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Apalachicola River and BayEcoAdventuresKayak and Canoe Adventures

Audio: Rivertrek 2011 on Perspectives

by Rob Diaz de Villegas October 10, 2011
by Rob Diaz de Villegas October 10, 2011 0 comment
Rob Diaz de Villegas WFSU-TV

IGOR chip- human appreciation 150Last Thursday, WFSU-FM’s Perspectives welcomed four guests to talk about Rivertrek 2011: Earl Morrogh, the event’s coordinator; Dan Tonsmeire of the Apalachicola Riverkeeper; Georgia Ackerman of the Wilderness Way; and Doug Alderson, who we remember as Florida’s coordinator for paddling trails.  If you don’t remember, here’s a link to the video for which we interviewed him on the Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail.  Rivertrek, much like that trail, is a five day paddling/ camping trip.  The ten paddlers setting out on Wednesday are not beginners.

Click here to listen to an audio archive of last Thursday’s Perspectives.

So, after spending over a year dealing with saltwater habitats, why are we talking about freshwater bodies of water?  It has to do with that connectedness we see over and over again.  Salt marshes and oyster reefs benefit each other.  Some fish and shrimp species spend their younger years in these coastal habitats before heading out to deeper waters.  And without the Apalachicola River’s constant flow of fresh water, Apalachicola Bay would be too salty to sustain healthy oyster reefs.  This would affect not only the oyster fishery, but the species that use the reefs as a habitat (many of which are in turn commercially and recreationally fished).  Oyster filtration as an ecosystem service would also be endangered, affecting local seagrass beds and the species they support.

Of course, the river itself supports a lot of biodiversity- 1,500 plant and animal species make their home on the river basin.  That includes over forty species of amphibians and 80 species of reptiles.  That’s why these paddlers are trying to raise awareness for this river, and fighting to prevent development long it.

For more information, visit the Rivertrek 2011 web site.

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Rob Diaz de Villegas

Rob Diaz de Villegas is a senior producer for WFSU-TV, covering outdoors and ecology. After years of producing the music program OutLoud, Rob found himself in a salt marsh with a camera, and found a new professional calling as well. That project, the National Science Foundation funded "In the Grass, On the Reef," spawned the award winning WFSU Ecology Blog. Now in its tenth year, the Ecology Blog recently wrapped its most ambitious endeavor, the EcoCitizen Project. Rob is married with two young sons, who make a pretty fantastic adventure squad.

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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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iNaturalist became a part of the WFSU Ecology Blog during the EcoCitizen Project in 2019.  Since then, we’ve used it to help identify the many plants and animals we see on our shoots.  And on the Backyard Blog, we show how it can be used to identify weeds and garden insects, to help figure out what’s beneficial or a possible pest.  Below is the iNaturalist profile belonging to WFSU Ecology producer Rob Diaz de Villegas.

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