Bangor University Florida Wetlands Field Course: Monday 3rd March, Florida Gulf Coast University Campus

28C, 86% humidity
Setting off relatively early, on Monday we visited the FGCU campus. The campus has an area of 1 square mile, with approximately 50% of that set aside as protected reserve and conservation areas.
One of the professors at the university - Wynn - graciously gave us a tour of both the environmental and academic sites on campus. Wynn is a systems ecologist, studying the effect of drought, hurricanes, forest fires etc. on the natural environment. He also works in reconciliation ecology, which involves management of urban areas to make them more environmentally sensitive. For example, the construction of the university and subsequent draining of the land created water flow issues, causing flooding in nearby residential areas. Proper management and changes to the site has reduced this effect and water is now discharged properly and safely from the area.

ARTIFICIAL WETLAND

Sawgrass wetland area in the
foreground with drier upland behind

We first were shown an artificially constructed wetland, maintained by ecologists like Wynn at the university. Around the edge of the wetland, we encountered Cabbage palm - also known as the Florida state tree. Cabbage palm is a useful, hardy tree that is well known for withstanding hurricanes when many other tree species do not. Its fruit ('swamp cabbage') is also edible, and wiry fronds that grow between the leaves were often utilised by Native Americans to make into twine. Within the leaves of the tree we spotted a cuban tree frog, an invasive amphibian known to outcompete the native tree frog species.
Moving slightly further into the wetland, we encountered bayberry, a native shrub that emits a waxy substance used to make candles.
The majority of the wetland was made up of saw grass, a species that also covers most of the Florida everglades. In amongst this area, we spotted white-tailed deer tracks. White-tailed deer are capable of inhabiting a wide array of habitats, from the saw grass swamps here in Florida to the thornbrush deserts of Mexico.
Moving on to a drier upland area, it was noted that with the stark change in vegetation there was only a 20cm difference in elevation between this and the wetland area. Florida's wetlands provide a clear example of how the water table can drastically affect habitat type.
Within this upland area, we were shown the South Florida slash pine. This tree is incredibly well adapted to forest fires, more so than its Northern counterpart. In the event of contact with fire, the bark will splinter, peeling off and flying away from the trunk. This is thought to transfer heat energy away from the tree. The variety is also fire-resistant at the grass-seedling stage, as a dense tuft of needles protects the terminal bud.
Since the university opened, there have been two wildfires and two controlled burns on campus as an essential management measure.
Melaleuca was another species identified in the upland area. Melaleuca is an incredibly successful invasive species, as its massive seed production allows for a dense monoculture to form. It is even thought that fire, which has been used as an attempted control measure, can cause the seeds to spread further. However, Melaleuca is also commonly known as tea tree, and has valuable antiseptic qualities. It also produces an incredibly termite-resistant mulch, and so the waste produced after management at least has its uses.

BALD CYPRESS SWAMP

Moving on to another area of the campus, we approached the cypress forest and swamp area. Here we encountered our second palm species of the day: Saw palmetto. One way in which this species differs from cabbage palm is in that its leaves form a rounded fan from the stem, whereas the cabbage palm's leaves are arranged around an extension of the petiole, or a 'costa'. The saw palm is commonly found in the undergrowth of pine forests, and so its presence near the bald crypress forest is unsurprising. Extract of saw palm is said to help alleviate the symptoms of and prevent prostate cancer, however large clinical studies have shown no known medical effect.
A number of wild flowers were identified, such as swamp pink, purple stargrass and penny royal - which smells of peppermint.

Venturing further into the bald cypress forest (so named as it drops its needles so early in the season - an odd feature for an evergreen tree), it was pointed out to us that the smallest trees are found on the outer edge, getting gradually taller until the very centre at which the trees become shorter again. This is because the ground is more dry on the outside, getting closer to optimal moisture the further into the forest you get, until the centre where water levels are too high and growth is limited again.
Deep into the swamp, cypress knees project from the swamp floor. It is believed that they have a double function: they help to oxygenate the roots of the tree, and also lock together with neighbouring trees to help anchor the population during hurricanes and similar severe weather.