-43ab-b7b1-8fb33b2e1ff2_1699535961.jpg

N, D

11/9/23

8:19:34

26.340278

-81.816342

Plant

Wet soil

Bright indirect sun

Yard, private

Non Native,Introduced, Range change, Invasive

John Knapp

2023-11-09T13:17:33.768Z

394

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=8f16d8f9-16c0-4177-bebd-3759f259de55_1699535640.jpg

11/9/23

8:14:09

26.340263

-81.816428

Plant

Dry soil

Bright sun

Yard, private

Native

John Knapp

2023-11-09T13:12:07.799Z

393

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=5ddea960-0ffb-4d75-a3fc-be5c1535a36c_1699535367.jpg

11/9/23

8:09:37

26.340296

-81.816571

Plant

Wet soil

Bright sun

Swamp

Native, Established

John Knapp

2023-11-09T13:08:25.983Z

392

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=e546245c-4d5c-4997-8819-274c3134676f_1699535146.jpg

11/9/23

8:05:56

26.340265

-81.816539

Plant

Dry soil

Bright indirect sun

Yard, private

Non-nartive,Invasive, Introduced, Nuisance

John Knapp

2023-11-09T13:03:34.910Z

391

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=c6c6c182-6c3c-43d2-a12b-db7db08fb7b9_1699534860.jpg

11/9/23

8:01:09

26.340312

-81.816554

Plant

Dry soil

Bright indirect sun

Yard, private

Native, Established

John Knapp

2023-11-09T13:00:10.003Z

390

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=559ec205-9403-4f2a-9784-5f4bac64b68c_1699534651.jpg

11/9/23

7:57:40

26.340253

-81.816512

Plant

Dry soil

Bright indirect sun

Yard, private

Native, Range change, Established

John Knapp

2023-11-09T12:53:16.476Z

389

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=6a4d6e88-72fc-48a4-b3cd-ae126f455369_1699534249.jpg

11/9/23

7:50:59

26.340281

-81.816519

Plant

Dry soil

Bright indirect sun

Yard, private

Non-native, Introduced, Established, Non-Invasive

is cycad

Photo recording file with same Observation date

John Knapp

2023-11-09T12:48:41.595Z

388

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=16acef45-5bda-45bf-a3bf-6d4e4f4cb0df_1699533949.jpg

E, N

11/9/23

7:46:02

26.340271

-81.816443

Plant

Dry soil

Bright sun

Yard, private

Non-native, Introduced, Non-Invasive, Established

John Knapp

2023-11-09T12:44:47.546Z

387

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=4158a7a0-74a8-4799-ad5b-e5e0148e2a9e_1699533639.jpg

11/9/23

7:40:56

26.340245

-81.816503

Plant

Dry soil

Bright sun

Yard, private

Native, Range change, Established

John Knapp

2023-11-09T12:40:00.085Z

386

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=fac7eb63-d3ee-42da-a3ec-3b9330a3079d_1699533379.jpg

11/9/23

7:36:34

26.340251

-81.816526

Plant

Dry soil

Bright sun

Yard, private

Non-Invasive, Established, Native

John Knapp

2023-11-09T12:35:48.963Z

385

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=c93f6fb8-dffe-45ac-b9be-94a2cb52d3b1_1699533143.jpg

11/9/23

7:32:48

26.340248

-81.816527

Plant

Dry soil

Bright sun

Yard, private

Native, Established, Invasive, Range change

John Knapp

2023-11-09T12:31:57.623Z

384

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=80d5b289-3b53-4a59-ba0c-94f805513282_1699532984.jpg

1000

11/9/23

7:29:59

26.340245

-81.816568

Plant

Dry soil

Bright sun

Yard, private

Native, Established

John Knapp

2023-11-08T16:28:27.773Z

383

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=25624154-1326-48f1-ba5d-9b723444733e_1699460497.jpg

11/8/23

11:22:13

26.340282

-81.816625

Plant

Dry soil

Bright sun

Yard, private

Nuisance, Native, Range change, Non-Invasive

noxious

Photo recording file with same Observation date

John Knapp

2023-11-08T16:20:27.765Z

382

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=800e9bac-7b78-4047-9883-4c065f25612d_1699460233.jpg

11/8/23

11:17:28

26.340289

-81.816569

Plant

Dry soil

Bright sun

Yard, private

Non-native, Range change, Non-Invasive, Introduced

John Knapp

2023-11-08T16:15:29.398Z

381

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=c28478a1-7218-4bb4-9b8b-704633888534_1699459863.jpg

11/8/23

11:11:14

26.340306

-81.816509

Plant

Wet soil

Shaded

Yard, private

Native, Range change

John Knapp

2023-11-08T16:07:48.223Z

380

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=f04af210-63bf-40fe-8741-4bfd8d9fb0b5_1699459406.jpg

11/8/23

11:03:43

26.340304

-81.816517

Plant

Wet soil

Shaded

Yard, private

Nuisance, Native, Range change

John Knapp

2023-11-08T16:02:13.715Z

379

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=ba056828-954a-4140-b50c-6a9ecd0e577b_1699459130.jpg

11/8/23

10:59:02

26.340319

-81.8165

Plant

Wet soil

Shaded

Yard, private

Native, Range change, Non-Invasive, Established

John Knapp

2023-11-08T15:57:45.801Z

378

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=c69b186c-5093-490d-83c1-bb61773aafe6_1699458838.jpg

11/8/23

10:54:12

26.340317

-81.816488

Plant

Wet soil

Deeply shaded

Yard, private

Non-native, Invasive

John Knapp

Sheet A. Survey and Catalog table.

