Hammock Park

Hammock Park is located in Dunedin, Fl. We visited the park on november 18th, 2016. The weather was cool and dry. The main ecosystem that you can find at Hammock Park would be the hardwood hammock. The hammock area covers almost all light from touching the ground, so the plants their have to adapt by climbing up the trees (Vines) or reserving their nutrients so they can grow as soon as they are able to get some light. At Hammock Park there was first 336 species of plant life between 100 different plant families found , but since then they have identified 20 more. Some of these species are oaks, palm, saw grass, live oak, hickory, wax myrtle, ferns, and wild coffee. They also have a butterfly garden, where you can see many different types of butterflies. Another popular animal you would see is birds like, osprey, woodpecker, blue herons, and mockingbirds. here are some of the plants I saw:

Hardwood hammocks rarely burn, and is the fastest growing ecosystem in Florida. there are three different types of hardwood hammocks as well, mesic (moist), hydric (wet), and xeric (dry). Some threats to the park and this ecosystem would be development, air potato, rosery pea, and fire is not good so dry conditions would be a bad thing.  

Eagle Lake park

Eagle lake park

• For Our final project Ken and I decided to go to Eagle lake park. The day we went, It was really sunny and windy. I honestly never been to the park but it honestly was way bigger than i expected.We walked for over two hours and didn't got to go throughout the whole park.

• The park offers a play ground, about  6 picnic areas and 2 doggies parks which I found really cool.We also got to see different kind of animals like turtles and different fish.

 

Also after speaking to a park ranger, they explained us that the two main Ecosystems are the hardwood hammock and pine flatwoods. The biggest concern to this park are the visitor, this is because on many opportunities they leave trash on property and take away vegetation.

Overall it was a great experience and a great park to visit and have a nice walk with great views.  

Caladesi Island State Park

Caladesi Island State Park is located in Dunedin, FL. It is a large barrier Island connected to Clearwater Beach. The Island was formally known as Hog Island,until a hurricane came though and split the Island into two different parks (Honeymoon Island and Caladesi Island).

There are many different ecosystems at Caladesi Island. The few main ecosystems are beach dune, maritime hammock, coastal strand, mangrove forests, and pine flat woods. The park seemed to be doing well with all three visits that I made. There was evidence of a prescribed fire the third time I had gone to the park, as you can see below.

There was a lot of different plant and animal species there, but the ones that I saw were a gopher tortoise, evidence of a raccoon, evidence of ghost crabs, butterflies, ants, and sponges that had washed up on shore. I also saw various types of birds, such as; seagull, ospreys, and great blue herons. 

Something that I thought was unique about this beautiful park would be that it is never groomed and it is preserved so that it can maintain its natural ecosystems. The park will also never be developed. This is a great place for kayaking, especially in the mangrove forest. Swimming is also recommended because the water is nice and clear, but beware of stingrays! 

Chassahowitzka River and Wild Life Refugee.

Chassahowitzka
Dylan Coderre

We chose Chassahowitzka for our term project due to our love of the untouched florida river spring habitats and experiencing it in a kayak or canoe. Chassahowitzka is a 30,000 acre nature and wildlife preserve and acts as a sanctuary for an incredible amount of birds fish and mammals.

Having been several times to this river we had no idea how much there was to learn about it after seeing it with new eyes from what we learned in this class. Seeing how the different ecosystems intertwine and change from what to the other and being able to actually identify why they change from freshwater coastline to hammocks to palm scrubs or pine flatwoods

Things that I learned from talking to the guy that checks in hunters in the wild life refuge is that they primarily hunt boar there and boar's uncontrolled can actually become a nuisance and destroy environments if they're over protected. Also the Eagles Nest cave in the very south of Chassahowitzka is one of the most dangerous caves in the world for cave diving and 10 people have died there since 1980.

Weeki Wachee

Weeki Wachee
Diane Oganesova
Sunny

For our term project, Kristin and I chose to visit Weeki Wachee. This was my first time ever  going to the spring, after hearing so many great things about it.
In 2008, Weeki Wachee was bought by the state of Florida. Due to Florida purchasing the property, we were able to preserve such a beautiful spring. If it would not have been purchased, the spring would currently be replaced as a construction site.
Weeki Wachee is a small town located in Hernando County with a population of 12. It is greatly known for their mermaid shows. Celebrities traveled world-wide to Florida just to see the performances! Who would've known!
It is a fresh water ecosystem. 117 million gallons of 98.7% fresh water is pumped through the aquifer, daily at 74 degrees year-round. Weeki Wachee is self-sufficient, meaning it is able to support itself without humans. With too much environmental stress caused by humans, freshwater ecosystems tend to break down, food webs become distorted, and plant/animal species may disappear.
The water originates from the green swamp. The green swamp starts in Ocala and goes all the way towards Lakeland. Development is also a large threat to Weeki Wachee.
I had an amazing experience going to Weeki Wachee. It was absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to plan my next trip there!

