Cliff Stephens Park

September 9th 2016

Clearwater, FL

Cliff Stephens Park is know for its disc golfing course, areas to fish, and its biking trails. The park is on 44 acres of land. The climate was hot and muggy and there were many bugs present. The park had several larger trees around and it had many different elevations. There was a lot of loamy sand, grass, Forb, and litter. I actually noticed a few sprouts of Caesar Weed as well. There were Non-Avian Reptilia such as lizards, and Arachnids like spiders and ants. There were squirrels near the trees and fish in the pond were we sampled the water. I could hear the birds hiding in the canopy, but I wasn't able to spot them out. We tested the salinity of the water and it was a zero, meaning I was fresh and not brackish water. I also noticed that the coverage under the canopy areas was around 80 percent (Nice and shady). The plant life seemed to be consistent throughout the park. Overall it was a great trip and it was interesting to use the tools that I have never seen before. We used a plankton net to get a water sample, a quadrat to measure the plant/animal species located in that area, a densitonometer to measure the coverage within the canopy, and a transect line to act as a guide to do our sampling and measurements.