Daily Archives

November 28, 2011

Plants- From Wildflowers to Longleaf Pine Salt Marsh Ecology | In the Grass
A long time in the making

by Randall November 28, 2011

by Randall November 28, 2011

If you want an activity that will take a lot of your time, go out onto your lawn and try to figure out which blades of grass belong to what individual plant. The grass in a salt marsh, like your lawn, is made up of various individuals, each with different characteristics that contribute to the success of a marsh. Dr. Randall Hughes’ new experiment looks at what makes habitat building cordgrass individuals successful.

We’ve been busy working on the north Florida part of the NOVA | PBS #ClimateAcrossAmerica initiative. Our first story for that initiative has just dropped, on protecting Florida’s coasts from storm surge. We’ve been out in the field recently for a few other stories you won’t want to miss

Fire and Black Carbon in the Longleaf Forest

Prescribed fire helps maintain biodiversity in longleaf ecosystems, but it releases carbon into the atmosphere. Despite this, burning might help these systems store carbon in the long term. This is our second story for the #ClimateAcrossAmerica initiative.

Black and Yellow Rails: the most secretive birds in North America

Fire also helps maintain biodiversity in coastal salt marshes. We head to the coast with Tall Timbers Research Station in search of two seldom seen birds that rely on fire: black and yellow rails.

The Brown-Headed Nuthatch, a bird with a unique family structure

Back at Tall Timbers, we visit the nests of one of the cutest inhabitants of the longleaf forest, the brown-headed nuthatch. It’s one of a few birds where extended family help raise young.

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28	29	30

November 28, 2011

A long time in the making