B. Plant-Identity Site #1 Spread Sheet. To view the full spread scroll laterally. To open the image file click once on the hyperlink text to choose open option; click again in the option text box to view images. For simplicity don’t click on view in separate tab. To return, just click on the back button in your browser.

created_at

title

10_Choose_best_PLANT

12_If_Herbacious

If_WOODY

FERN_which_ord

Which_plant_growth

Flower

Flower_photo link

Seed_present

Seed_photo link

Leaf_or_Stem

Leaf_stem_photo link

Bark

Bark_photo Link

Common_Name

Notes

Scientific_Name

2023-11-09T13:33:20.329Z

398

Palm

Other

Overgrowth

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=d1d7ab41-444f-4b97-8b6a-9c5c349bb723_1699536750.jpg

Yes

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=d1d7ab41-444f-4b97-8b6a-9c5c349bb723_1699536772.jpg

Cuban Royal Palm

Roystonea regia

2023-11-09T13:29:30.180Z

397

Woody

Leaf (Angiosperm)

Overgrowth

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=35f06672-1b50-48ac-989c-58cb3a1ddc7b_1699536527.jpg

Yes

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=35f06672-1b50-48ac-989c-58cb3a1ddc7b_1699536552.jpg

Live Oak

Quercus agrifolia

2023-11-09T13:24:48.228Z

396

herbaceous

Under growth

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=8f8f386f-e032-42da-8e2e-e5d7f6d72d7c_1699536219.jpg

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=8f8f386f-e032-42da-8e2e-e5d7f6d72d7c_1699536279.jpg

Periwinkle

Catharanthus roseus

2023-11-09T13:21:24.237Z

395

herbaceous

Garden bed

Under growth

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=e09b44c6-e82a-453b-b2db-cfc8e24e9443_1699536023.jpg

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=e09b44c6-e82a-453b-b2db-cfc8e24e9443_1699536069.jpg

Hill Glory Bower

Clerodendrum paniculatum

2023-11-09T13:16:28.554Z

394

Woody

Leaf (Angiosperm)

Overgrowth

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=b16b9df4-9cc8-4846-bb7b-ca23f5a0409d_1699535751.jpg

Yes

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=b16b9df4-9cc8-4846-bb7b-ca23f5a0409d_1699535776.jpg

Bluejack oak

Quercus incana

2023-11-09T13:11:18.562Z

393

Palm

Palm (grass like tree)

Overgrowth

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=361acf41-37c5-428b-942e-7289bdc029e4_1699535458.jpg

Yes

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=361acf41-37c5-428b-942e-7289bdc029e4_1699535471.jpg

Cabbage palm

Sabal palmetto

2023-11-09T13:07:57.697Z

392

Epiphyte (Air Plant)

Garden bed

Mid growth

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=9e58fe06-2906-41ef-9ce3-d8e1fc5cca18_1699535222.jpg

Yes

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=9e58fe06-2906-41ef-9ce3-d8e1fc5cca18_1699535270.jpg

Dwarf umbrella tree

Heptapleurum arboricola

Heplapleurium arboricole

2023-11-09T13:02:55.916Z

391

Cultivated or herbaceous

Swamp understory

Under growth

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=0c7c700b-86c8-475e-aecc-5b1ecb059995_1699534922.jpg

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=0c7c700b-86c8-475e-aecc-5b1ecb059995_1699534967.jpg

Scorpions tail

Heliotropium angiospermum

2023-11-09T12:59:39.492Z

390

Woody

Swamp understory

Mid growth

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=17e195ee-705c-492a-ae78-99cd62abcd2c_1699534706.jpg

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=17e195ee-705c-492a-ae78-99cd62abcd2c_1699534754.jpg

Yes

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=17e195ee-705c-492a-ae78-99cd62abcd2c_1699534769.jpg

Scarlet bush

Hamelia patens

2023-11-09T12:52:42.464Z

389

Palm

Palm (grass like tree)

Under growth

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=da525ad4-9f19-407b-9379-7c8d36c41be6_1699534348.jpg

Cardboard palm

Firm leaf breaks on bending

Zamia furfuracea

2023-11-09T12:48:10.306Z

388

Woody

Leaf (Angiosperm)

Mid growth

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=e6c44f47-94ab-40ff-b1dd-cca3a36bf2ff_1699534009.jpg

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=e6c44f47-94ab-40ff-b1dd-cca3a36bf2ff_1699534038.jpg

Hibiscus

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis)

2023-11-09T12:44:11.053Z

387

Fern (POLYPODIOPSIDA)

Polypodiineae

Under growth

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=b80af39c-696d-4ab9-a0a0-6f2e74d3b348_1699533795.jpg

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=b80af39c-696d-4ab9-a0a0-6f2e74d3b348_1699533842.jpg

Sword fern

Nephrolepis exaltata

2023-11-09T12:39:26.169Z

386

Fern (POLYPODIOPSIDA)

Polypodiineae

Under growth

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=df98de5d-52ae-48a6-9aa4-c6d08fabc9b8_1699533557.jpg

Christmas Fern

No sporangium on leaf

Polystichum acrostichoides

2023-11-09T12:35:16.762Z

385

herbaceous

Swamp understory

Under growth

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=15a475fb-22fd-486c-9ec5-25478ba7dac6_1699533266.jpg

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=15a475fb-22fd-486c-9ec5-25478ba7dac6_1699533295.jpg

Porter weed

Stachytarpheta jamaicensis

2023-11-09T12:31:18.377Z

384

herbaceous

Under growth

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=1c632d7f-ecda-41e1-aa35-fbfb011a2d0f_1699533043.jpg

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=1c632d7f-ecda-41e1-aa35-fbfb011a2d0f_1699533069.jpg

Beach sunflower

Helianthus debilis

2023-11-08T16:27:14.503Z

383

herbaceous

Mid growth

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=89712a46-ae79-465b-9fd1-7d4a1ef7f461_1699460616.jpg

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=89712a46-ae79-465b-9fd1-7d4a1ef7f461_1699460703.jpg

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=89712a46-ae79-465b-9fd1-7d4a1ef7f461_1699460756.jpg

Yes

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=89712a46-ae79-465b-9fd1-7d4a1ef7f461_1699460789.jpg

Poke weed

Phytolacca americana

2023-11-08T16:19:36.146Z

382

herbaceous

Growing on another

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=d25a8359-2831-4425-bfa7-80ccb4aeddb9_1699460291.jpg

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=d25a8359-2831-4425-bfa7-80ccb4aeddb9_1699460348.jpg

Bleeding heart vine

Clerodendrum thomsoniae

2023-11-08T16:14:48.621Z

381

herbaceous

Overgrowth

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=b0c393a3-06ef-43f0-9859-a1a520b49811_1699459915.jpg

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=b0c393a3-06ef-43f0-9859-a1a520b49811_1699459957.jpg

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=b0c393a3-06ef-43f0-9859-a1a520b49811_1699460006.jpg

Creeping cucumber

Melothria pendula

2023-11-08T16:05:30.943Z

380

herbaceous

Growing on another

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=1c760315-1769-4350-970f-93d44c7511b2_1699459476.jpg

Pepper vine, cow itch

Ampelopsis arborea

2023-11-08T16:01:22.212Z

379

herbaceous

Growing on another

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=a2af38bc-a609-4bc9-84e0-0071d934ea79_1699459221.jpg

Muscadine grape

Vitis rotundafolia

2023-11-08T15:56:55.723Z

378

herbaceous

Under growth

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=b9537a1d-e69d-4281-82bb-1bee35259e6f_1699458892.jpg

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=b9537a1d-e69d-4281-82bb-1bee35259e6f_1699458924.jpg

YES

https://five.epicollect.net/api/media/everglades-ark?type=photo&format=entry_original&name=b9537a1d-e69d-4281-82bb-1bee35259e6f_1699458963.jpg

Sweet scent camphor weed

Interesting odor

Pluchea odorata

Sheet B. Survey and Catalog table.

To see the full data display follow this link: Epicollect5/Everglades Ark and view observation “Title” numbered 377 through 398.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS, RISK LEVEL OF OBSERVED PLANTS TO LOCAL ENVIRONMENT :

TYPE	COUNT	PERCENT of 21
Native	13	62
Non-native	8	38
Highly invasive	4	19
Rapidly spread	9	43
Non-native subject to high range change	3	63
Native subject to high range change	6	29
Native subject to high range change, nuisance, noxious?	1	5

Table 2 The percentage of the described plant type was determined relative to the total count.

RESULTS:

In Area #1, within 60 feet of one another, 21 species of herbaceous plants and trees were identified.
The relative percent of non-native to native plants is consistent with the distribution of plant types in the State of Florida.
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 a nuisance. It is observation #380. The name is pepper vine (Ampelopsis arborea). It is not classified as noxious nor invasive.

DISCUSSION: The wide range of species was easy to observe in this defined space. There was sufficient space to allow for some freedom of movement. Walking into the swamp would have been more problematic. The sample is biased due to the more controlled cultivation of plants directly adjacent to the uncontrolled swamp. The cultivation of part of the study area may have selectively altered the usual development of variety in the mix of plants. A larger observation area might result in an alternative finding. Another limitation in this study was to measure the percentage of the individual plant species mass relative to the totality mass of the vegetation. There is considerable difference of opinion in assigning local environment risk levels to plants. The assignment of risk may not be current.

CONCLUSION: It was relatively easy to observe the wide variety of plants in this controlled area. This detailed experience helped to increase awareness of the variety of plant species in a very small sample area. The numbers of invasive species in this small area were surprising. Perhaps a more localized region may wish to determine the level of invasivity of local plants.

References: Some of the sources used to assist in the identification of the observed plants.

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#invasive plants #native plants #statistical analysis #observations #spread sheet #Epicollect5 #data

November 11, 2023

Epicollect 5 / Everglades Ark Version 2.0

The Everglades Ark data site on Epicollect5 has been significantly upgraded. There were two objectives in this upgrade. The first is to increase the speed and efficiency of the data collection process on the site. This was in response to the request for reduction in fields viewed to allow more convenient data collection. The second is a significant expansion of the Animal Kingdom using the latest DNA method of classification of clades.

Contained in this posting is the data map of the revised site. From this you can view the content categories of topics and the data entry points. This will continue to grow as time permits.

The Data Map of the site Epicollect5 – Everglades Ark is extensive but available to you on this site. Click and scroll down to expand the following 24 pages.

epicollect-everglades-ark-data-map-4 Download

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References:

Citizen scientists Build Everglades Ark

#Epicollect5 #data collection #V.2 #faster #efficient

November 3, 2023

Citizen Scientists Build the Everglades Ark

SCIENCE FOR YOU

As a citizen scientist you can help to build our Ark with plant and animal images and information. When you look and learn about your surroundings you can share your experience with your contribution.

Everglades Ark collects information of animal and plant observations from Southwest Florida and from other global areas for comparison using Epicollect5 freeware. The purpose of this data collection is for survey and inventory. In addition to the images our Ark relational database includes related time, date, location, identity, behavior, interactions and environmental conditions as well as cohabitation influences of species and circadian and seasonal influences. It is often supplemented by high resolution photos, audio recordings and microscopic images. This assembled data may be used by anyone to facilitate environmental management, education and understanding of environment impact. The accessable database is freely available for anyone to use. If you wish to participate as a citizen scientist in collection or analysis please contact john@evergladesark.com and link to Evergladesark.com

Observation, Data collection and Epicollet5:

All observations are made using the custom app, in the field, in an as-is unaltered state. Observations are made with minimal invasion of the area or disruption of the animals. Often the garden staff and volunteers are very helpful and facilitate cooperation. Some additional lighting is used on occasion to facilitate photography for educational purposes. Some samples of the plants and animals are collected, and further examined macron microscopically. These staged photographs allows for more detailed examinations.

The customized Epicollect5 – Everglades Arm freeware is downloaded from their website at Epicollect5/Everglades Ark . It is well explained and intuitive to use. After entry, the data may be downloaded from the data website in a comma delimited file to MS Excel. The downloaded files may be sorted for individual research without effecting the master file. In order to add information to the site, participants need to be approved and their instruments validated by Everglades Ark staff. Only the administer may edit the entries. Imbeded in the entry format the are instructions.

The data from the site is arranged into two sections. These are:

Survey collection is the data entry through the internet from cell phone observations in the field.
Recorded collection is the data entry of details of off-location high resolution records. These include the non cell phone records from the cameras, microscope and audio and video equipment and their associated sub file data such as lens type, lens settings etc. The Recorded section files are entered through hard wire or intranet connection after all of the cell phone field entries are uploaded to the Epicollect5 site via an internet connection.

Identification of species phylum, class, order and common name is done as best as possible using two or more identification resources. Experts are always welcome to recommend corrections or suggestions.

The observation number is the File Key. This sequential number entered into the data entry point is used to reference all other data such as those of the off-location files. The off-location files are located on dedicated hard drives and backed up to a secure cloud account.

Interested parties are encouraged to participate as volunteer citizen scientists at the Everglades Wonder Gardens. A training experience is required to participare as an surveyor and collector.

Look for the next posting titled Epicollect5/Everglades ark v.2 posting coming soon.

Contact john@evergladesark.com for more information.

References:

http://evergladesark.com/2021/04/03/about-gps-distances/

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# database #Epicollect5 #data #records #collection #survey #images #citizen scientist

November 3, 2023

The Queens

No, it is not the rock group. Nor is it an ABBA song. It is a butterfly species related to Monarchs called Queens. As a result of the residual effects of hurricane Ian, our community butterfly garden has no surviving milkweed plants. It does, however, have other plants that attract things that flutter by. At first it looked like they were Monarchs but on closer inspection, as you can see in these photos, this species is very similar. They are Queens and they are dancing and mating.

The feature image is a male Queen with the dorsal surface pointed toward the female and us. Additionally, there is a female Queen showing the ventral surface detail. . The two dark spots on the ventral surface medial veins of the distal wings indicate a male gender.

We have discussed Monarchs on these three occasions Monarch, previous, postings. This species will be the standard for comparison for this discussion. The Queen has several markings that make it easy to distinguish. It has a darker, more red/brown coloration. The wing veins are less pronounced. It is the smaller of the two species.The Monarch is a strict milkweed feeder. The Queens feed on many plants and are not exclusive to milkweed. Also they should not be confused with other related butterflies called Viceroys or Soldiers (not shown here).

Monarch butterflies *(Danaus plexippus)* (male)

Queen butterfly (*Danaus gilippus*) (male)

Also not to be confused with the Gulf Fritillary which is a totally different species.

Gulf Fritillary (*Agraulis vanillae*) (Male)

Watching the Queens was easy because they were very interested in pairing with one another at this time. These observations were made during the first week of October 2023 at 8:30 AM. GPS location 26.3389184, -81.8085888. There were other butterflies present including Monarchs which were very low in number as well as Polydamas swallowtails. The dozens of Queens were literally dancing around one another in what appeared to be mating preliminaries.

Queen female on flower stem waiting for the approaching male.

Queen female wings spread open to receive male.

I spent about an hour admiring the beauty of the butterflies and was astonished to see this “dance” exhibited by many couples. I have never seen so many Queens in one place at one time. I hope to see the eggs and caterpillars that I expect will follow during the next few weeks. I will also be on the look out for the related Soldiers and Viceroys.

References:

Butterflies Air Home

Butterflies and Moths of North America

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#Monarch #Queen #butterfly #Fritillary #mating #dance

October 6, 2023

Florida Marsh Exploration. Part II

A marsh is a wetland with herbaceous vegetation that does not have trees. There are freshwater and saltwater marshes and the distinguishing characteristics are plants and animals which inhabit the areas. For example, typically birds feed but do not nest in saltwater marshes. The plants in saltwater marshes are capable of tolerating episodes of salinity. The opposite is typical of freshwater marshes and swamps. Please see Florida Marsh Exploration. Part I

The featured image is an overview of the marsh as seem from the observation deck.

Trees generally do not survive in wetlands such as marshes because they are constantly wet, however, swamps generally do have trees because there are seasonal dry periods. The plants typically found in marshes are obligate water plants that depend on a long hydroperiod.

The following photographs illustrate the plants and animals which I saw during the three episodes into a saltwater marsh described in the previous publication. This marsh in the slough of Bonita Bay Community is attempting to recover from hurricane Ian in 2022. There was damage which is still unresolved. This can only be done by replacing the salt water with fresh water. This is complicated because of the greater density of the salt water which sinks to the bottom of the pond and does not freely mix with freshwater. Despite some plant’s salt tolerance they have been overburdened by more salt than they can tolerate. Mangroves thrive in these environments.