 Mermaid show

 Mermaid Statue

 Pretty Flowers

 Views from the boat tour

 Kristin and I

 Buccaneer Bay

 Picture during the mermaid show

 Taro

Photo before the boat tour

Coopers Bayou

Diane Oganesova
09/30/16
Coopers Bayou
80 degrees (nice and sunny)

We tested the salinity in the bayou and it turned out to be 15.
Coopers Bayou is a mixture of fresh and salt water.

Mangroves deal with high salt concentrations by: excreting it from their glands. Mangroves store more carbon that terrestrial forest. They help fight coral bleaching, while also helping climate change.
Areas with shallow water, typically have more salinity.

There are four main mangrove species: red, white, black and buttonwood.

red-pointy, darker green, waxy. they float, give birth to live organisms. usually found closer to shores, considered "excluders."
black-underside is white/excretes salt. darkest color on the outside, and typically the tallest in size.
white-lime green in color and have black dots (pores). furthest from shore, and do not have many ways to deal with oxygen. they have glands to excrete salt from water.
buttonwood- excludes salt from salt water and has little white pop up flowers.

Mangroves are highly productive ecosystems.
-high dominance of organisms but very low species diversity
-high in nutrients, with producers being the main part of the food web.

Estuaries and mangroves are two main food webs: detrital and grazing.
Grazing means to eat live photosynthetic organisms.
Detrital means eating dead organisms. (Occurs when you have a location with no light to produce photosynthesis.)

Threats to estuaries and mangroves are: development, pollution, erosion and dredging.

Hammock Park

Hammock Park
11/16/16
Diane Oganesova
85 degrees (hot/humid)

Hardwood hammocks are the most abundant forest in FL! They are the only community that is expanding!

The biggest threats to Hammock park is litter, exotic plant species, floods, and a lot of sunlight.

Hammock parks are found on a more slightly elevated area. The difference between deciduous and evergreen is that: deciduous trees loses all of its leaves at once during season, and grow back during other seasons. While, evergreen has leaves year round, lose some, but new ones grow back right away.
Ex: Whitepine=evergreen, Oak tree=deciduous.

A few animals that can be spotted within a hammock community: barred owl, blue jay, osprey, ducks.

Hammock communities don't require too much sunlight. If that's the case, then how do plants deal with the low light conditions, you ask?
They learn to adapt to the atmosphere. All they need is water to grow, they can keep their leaves longer, and during parts of the year, different plants can be in season due to amount of sunlight being let in.

Hammocks are classified as dry (xeric), moist (mesic), or wet (hydric).
xeric contains little moisture.
mesic contains a moderate amount of moisture.
hydric contains very wet soil.

Hammocks tend to occur in locations where fire isn't as common, or where there's some sort of protection from fire within neighboring ecosystems.

Brooker Creek

11/04/16
Brooker Creek
Diane Oganesova
77 degrees (breezy/sunny)
High Pine and Pine Grasslands

Brooker Creek is greatly threatened by people, droubts, and not having prescribed fires. This park needs to receive 'prescribed' burns to thin out the pines.

The preserve itself is 8,000 acres. 55% uplands, and 45% wetlands.
High pine grasslands formerly, were the most common ecosystem in the state (covering almost 3/4's of FL). During the 19th century, because of logging, that changed which resulted into, now they are only found as a secondary growth forest.
A few ecosystem functions within a pine community are: protection, enjoyment, food, shelter, source of fire.
Within communities, you may encounter an indicator species or a keystone species.
Findings of indicator species symbolizes that the ecosystem is more "in-tact."

Within a pine community, the indicator species would be a gopher tortoise because it burrows up to 40ft long, providing a hiding place.

Within a flatland community, worms are considered to be indicator species because they "air out" the soil.

Again, the preserve is dependent on prescribed fires to thin out and get rid of extra pines.

