Lover's Key State Park

This past week we visited Lover's Key. This state park/beach is on a barrier island. This essentially means that the island acts as a barrier to the mainland. This beautiful beach had a boardwalk surrounded by mangrove trees. The trees acts as a guard for the estuary and a sanctuary for baby fish and other animals. The only reason the mangroves are able to grow in the estuary conditions is because of the fact that their seeds carry their own nutrients and are able to survive until they can find a place to anchor down. Any other plants die because of the salinity of the estuary. Here are a couple pictures I took at Lover's Key. 

ECHO

One of my favorite field trips we've taken thus far has been to ECHO: Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization. This farm in North Fort Myers demonstrates ways that people in areas with poor weather or soil condition can grow sustainable plants and implement sustainable practices for clean water, animal cultivation, and other low-cost initiatives. This organization is run by volunteers and interns who are passionate about this farm and knowledgable about the different plants and animals that are under their care. Until this class, I never know any organizations like this even existed. Its such an amazingly simple concept; Teach them how to grow plants to sustain themselves, and people of the world will be able to survive and flourish. Helping is about more than giving time or money, knowledge is the most powerful of all. This farm was beautiful, and I'd like to close with picture that I took on our trip!

7 Billion

For this blog, I wanted to share my thoughts on the attached video. This video has been a favorite of mine for a couple of years now because visually, I like how it puts things into perspective regarding our planet and how it may not be able to sustain us all for much longer if we continue to grow at such a steady rate. 

Many people may not now how quickly we're grown so recently. This video easily explains how we are spread throughout the Earth and how much more we can expand until we are no longer able to. 

FGCU Food Forest

I want to take a second to reflect on our on campus Food Forest. When I came to FGCU last Fall I learned that we had a Food Forest that was run by students. Hearing about it on campus, I always had a bit of a curiosity, but never actually got a chance to take a tour of it. Finally being able to see it during this class, I felt an overwhelming sense of pride in my school upon entering the amazing garden. I think the entire idea of this forest is amazing, but I am truly astonished by how well it has been executed by our students and Student Naturalists. We may be small, but this school is truly astounding. #DunkCity <3

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

For this blog, I just wanted to share a couple of the amazing things that we saw at the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. Walking through such a diverse environment shows you how different conditions can be, even if their only a few feet away from each other. All-in-all, I felt that this field trip really got us out into the environment to experience these elements for ourselves. 

 One of the first things we came across was a Red Shouldered Hawk. This magnificent bird is a usual sign of nearby tall trees and an area rich with water, such as the swamp. It's usual prey ranges from mice to frogs and snakes. 

 Next, we stopped at the point on the boardwalk where you could clearly see the distinction between the levels of elevation from higher up to down in the actual swamp. We discussed prescribed and mechanical burns and the pros and cons of each. We also discussed how the burns affect the different species in the area and how some can become more dominant during certain clearing procedures. 

We also saw a few deer in this area that aren't easily visible in the pictures.

 One of the first things we saw as we started into the swap area were scratches in the tree bark. These were made my cats on the board walk to make their territory.

Next we came across a patch of Blood Lichen. This is a symbiotic algae that is found in areas that have good air quality. It is an indicator of a healthy ecosystem. It is an air plant, or epiphyte, that grows on other plants. 

We then saw a patch of Royal Fern. 

Next we passed some Alligator Flag. This plant is very prevalent in the area and grows in large patches. Much of it grows in the middle of the cypress dome as well. 

Next we saw my favorite part of the day which was the Resurrection Fern. Also called Century Fern, it is an epiphytic fern that goes back to green from brown with a very small amount of water. I like to think of it as the zombie fern. 

Next we saw an alligator sunbathing with her babies. She was laying near a gator hole that she had created. Alligators are a keystone species. 

Primrose Wild Flower

Swamp Hibiscus (Red Flower,
Resembles Cannabis) 

Bracken Fern

Pickerel Weed

This is a picture of Strangler Fig. These vines are using this tree for support. Usually this is a harmless relationship, but can kill the tree is the fig gets large enough to shade it our. The fig produces a fruit and its seeds can germinate from the top or the bottom of the tree. 

Willow Tree

Rabbit Foot Fern

Cypress Knees

Live Oak