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Oyster Reef Ecology | On the Reef

The Magic

by Randall October 26, 2010
by Randall October 26, 2010 1 comment
Dr. Randall Hughes FSU Coastal & Marine Lab
P1010575

Randall gets back to her roots, placing traps on a reef with Hanna.

IGOR chip- biogeographic 150When I worked as a technician for our current collaborator Jon Grabowski back when he was in graduate school, one of his favorite sayings as we headed out to the field was “This is where the magic happens”. Yesterday and today I got to experience that magic again as I made my first visit to our oyster sites in Cedar Key. Though I spend a lot more time with plants these days, I do love oyster reefs. Maybe it’s because the first field research I did was on reefs (with Jon), or maybe it’s because of the mystique they seem to hold for nearly everyone, but it sure was fun to hear those shells crunch as I stepped out of the boat.

Of course, in addition to “the magic”, there’s also the cuts and scrapes, the no see-ums, and frustrating way that nets get caught on every oyster clump within 2 ft. But something about the reefs wins me over every time!

Enough of all the nostalgia – what did we actually accomplish? Hanna and I started about midday on Sunday, deploying traps at each of the sites. We realized as we headed back to the boat ramp that the return trip we were scheduled to make later that evening after deploying nets would have been pretty challenging in the dark, so we spent most of the afternoon seeking out a plan B. Thanks to some wonderful people in Cedar Key, we ended up docking the boat for the night at a home just near our sites! Around 6pm we headed out to pick up the traps. We didn’t find a whole lot – a few speckled seatrout and some killifish – but we were able to deploy our nets without any trouble (other than the previously mentioned no see-ums). By 9:30pm we were back at the rental house eating our frozen pizza dinner.

P1010636This morning we got up and headed back out to see what was in our nets. Somewhat surprisingly, it was all mullet and catfish! Not that we didn’t expect those fish to be there, but we thought we’d get a greater variety of species. There were also 2 red drum, 1 blue crab, and a couple of crown conchs, but mostly it was mullet, mullet, mullet.

After we got turned around heading back to the boat ramp, I was really glad that we hadn’t tried that trip in the dark last night! All in all, it was a trouble-free trip to the field, and a welcome opportunity for me to see some of “the magic” again myself.

David & Randall’s research is funded by the National Science Foundation.
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biogeographicCedar Keycoastal ecologyFlorida State UniversityFSU Coastal and Marine Labgulf of mexicohardhead catfishmarine biologymarine ecologyNational Science Foundationno see-umsNSFoyster reefoyster spatroctoberpush
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Randall

Dr. Randall Hughes is an ecologist and marine biologist focusing on the causes and consequences of species and genetic diversity in coastal systems. She has conducted experimental work on plants and animals in seagrasses, salt marshes, oyster reefs, and kelp forests. The common thread throughout these activities is a long-standing interest in generating information that can enhance the effectiveness of conservation and management decisions.

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1 comment

The “In the Grass” Top 10 of 2010 | January 7, 2011 - 3:33 pm

[…] Randall writes about her return to the reef. Snails climbing on cordgrass reproductive stems in the field. […]

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Florida milkvetch

Florida milkvetch (Astragalus obcordatus) in the Munson Sandhills

When I test out a new camera, I usually head to a random spot in the Munson Sandhills and take a series of videos and photos. This small flower caught my eye, as almost nothing was in bloom. I identified it as Florida milkvetch (Astragalus obcordatus) in iNaturalist, and it was confirmed.
I then saw a photo of this plant in a Facebook group for native plant enthusiasts. It turns out this is kind of a rare plant, and one botanist went so far as to classify it as imperiled. It pays to keep your eyes down by your feet when walking in the sandhills.

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