Brooker Creek

11/4/16

Kaelyn Jenkins

Brooker Creek

     We visited Brooker Creek to learn about High Pine Grasslands and Pine Flat-woods. These communities were the most common ecosystem found in Florida but that all changed because of logging in the 1900s. These pine communities are fire dependent, so the park needs to have prescribed burns every now and again. Prescribed burns is when the park lights a section on fire purposely. This controlled burning can stimulate the germination of trees and reveal soil mineral layers which increases seedling vitality, therefore giving life back into the forest. Prescribed burns also help with opening up space and controlling diseases. These pine communities are actually very functional. They are perfect for protection, shelter, lumber, carbon storage, and source of fire. 

     A change in elevation in a ecosystem can make a huge difference. High pine grasslands can be found in high elevation. The grasslands have two forest layers where the ground layer and canopy is. Pine flat-woods are can be found, in the opposite areas of high pine grasslands, in low elevation areas. The pine flat-wood's canopy, shrub layer, and ground cover are the three forest layers.

     You can tell if a community is thriving or not based on indicator and keystone species. You can't have a community intact without an indicator species. They are essential to an ecosystem. To survive species depend on keystone. An example of a keystone species is the golfer tortoise because the tunnels, abandoned or occupied, they build can be used as a dwelling for other creatures.

     This ecosystem is greatly  threatened by fires, people, droughts, and development

Sawgrass Lake Park

10/14/16

Kaelyn Jenkins

Sawgrass Lake Park

     The temperature was around 80 degrees at Sawgrass Lake. While at the park we learned the differences and similarities between the ecosystems of lakes and ponds. Doodles you know a lot of sinkhole lakes are found in Florida? Sawgrass lake is a seepage lake which means it gets its water from the ground and the rain. The water is trapped the only way out is through evaporation. Sediment has a long-residence period due to this. 

     The acidity in the freshwater of the lake, created by fallen dead leaves, has a pH of 6. But the shoreline had an abundance of vegetation. In  the lake some submerged plants could be hiding. We learned there is a restriction of photosynthesis due to light not being able to reach the lower depths of the lake. Vegetation that was not on shore and not hidden below in the depths of the murky water, was floating on the surface. These floating plants thrive because they can get direct sunlight at the surface and aren't weighed down by foundation. 

     The biggest threats to this ecosystem are: humans, climate change and lead, from the nearby gun range. The gun range contaminated the lake with lead. They fixed the contamination back in 2015 and periodically check the lake for new contamination.

Hammock Park

11/18/16
Kaelyn Jenkins
Hammock Park

     On a bright and sunny day we headed out to Hammock park to learn about hardwood hammocks. We learned about how plants deal with low light, the three types of hammocks, and the difference between deciduous and evergreen.

     Plants in hardwood hammocks have to deal with low light conditions. But lucky for the plants, they have found a few solutions for their low light problem by either growing fast to reach the light, having broader leaves, holding onto their leaves longer, growing slow while biding their time, or the use of allelopathy. Allelopathy is chemical warfare for plants, plants use this technique to take out the competition.

     Then we learned about the three types of hammocks, xeric, mesic, and hydric. Xeric which are dry with low nutrients and high up in elevation. Mesic which is more diverse and moist with vegetation, like evergreens, pines and cabbage palms. Hydric hammock is wet and has may have standing water.

     There is a difference between deciduous and evergreen. Deciduous trees lose all of their leaves at once during one season and grow new ones in a later season. Evergreen trees have leaves all year long, they will lose some leaves but new ones will grow right back. Not all hardwoods are evergreens, maple trees are deciduous while alms and pines are evergreens. At the least the hardwood hammocks have two main layers. One of the layers is the diverse canopy. Another layer is  the understory or shrub layer.

     Without fire, the way for new trees to spring up is through gaps created from fallen trees. This is called succession. Some major threats to this ecosysytem are development, invasive species like the air potato, and fire.

Hammock Park

Hammock park is located in Dunedin and was owned by a church.  It was a nice day, dry and in the 80's

The park is very shaded due to the canopy coverage. 
The  hardwoods the grow in that park (any hardwood) are angiosperms. We also learned the difference between deciduous and evergreens. Evergreens are green all year round and don't drop their leaves, whereas deciduous trees change color and drop their leaves in the cold months. Most plants thrive in the cooler months because the canopy layer has opened up and sunlight is shining though. Hammock park had Mesic(wet) and Xetric (dry) areas. 

The hardwood hammocks help moderate temperature , water filtration, and carbon storage. The biggest threats are dry weather and humans