Day 5: Archbold Biological Station
31/10/22
Archbold
Gathered together in the dining room at Archbold station we all sit down to listen to Mark Deyrup.
Interested in entomology and ecology, Deyrup has been working at Archbold Biological Field Station in South Central Florida for 40 years and is looking forward to taking us round the station and into his lab.
Deyrup declares that while 80% of other scrubland areas in Florida were flattened into golf courses Archbold survived.
The habitat we were staying in at Archbold is two million years old. Archbold was an island free from glaciers, accumulating biodiversity over time. Biodiversity such as 130 burrowing species of bees as well as over 100 ant species at Archbold, which is two times the number in all of Britain. Equally because of its age, long term plants found a foothold here long ago.
Much of this diversity is found under the sand.
When Deyrup began sifting through the sand and exploring Archbold he realised many species were undescribed to science, and after naming at least 24 species, how difficult describing them is.
To name a species you have to know what it is not, meaning niche experts are needed.
The Hike Begins
It is nearing midday and extremely hot. Many species sensibly take cover at midday.
Species that cannot hide, are obviously, the plants.
Leaves on plants here are tougher and more leathery than the ones on species found in humid areas Deyrup points out.
Many of the plants Deyrup shows us on the walk are endangered because there is so little scrubland left, such as the pygmy fringe tree Chionanthus pygmaeus . This tree is dioecious with strongly scented flowers. Mark Deyrup admits that it is a mystery as to what pollinates it.
We come to an ant hill: a small hole in the ground with sand only encircling a section of it.
The ants are identified as dorymyrmex ants. The insects are unable to sting and so squirt out irritating chemicals at threats.
Their ant hills have no obvious architectural advantage, for example the rain still pushes sand in the nest.
The sand all around Archbold is white, heavy and smooth.
It is made of silica and so has many remarkable properties:
 |
| Racoon tracks in the sand |
-Its high stability means the sand never solidifies
-Many insects spend their lives burrowing from plant to plant feeding on roots as tunnels will not collapse. June beetles and cockchafers are such organisms. Wasps will also dig, looking for larvae to feed on.
-Seedlings can grow protected under the sand, as light can stream straight the clear grains, forming a small greenhouse
Nematodes additionally burrow free through the sand along with fungal filaments
Many plants are symbiotic and depend on mycorrhizal fungi at Archbold. The fungi help plants take up nutrients such as phosphate ions with their high surface area given by hyphae. In return for this service fungi get a supply of carbohydrates.
These fungi manage the plants they support, communicating with the same species on other plants and passing nutrients to and thro.
All of this microbial diversity is what makes Archbold unique. If the habitat was lost we would lose with it this complex web that still needs to be fully understood.
Deyrup moves on and looks at the saw palmetto plants which live for hundreds of years as parts of colonial systems that stretch under the sand.
Deyrup points out endangered sand skink trails. The other closest population of sand skinks is one hundred miles to the North where there is more pristine scrubland for them to persist. The long-lived sand skinks have three offspring at a time that hatch from large eggs.
 |
| A species of long-stemmed cacti |
Trails across the sand lead to tiny pygmy mole crickets that feed off blue-green cyanobacteria. Since females do not have ears they detect mating calls through hairs on their body. The sound itself is too small to travel through air and so instead is propagated through solid substances.
Fire
Sand pines are highly adapted to fires, their thick bark helps protects themselves while the fire melts the resin holding their cones together, releasing seeds onto the bare soil that the fire has formed.
Despite this, fire will burn down pine trees, preventing them from taking over the scrubland habitat.
Without fires the change in the ecosystem is so dramatic that many rare species will disappear, such as the threatened scrub jay. Controlled burning for this bird is necessary every fifteen to twenty years.
This is why controlled fires are carried out every ten years on rotations in sections around the station. This means patches are left as refuges and at different stages of development to accommodate as many species as possible.