Extensive masses of dead plants with new growth. Note the green duckweed on the water surface.

Herbaceous growth in water covered by duckweed

Great White Heron (Ardea herodias occidentalis)

Saw Grass (actually a sedge) (see photomicrograph)

Extensive areas of dead grasses, reeds and sedges.

Cat-tail (*Typha latifolia*) Plants are all dehydrated despite growing in water. The cause is salt water.

Saw Grass *(Cladium jamaicense*) making a comeback in low salinity areas.

Pond apple (*Annona glabra*) This was also found in the Corkwood Swamp which is freshwater.

*Duck weed.(*Lemna minor*)(With empty snail shell)*

Duck weed showing extracted lump tangle of rootlets extending five inches from below water surface.

The very dense overgrowth of duckweed that you can see in the photographs of the surface of the ponds blocks the sunlight from the below surface water and depletes the oxygen of the pond. The oxygen depletion kills fish and without sunlight below the surface new plants can’t thrive. On the beneficial side the plants could be used for bioremediation of waterways by capturing and removing excessive amounts of phosphorus and nitrogen.

Duckweed magnified to show no vascular system and complex root anatomy on ventral surface

Sawgrass leaf magnified to show saw tooth

During and after the flood caused by hurricane Ian in 2022 the plants have been inundated for months by salt water. The salt water is drawn up into all reaches of the plant by capillary action through their vascular systems. At the cellular level, osmotic action of the semipermeable cell wall draws the non salty water out of the cell. The salt water does not enter the cell because the water is withdrawn from the cell and it becomes dehydrated and dies.

Coming later we will explore the difference between the fresh water marshes of Florida and of the Okavango delta in Botswana.

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#saltwater marsh #marsh #wetland #saw grass #heron #morning glory #fern #dehydration #duckweed #pond apple #Great White Heron #hydroperiod #obligate

October 1, 2023

Florida Marsh Exploration. Part I

This is a recounting of the first three exploratory walks into the perimeter of a Florida Marsh located in the Bonita Bay Slough.

Cover photo is a Saltmarsh Morning Glory (Ipomoea sagittat)

This is part of a series of Floridian environments and ecosystems including Wetlands.

Introduction:

The central wetland feature of the Bonita Bay Community property is a slough. It connects the Spring creek at the north end to the Imperial River to the south. I examined maps of this area that predate the roads, rail beds and towns since records were kept. The entire property including the marsh may have been tidal before the current community was built and made an east-west road across the center at the watershed divide. What remains is now a tidal marsh that appears to be otherwise unaltered for at least several hundreds of years and a wooded wetland in the developed community. The city of Bonita Springs and the highway now called Old 41 as well as the railroad bed were placed to avoid these marshes and swamps. In 1952, highway 41 was built and the marsh and lowland to the east of the highway were filled. The natural watershed to the BB community area was compromised. It is now fed primarily by the estuary of Spring Creek, the Imperial River and rainfall. The creek and river continue to accumulate water from the areas east of 41 but there is no obvious westward surface flow between these two streams. Included are some photographs of some of my observations. Irrigation water is pumped from wells east of highway 41 for community and golf course irrigation.

50 meters into the slough I met with an impenetrable wall of vegetation. I first thought that this would be a freshwater marsh, however, the flower on the left a Saltmarsh Morning Glory (Ipomoea sagittata) acknowledges this to be a saltwater marsh. It was the most beautiful find through all of the area explored.

Marsh exploration:

Visit 1.

Level 1 preparation for a walking trip: Action plan with driver drop-off and pick-up points and gear for a walk in the marsh included: bush pants, shirt, calf high waterproof swamp boots, hat, drinking water, cell phone, SLR camera, bug repellent, and sun block.

I began my walk at the south end at the center of the marsh. This was at the beginning of the artificially created east/west roadbed at the watershed divide.(See map) The vegetation was thick and dense, dominated by grasses, low shrubs and herbaceous plants. After two steps the depth of the water rapidly increased. While I was standing in eight inches of water, I probed the spot for my next step with my walking stick. It easily slipped to full 1 ½ meter length through an increasingly viscus mix of water, vegetation, and decayed plant material. I could not find any real hard bottom. I assume that the bottom is peat.

Foliage over my head as I stood in 10 inches of water.

I reported this unknown weed as a possible invasive.

Carefully using my walking stick to test for footing I treaded into the marsh. There were a few areas where the floating vegetation did support my weight. There were some spots where there was soil sufficiently high for secure standing. Avoiding the possibility of sinking into the water and muck to my chest, I cautiously advanced further in a very irregular line about 70 meters into the marsh. It all appeared to be a heterogeneous tangle of a great variety of grasses, ferns, bushes, and vines.

Visit 1.

I expected this area to be filled with wildlife and a variety of plants different from other environments in Florida. I have looked at the slough many times from a raised viewing platform and was always surprised by the sparsity of birds. I expected to see more diverse animals, however, when wading in the marsh I was again disappointed. For ninety minutes of observation, I saw only a pair of red winged blackbirds. There may be extenuating circumstances for this condition. Salt marshes are not known for bird nesting. Birds are concentrated at the Rookery Islands on the southern end of the slough, there may be predators in this northern end which the birds recognize and this results in their avoidance. The density of the dead vegetation or the deadly effects of hurricane Ian storm surge may have caused a die-off of the predated food supply.

The height of the vegetation was above my field of vision and there was no sign of an animal path or previous human activity. At one spot where the vegetation thinned, I could see the tree line which was approximately a quarter mile to my east. No other landmarks were visible. The abundant plant variety was very diverse; the animal live was not. I was surprised to find very few flying or crawling insects, no vertebrates except for a few birds. At 9:00 AM it was very quiet, no wind, no odor and very hot (38 C, 100 F) with 100% humidity. After 1 ½ hours, aided by my cell phone and dead reconning, I retreated approximately 70 meters back to my start point. I reviewed my findings overnight. The plants which I observed were more typical of a salt marsh. This deserved further investigation.

