conservation, restoration & citizen science · apopka, florida native plant society, sierra...
TRANSCRIPT
Conservation, Restoration &
Citizen Science
PRESERVING, CONSERVING, AND RESTORING THE NATIVE PLANTS AND PLANT COMMUNITIES OF FLORIDA
Presented by: Juliet Rynear, FNPS Conservation Chair
Within and without …
We’ve lost our connections to the life around us
What is at stake?
We have an Urgent Need to Save Plant
Species and Plant Communities
before it is too late!
Imperilled Plant
Communities
Pine rockland
Upland glade
Keys cactus barren
Sandhill
Upland pine
Dry prairie
Limestone outcrop
Rockland hammock
Scrub
Upland mixed woodland
Connections …
Facebook Connections
How can we reconnect with nature?
The 5 Step Plant
Establish Connections ~ Educate and Engage,
Promote Participation and Advocacy
1.
Educate
2.
Engage
3.
Participate 4.
Advocate
5.
Run for Public Office or support those who do
Preserve
Conserve
Restore
Creating more
consumers
≠
Mission
Don’t get stuck at Step 1
Reclamation
Restoration – prescribed fire, invasives removal
Critically endangered sandhill
community supporting the 2nd largest
population of Warea amplexifolia. One
of only 7 remaining.
Most species
will never be sold in a nursery
Connecting -
Through Citizen Science
• Outdoor classrooms
• Seed collection & floristic inventories
• Propagation & restoration on protected lands
• Statewide species mapping – Scott Davis
• Monitoring plant populations
• Habitat surveys & habitat monitoring
• Conservation Grant projects
Outdoor Classrooms – creating citizen scientists
Seed collection & floristic inventories:
The Importance of Citizen Scientists
Plant Propagation
Restoration on
protected lands
Scott Davis Created a State-
Wide Milkweed Map:
• 1,170 colonies, and counting!
• We can’t reduce mowing and
manage populations if we don’t
know where they are.
Scott Davis created a
State-Wide Rare
Species Map:
We can’t reduce mowing and
manage populations if we
don’t know where they are.
Monitoring: The Importance of Citizen Scientists
Monitoring Pawpaw – monitoring Deeringothamnus rugelii
(Rugel’s False PawPaw), a Citizen Science
project since 2012
Conradina - plant inventories at Malabar
Scrub Sanctuary and Ais Lookout Point Park
Nature Coast & Hernando - monitoring
Campanula robinsiae (Brooksville bell flower)
Heartland & Tarflower – monitoring numerous
rare species at several restoration sites
Cocoplum - Seagrass Surveys
Roadside Milkweed Surveys: The Importance of CITIZEN SCIENTISTS
Development Site Rescues
Invasive Species Removal:
Citizen Participation
Reducing Fuel Load
Fun with chainsaws
Habitat Restoration - Reducing Fuel Load
Fun with chainsaws
Run for Public Office
Run for Public Office
What Engaged Citizens Have Achieved
Mackay Gardens and Lakeside Preserve: a 123 acre property, with a historic
home, 115 acres of sandhill, scrub, slope forest, seepage slope, and
oak/hickory hammock communities.
Oakland Nature Preserve: 128 acres of uplands and forested wetlands south
of Lake Apopka, was acquired by a collaboration of The Friends of Lake
Apopka, Florida Native Plant Society, Sierra Club, and Audubon Society.
PEAR Park: 50 acres of Scrub Jay restoration, 5 acres of meadow restoration,
a nature center with a geology lab, and home to hundreds of species of plants,
animals, birds, and invertebrates.
Connect and Protect
Thank you!
Learn more about Florida Native Plant Society: