Natural Area Teaching Lab

Erica Van EttenNATL graduate TA

60 acre natural area on campus

4 ecosystems

Wetlands

NATL west

NATL east

Upland Pine

Upland pine ecosystem restored (1995-date)As illustrated and described elsewhere, NATL's upland pine ecosystem was choked with laurel oaks in 1995. By 2004, after six prescribed burns and the cutting or killing of hundreds of the invading oaks, the ecosystem was once more hospitable to the germination of the seeds of longleaf pines and the growth of their seedlings. 15 acres

13 being restored since 1995 2 left unburned

Old-field succession must be periodically interrupted to prevent the succession from reaching its endpoint, i.e., a self-sustaining community (hammock or upland pine in this case). The succession area is subdivided into plots (see map) that will be cleared and cultivated at 1-, 10-, or 40-year intervals. Units with the same period of rotation will be cleared and cultivated out of phase. For example, every five years one of the two 10-year plots will be cultivated. The 1-year plot will be cultivated only during years that none of the other plots is cultivated. This schedule will produce five representative successional states at all times.

Old Field Plots

6 acres • 3 tilling schedules

• 1, 10, & 40 year rotations• 5 succession stages

Hardwood hammock

21 acres in NATL west

Ephemeral ponds

SEEP – Stormwater Ecological Enhancement Project

• Retention basin re-contoured for SEEP (1998)

BEFORE

SEEP restoration

1998

SEEP today

Boardwalk trail completed 2008

Nature trails & kiosks

Basic & advanced trail guides

Teaching facilities

Academic pavilion

Natural Area Park

NATL west academic area

• 22 acres closed to public• guidelines available online

• Student projects• Short & long –term

Research

NATL EAST

• added in 2005•11 acres

• ALL academic use only

Central marsh

Looking north from C10

50-meter grid & photos

Grid-based photographic record of vegetation (1997, 2007-08)In January 1997, a photographic record was made of NATL by taking pictures to the north, east, south, and west at each grid intersection. This was repeated for NATL-west in 2007 and NATL-east in 2008.                                                                                                                                              

N-S-E-W grid photos

NATL west photos 1997 & 2007

NATL east photos 2008

1997 2007

GIS Maps & photos – all online

• Grid-based record of soils (2000)Dr. Mary E. Collins

LIDAR Elevation Contours

Aerial photos

All pines mapped!

Species lists online

• Surveys of biota (1995-date)Higher plants, vertebrates, and many groups of invertebrates that occur in NATL have been surveyed and the results posted.

Gryllus firmus

Mini-grant program• Two $500 grants available

– Individuals or groups– Enhance informational infrastructure– Research projects

Vegetational history Species surveys

Questions?

http://natl.ifas.ufl.edu/ericavanetten@gmail.com