Previous views during the past years from the observation deck suggested a rich variety of the marsh vegetation. Again, I was disappointed. The slough is filled with dead plant remains secondary to the saltwater infusion of hurricane Ian’s storm surge. Brush and tall grasses are grey-brown and toppled over horizontally to the water line. Some are continuing to sprout and flower but the overall color of the area is greyish brown.

Visit 2.

If the heron were not so bright I would have missed it among the grey-brown weedy background.

This great white heron carefully stalked through the grasses in the marshes. The utility of the length of its neck and legs was clearly evident. It picked up some animal wrapped in green vegetation and swallowed the sandwich without hesitation.

The following day I returned for a second look with the same prep, and made additional photos and notes. The weather was unchanged. The second trip provided additional findings. I saw more feeding birds but none nesting and very few insects. It was especially interesting to watch a great white heron hunting in the depth of the marsh. Previously I saw them only on the shores of more open spaces. In the deep marsh I could see it using all its skills of crouching, deep water wading and stealth. It did indeed catch something, however, the identity was obscured by some green vegetation surrounding the small prey. After I returned home, I ordered a handheld refractometer to check the marsh salinity.

Visit 3.

Same prep was used plus 6 specimen bottles for water sampling The weather was unchanged. The sample times were between 8:45 and 9:30 AM. Water samples were taken at three surface points at five locations using a dip cup. See map in Fig 20. The samples were brought home and their temperatures were stabilized at 72F (23C). Using the handheld refractometer I gauged the salinity of my samples. The findings are reported in table 1.

I also sampled other wetland areas in the community properties to test the salinity at various locations. See the five locations on the map (Fig. 2).

Findings:

The lowest salinity at 3 PPT is water exiting from the south slough into the Imperial River. There is an apparent progression of lower salinity of the system water from northeast to southwest. The salinity of the Estero Bay east littoral area is 30 PPT higher than the upper Spring Creek.

SWS its the expected average salt water salinity of local sea water in the littoral zone.

Also found were numerous plants that were thriving despite the damage caused by the hurricane of 2023. These can be seen in the next posting. Florida Marsh Exploration. Part II

Discussion:

This is a saltmarsh without a north/south flow. The north and south arms of the slough have been blocked by the Bonita Bay boulevard. The two arms were continuous prior to the property development. The obstruction of the continuity has resulted in the formation of two very different environments. The north end of the slough is wide open to the Spring creek which is estuarial. The south end is connected to water retention ponds in the community with an exit to the Imperial River. The retention ponds collect the water which has filtered through the community swamps and wooded wetland. There is a narrow one-way gate that allows a very limited inflow from the river at the south end of the slough. This does not prevent an inflow from a salt water storm surge two feet above the high tide water line. From table 1 you can see a progression of salinity changes. I also learned that trial explorations are important in determining the level of preparation for venturing deep into unknown areas.

Level 2 preparation. for exploration of the marsh

Similar to level 1 preparation but use a kayak as a vehicle and/or working platform.

Level 3 preparation. for exploration of the marsh using a Full Immersion Preparation.

Have a companion. Make an action plan with driver drop-off and pick-up points. Gear should include: Two lengths of 50^ft, ½ⁱⁿ, 4 ply, hemp rope, carabiners, gloves, drinking water, folding knife, 3-meter foldable measuring stick, containers for wet samples, waterproof cell phone or a camera with over and underwater capability. Enter wearing a full 1^mm diving wetsuit, with hood, boots, and sneakers. Prepare to change to dry clothing for an after-extraction at pick-up point.

The rope and carabiners are for emergency extraction. The wet suit is for buoyancy and skin protection. Hemp rope rather than climbing rope because it is less expensive. It is impossible to remove the salt and dirt and it may be discarded after a few uses.

I learned from this experience. The next trip preparation will be different.

Conclusions:

These observations are made during a very small timeline in the marsh and may not be representative of the yearlong parade of conditions. To better understand the marsh, multiple return visits are certainly forth coming. Test other entry points with level one preparation. Test other seasons with drier or wetter conditions. If a Kayak cannot penetrate the vegetation, plan for a level 3, immersive exploration.

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#marsh #salt water #heron #saw grass #Bonita Bay #slough #Morning glory #salt marsh #salinity #wetlands #Florida

Reference:

Freshwater Systems of Florida, Main M., University of Florida, Gainsville, FL, 2015, http://www.masternaturalist.org

July 24, 2023

Dark Dwellers: Ferns of the Corkscrew Cyprus Swamp Preserve

In the steamy, shadowed recesses of the Corkscrew canopy grow the dwellers of the dark. They seem oblivious of the surrounding giants. The crowns of Cyprus trees tower 10 stories overhead. They struggle for hundreds, sometimes thousands of years seeking the light. The ferns are old too but not as individuals. Their species far outstrips the antiquity of the Cyprus species. They have been around for 350 million years. They are more than twice as old as Cyprus.*

The featured image shows two fern varieties. In the dark of the swamp these are easily identified by the two types of fronds. One is the shiny surface of the Giant Leather (Acrostichum danaeifolium) and the other is the non-branching Long Strap (Campyloneyrum phyllitidis).

