Natural Area Teaching Laboratory

&

Thomas J. Walker Conservation Area

Annual Report 2012-2013

Jennifer Gillett-KaufmanChair, Natural Area Advisory Committee 2011-

NATL-West

NATL-East

Archer Rd

34th S

tree

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Agenda for 2012-13 update

• Burns and restarting tracts • People counter update• Volunteer hours• Invasive species report• Additional activities• Fiscal report for FY 2012-13• Fiscal plan for FY 2013-14• Additional needs that could use funding

Burns, Restarting Tracts• July 2013 burn of north

Restricted Area Upland Pine Blocks D&E

• Accomplished the yearly restart of tract B (east side of the trail)

Nature Trail Update• Improvements to NATL’s interpretive signs

along nature trails: addition of new photosigns describing ecosystems, birds, reptiles and insects

• Over the summer, NATL hosted three long term student volunteer interns

• Interns worked to develop content for K-12 field trips and to improve visitor engagement

Four Florida Ecosystems for You to Explore!Nature Trails of UF’s Natural Area Teaching Laboratory (NATL)

SEEP Trail (wetlands) (3/4 mi.) - Follow signs or start at Natural Area Park

Hammock Trail (1/4 mi.) - Begins where Upland Pine and Old Field Trails end

People Counter Update

• Three TrailMaster units are installed at NATL’s Academic, Cultural Plaza and Natural Area Park (NAP) Entrances

• The Cultural Plaza Entrance has had a unit installed since July 2010, initial technical difficulties yielded unreliable data in the first few months

• Two additional units were installed at the Academic Entrance (June 2011) and Natural Area Park Entrance (April 2012)

People Counter Update

• Because most NATL visitors are counted twice (as they enter and exit), all counts are divided by two in order to estimate the number of visitors NATL receives

• Information gathered by the TrailMaster units since December 2010 generates an estimate of 40,677 visitors to the Natural Area since then

• This is an underestimate because the three units were not installed concomitantly

People Counter Update

Figure 1. Summary of TrailMaster counts for 2010 through 2013 at the Cultural Plaza, Academic and NAP entrances (all numbers are TrailMaster counts/2 because most users are counted twice, as they enter and exit).

People Counter Update    Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total

CPE 2010                       324 324

  2011 465 457 528 636 428 422 686 527 283 366 330 300 5428

  2012 356 412 529 1532 313 478 521 582 373 697 706 543 7042

  2013 673 796 428 443 * * * *         2340

AE 2011           676 533 549 835 916 558 346 4413

  2012 689 804 725 1175 573 720 502 609 1090 955   249 8091

  2013 572 656 883 595 352 344 588 291.5         4281.5

NAP 2012       639 471 472 321 384 677 549 375 331 4219

  2013 534 605 838 717.5 455.5 488 553 347.5         4538.5

                         Grand

40677Total

Figure 2. Summary of NATL usage estimates via TrailMaster counts (all numbers are TrailMaster counts/2 because most users are counted twice, as they enter and exit). *Technical difficulties, possibly due to ants and/or laser sensitivity setting, caused data to be unreliable from May-August.  

Volunteer Update• Since September 2012, NATL has hosted a number

of volunteer events focused on coral ardisia control, trash removal, vine clearing and wood removal in the upland pine area

• In Summer 2013, NATL hosted several volunteer events as well as a highly skilled long term volunteer and two super volunteers

• NATL is very thankful for its two super volunteers, Tom Walker and Ken Prestwich who donated 440 and 104 hours of their time, respectively

Miscellaneous Volunteer Projects 208 hours

Chris Johns 80 hours

Tom Walker 440 hours

Ken Prestwich 104 hours

Total 832 hours

Control of Invasive Plants• Cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica) Of 45 sites infested in

previous years, only four had cogongrass in 2013. Currently, living cogongrass is known at only one site.

• Skunkvine (Paederia foetida) During 2013 all previously infested sites were monitored; no living plants were found. A new infestation was found growing on the fence bordering the Regency Oaks apartments. This area was sprayed and is being closely monitored.

• Coral ardisia (Ardisia crenata) As in 2012, only five berry bearing plants were found. Routinely inspecting the most critical sites and grid searching has reduced the number of seedlings throughout NATL. Coral ardisia is growing on the Archer Woods side of the fence, as well as in the woods between Archer Woods and Regency Oaks, but has not crossed the fence since it was last pushed back.

Additional activities for 2012-13• Continue eradication of exotic species• Continue upland pine restoration (burning &

planting)• Revise kiosk content and signs (as needed)• Received funding to run electricity to power Wi-Fi

stations• Added users to our social networking we use to

deliver news about NATL• NATL’s Facebook page has 475 Likes and our

Twitter page has 333 Followers• NATL also has a hashtag (#UFNATL) which can

be used in all social media platforms

On find us at NATL.UF

Follow us on

@UFNATL

facebook search for: The Natural Area Teaching Lab

You are invited to:

Share pictures taken in NATLComment on observationsAsk questionsEnjoy pictures of the areaLearn what others have seen

NATL Minigrants 2012-13• In 2012, the NAAC received and ranked 8 Minigrant

proposals. In addition to the 2 Minigrants chosen and funded by the NAAC, 3 more projects received funding through the Florida Museum of Natural History, Doug Jones and Beverly Sensbach, generous faculty sponsors or the NATL Chair

• These projects are in various stages of completion, with final reports coming in over the next 2 weeks

• The Minigrant 2013-14 announcement has just been posted and can be found online

Budget Report & Spending Plan

• Fiscal Plan for FY 2012-13 was followed• Fiscal Plan for FY 2013-14 was unanimously

approved by the NAAC• “[The chair of NAAC] … will annually submit a

spending plan to the Lakes, Vegetation and Landscaping Committee (LVLC) for its approval, and the Chair of NAAC will submit an annual report about the uses of endowment funds to LVLC.”

See handout

NATL Fiscal Plan for FY 2013-14

Funds available for 2013-14, excluding stipend for graduate TAs*

Brought forward from 2012-13 - $30Projected income for 2013-14Provost $6,000 Assumes no changeNATL endowment $4,625 Assumes no change Grand Total $10,595

Spending plan for 2013-14OPSUndergraduate TA $4,322 Experienced help, 8 hrs/week (maintenance of nature trails)Control of invasives $1,320 Invasive specialist, 2 hrs/week (1/2 of amt allocated in 2012-13)

Other spendingMiscellaneous expenses $2,500 Upland pine restoration $1000 Continue efforts to restore 13 acres of longleaf pine ecosystem

Includes burnmaster charges based on quote.2000 NT fliers $400 2 minigrants @$500 each $1,000 Program attracts student proposals to fulfill NATL needsGrand Total $10,542To be carried forward $53

NATL improvement fund (from online donations)Online donations to NATL $921 (implemented March 2012)

*The Provost and the CALS Dean will each pay the stipend for a NATL Graduate Teaching Assistant

Wish List• Extend potable water service to the pavilion area

to provide access to water for an eyewash, drinking, bottle filling, hand washing, and class-related low-volume uses

• Two or more locking cupboards for class use • Dog waste sanitation stations

NATL@ufl.edu

@UFNATL on Twitter

NATL.UF on Facebook