Water
Since rain filters straight through the sand and there is little shade and the habitat becomes dry very fast, which is why:
.jpg) |
| Scrub Oak, Quercus berberidifolia |
Scrub oaks have leaves that furl in on themselves to avoid the midday sun. Where, sand live oaks maintain a layer of plush air under their bark that protects against the wind, which causes water to diffuse out of the tree trunks.
Chapman Oaks have leathery thick leaves, so that water molecules have further to diffuse to escape the plants.
Threats
Primarily lack of correct management and invasive species. Changes in weather patterns due to climate change may also cause problems in the future.
Mark Deyrup leads us into his laboratory.
Inside are rows and rows of ant drawings, of species he has studied or described.
Deyrup is the proud author and illustrator of ‘Ants of Florida: Identification and Natural History’
Upstairs is where Deyrup creates his art. Looking through his microscope and using coloured pencils Deyrup will sketch the insect on tracing paper, get it absolutely perfect then scratch it onto card and work more on the drawing.
Adorning the room were lines and lines of hanging plastic sandwhich bags. Inside each were different types of plant matter. When I looked closer I could see that tiny insects, as Deyrup explaned, were crawling out of the foliage of their own accord. This is the most effective method of collection Deyrup has found.
Along the walk to meet Angell an armadillo was Spotted in daylight
The Angells
After this, at approximately 1pm, we met Dustin and Emily Angell, who took us through their projects at Archbold:
Dustin is in charge of education and outreach. He is currently working with photography to inspire children in his Florida Stewards Project. While Emily is working on the predator-prey program which aims to ultimately lead to improvements in wildlife corridors.
Predator-Prey Program
The need for this project was first highlighted by a black bear being recorded travelling 500 miles in three months until it`s journey was ended by an impassable road. This is going to be an increasing problem in Florida, as development continues at an extremely fast rate. On average 1000 people a day move to Florida.
The project looks into:
Interactions of species within the environment
Interactions between species
Eco-connectivity
Effects of large carnivores on the land
To undergo this research camera traps were set up at 134 sites spread across three different properties from March 2022.
So far, the project has displayed the range of species around Archbold.
Camera traps have caught black bears, bald eagles virginia oppossums and many more organisms.
Dustin`s Florida Stewards Project
The Florida Stewards Project depicts through photography the people, environment and careers associated with the headwaters of the everglades. This is tied in with his education and outreach program working with children visiting Archbold. He uses the photographs to inspire these youths and to give them the idea of going into research and conservation.
Walk with Dustin
 |
| Sand pine, Pinus clausa |
For a habitat to be labelled as scrubland it as to be dry with white sand in Florida. There are also often oak forests kept short by fires.
Scrub oaks are adapted to scrubland with small and waxy leaves that curl up to prevent water loss at midday. Additionally, stomata are few between and only on the bottoms of the leaves. The fuzz on the oaks further helps, as it traps air, meaning high wind doesn`t whip away water particles in the air and increase diffusion out of the plant.
Angell points out small pits under our feet. These belong to ant lions, which prey on insects crawling close to the entrance of their dens.
Dustin gestures for us all to move closer. On a sand live oak he shows us a gall in which a gall wasp has laid an egg and caused the plant to grow around it in a sphere.
Each species of wasp has a different gall.
Archbold
 |
| pine snake, Pituophis melanoleucus, species found at Archbold |
Finally, we returned to the presentation room where we were given the history of Archbold and invited to ask any questions by the Executive Director of the station Hilary Swain.
Archbold Biological Station was founded by Richard Archbold who initially received 1,000 acres of the estate. The explorer Archbold paved the way for scientists to begin research programs at Archbold. From the 1970s to 1980s new land was added such as Lake Annie, which is part of the Global Lakes Ecological Observatory Network. Today, Buck Island Ranch is owned by the Field Station and is still a working ranch.
Studies are currently undergoing on Buck Island Ranch studying how ranches can be made for and to work with wildlife.
Useful Links:
More on Archbold: https://www.archbold-station.org/
Comments
Post a Comment