There are at least 25 fern varieties in Florida. What we see here is only a fraction of the diversity of the fern. It is estimated that globally there are 10500 living species. That is four times the combined number of gymnosperms and lycophytes. They are second in variety only to the angiosperms. They are important because they are very efficient at carbon fixation and soil stabilization. The carbon-based energy industry of today is based almost exclusively on the deadfall of millions of years of fern life cycles. These plants lived and died in the anoxic swamps of the Permian (250 mya) and Cretaceous (135 mya) periods. In the Cretaceous period giant, angiosperm-dominated rainforests that developed in the tropical environments. Ferns were able to successfully exploit and diversify in these new ecosystems without competing with the flowering plants. This is probably why today most species of ferns grow in the tropics. When walking through the Corkscrew Preserve in SWFL you should imagine yourself walking in a Cretaceous period swamp. The only thing missing would be the giant reptilian dinosaurs of which we have only two small versions remaining in Florida, the alligator and crocodile.

There is another more basic reason for the swamp ferns to prefer the damp environment. The gametophyte stage of their reproduction depends on water to transport the sperm to the egg to produce cells of new plants outside of the parent fern plant. The sporophyte stage part is easy to see and feel. In this essay we will pay careful attention to just sporulating portion of fern reproduction. For a reference to the full cycle please look at the illustration at the end of this posting.

In this most primitive of all plants the fern vascular system is seen in this micrograph. They have chloroplasts and functional stoma. The veins, however, have no nodes nor interconnecting networks. (~100X optical, 10x digital)

This photomicrograph shows that ferns have spores not seeds. These spores are very small (20 to 50 microns) and are haploid. They will undergo a metamorphosis in the reproduction process.

There are two commonalities running through all of the ferns. They are chlorophyl metabolism based, non-seed-bearing plants with true vascular systems and they have a two stage reproduction cycle. Ferns are very primitive plants with complex reproductive cycles. There are two methods. One is through budding and the other is through sporulating. Budding is simple asexual reproduction. Sporulating is a much more interesting method and this essay will pay some attention to the early steps of this second method.

Unlike angiosperm or gymnosperm plants, ferns do not use flowers or seeds for reproduction. As a refresher, please recall that flowering plants use sexual reproduction methods with pollen and ova. (See previous essay on Bauhinia Trees). Ferns use a two-step process for reproduction. The large green plants that are seen with fronds of leaves are the first stage of reproduction called a sporophyte. This stage has a full complement of DNA and is therefore a sporophyte diploid plant. The first stage produces spores that may be either male or female. Spores must land on a suitable surface, such as a moist protected area to germinate and grow into gametophytes. The gametophyte grows into a small plant about a half inch square area. The gametophyte makes sperm and eggs which join together on wet surfaces to generate a new sporophyte. In this essay we will pay most attention to just the sporulating portion of fern reproduction. They may be either male of female.

While walking through the understory of the Florida preserve areas one could easily see and feel many ferns of at least 24 types. Three of these are demonstrated here, the Long Strap fern, Wart fern, and the Southern Sword fern. These are not easily identifiable, however, using the University of Florida plant identification web site.*** I found the best ID match.

Long Strap Fern (Campyloneurum phyllitidis)

Dorsal surface of Long Strap fern

Ventral surface of Long Strap fern with hundreds of very mature sorus, holding thousands of sporangia and holding tens of thousands of spores.

Sorus (~3.5mm dia) are conglomerations of reproductive organelles containing sporangia which are starting to rupture.

Sporangia detail (~300 micron die)The annulus acts like a spring to help throw the spores away from the frond as the sporangium ruptures.

Wart fern (Microsorum scolopendrium)

Ventral surface of Wart fern frond showing the warts on the surface. Each wart corresponds to a sorus on the ventral surface.

The evenly spaced pattern of the orange sorus makes this a visually interesting frond

One well defined Sorus filled with sporangium (~4mm dia). From Wart fern.

Southern Sword Fern (Nephrolepis biserrata)

Southern Sword fern ventral side with sporangium only along the edges.

Sporangium (~300 micron dia.) filled with spores from Southern Sword fern.

Spore (~30 microns) released from sporangium of Southern Sword fern..

Spore print of Southern Sword fern frond showing adjacent spore print. Lying frond, spore side down and waiting 4 hours, results in print of spores dropped on the right side on graph paper.

Covering, over the sporangium of Southern Sword fern, called an operculum.

It is easy to recognize the similarities in these plants. They all have a chloroplasts, circulatory system, sporangium, and spores and a common two stage reproduction method.

There are parallels with other plants. The microsporangia of the angiosperm flowers develop in the anther of the stamen. For them, microspores produced within the microsporangia (stamen) of which there is usually four per anther, eventually develop into pollen grains. Fungi, horsetails, mosses, worts and ferns all produce spores. It is complicated but it works.

Ferns are beautiful and intriguing. If the ferns had been very important for food or industry, they might have been exploited like the threatened Florida bald Cyprus. Be sure to see the previous publication, Earth’s Axial Tilt Determines Forest Winners. Watch for the future posting on gametophyte portion of fern life.

As Nick, one of our followers, stated “May the Forest Be With You”. To that I add “Welcome to the Dark Side of the Forest.”

References:

“Distribution of living Cupressaceae reflects the breakup of Pangea” by Kangshan Mao, Richard I. Milne, Libing Zhang, Yanling Peng, Jianquan Liu, Philip Thomas, Robert R. Mill and Susanne S. Renner, 1 May 2012, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1114319109

**About Ferns, Pinson J,

*** University of Florida Plant identification UF/IFAS

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#Cyprus #Wart fern #sorus #frond #Long Strap fern #annulus #operculum #fern #sporangium #spore #vascular bundle #Giant Leather fern #stoma #sporophyte #gametophyte

June 27, 2023

Earth’s Axial Tilt Determines Forest Winners

The ancient giants are here and they rule their worlds. They are big and conquer their territory with power. They use so much that they choke out almost anything else. They make offspring that spread to make more giants. They become hundreds or even thousands of years old and can survive almost any natural calamities. They are of course, old growth trees.

When visiting old growth forests most people look up to see and admire the majestic canopy that shades the floor. The umbrella could be either gymnosperm (pine) or angiosperm (leaf) or some mixture of these trees. Today’s post is a comparison of two climax forests that have developed in marshy wetland areas. The Corkscrew Swamp is in SW Florida (SWFL) and Maybury State Park is in SE Michigan (SEMI). I have resided in and explored both types of forested wetlands and we can see the similarities and differences in juxtaposition.

At first look, some things were evident. The Michigan canopy is a result of the leafy foliage of angiosperm trees. There were pine trees in this forest but because of plant succession, the forest now is heavily populated with hard wood trees of hickory, four types of oak, iron wood, two types of maple, beech, birch and a scattering of others. Among the 1000 acres of parkland there were only a handful of pine trees which were obviously intentionally planted as ornaments for the holiday season.

The Floridian Corkscrew Preserve canopy is the result of needle foliage of gymnosperm trees of two types of Cyprus, slash pines mixed with some hardwood trees Red Maples, Live Oaks and Cabbage Palms and a few Royal Palms.

Another remarkable difference was the water flow. Corkscrew Preserve is 18 feet above MSL Maybury Park is 300 feet above MGLL. This is of minimal significance. Michigan is experiencing a drought. In this park area with the three creeks, some ponds and two lakes all are nearly devoid of water. What were swamps are now meadows. The soil was cool and dry. There has been little or no water inflow from creeks, springs, and no rain in two months. Weather forecast for Michigan shown no predictable relief from the drought conditions. The Florida swamp is seasonally relatively dry but it was still moist or boggy with a slow sheet water flow of the Everglades. The rainy season is just beginning.

Maybery Park understory with very little light and a leafy canopy

Corkscrew understory with substantial understory growth and a canopy of soft Cyprus needles

What was a pond with fish in Maybery Park is now a swamp with white tail deer.

Cat tails in the dried lake bed of Maybury Park. No ferns were found.

Two of several varieties off ferns at Corkscrew park.

Understory of Maybury Park. Very low minimal plant growth mostly nettles, poison ivy, balsam and wood sanicle

Understory of Corkscrew Preserve. Highly varigated height and diverse varieties. Many Ferns.

I searched for several plant and animal species. The ferns in the Corkscrew were abundant. There were no ferns in the Maybury Park. This was a real surprise because they were present 5 years ago. They are probably still present in the deep swamp in areas. Flowering plants in the Corkscrew Preserve were abundant and colorful and deserve another posting. The featured image is a wild hibiscus from Corkscrew Preserve, Florida. Flowers in the Maybury Park were herbaceous, minimal, and small. The most common were fleabane, thistle, and dandelion.

These two old growth forested areas are remarkably different. The differences arise from geographic position in latitude which alters the range of temperatures, the length of the day’s sun exposure, the period of below freezing temperatures. Corkscrew is a mature cyprus forest in the tropics at the 18^th parallel while Maybury is mature hardwood forest at the 44^th parallel. It is only 22 degrees south of the artic polar circle. Longitudinally they nearly identical. The rotation of the earth on its axis results in two very different climates. Because of the axis of rotation of the Earth, SEMI can experience wide ranges of temperature varying in a high to low range of 125^o F with months of sub-freezing temperatures. The range of high to low temperatures in SWFL is closer to 50^o F with no freezing temperatures. These climatic changes result in vastly different biologizes. The summer temperatures are nearly identical with hot sultry weather. For two weeks around the 4th of July, the daily high temperature in SEMI can be higher than Florida with over 100^O F .

The solar rotation of the earth and the 23.5 degree off axis tilt of the rotation of the earth results in these two very different climates. Michigan daylight hours at the summer solstice are two hours longer than Florida and at the winter solstice two hours shorter than Florida. At the 44th parallel summer solstice days are 6 hours longer than the winter days six months later. The prolific mid-summer biologic activity of the Michigan forests must compensate for the 5 months of cold weather where there is very limited or no metabolic activity. The broad leaves of the angiosperm tree leaves must manufacture all the products of growth, reproduction, and metabolism. The Floridian forest metabolism simply continues all year long.

Fig 1. Location of the two sites, Maybury and Corkscrew, on the summer solstice graphic. See how close Maybury is to the line of the Midnight sun. It is halfway to the North Pole. Only 22 degrees from the Arctic circle. Corkscrew Preserve is 18 degrees from the Equator. The dotted blue line is the axis of rotation.

The giant trees are the winners because they grow taller than all others, collect more energy by photosynthesis from the sun, store energy when the light is not available and produce more seeds for reproduction. There are alternatives to big tree success. These are the dwellers in the dark. A more extensive discussion regarding fern spore production in Corkscrew Preserve will follow.

The Floridian ecosystem has the potential for more diverse life forms. It favors plants and animals that prefer a more stability in weather and climate. Michigan ecosystems favor a tougher collection of plants and animals which can be prolific in summer climate and store reserves for surviving deep winter climate. It is very understandable to see the survival value in animal migration. Many of the animals follow the cyclical greening of America from Michigan to Florida in the winter and the reverse in the summer.

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#solstice #tilt of earth #wetland #Corkscrew #Maybury #photosynthesis #trees #angiosperm #gymnosperm #water #light

June 23, 2023

Everglades Ark

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The Queens

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Earth’s Axial Tilt Determines Forest Winners

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