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The WFSU Ecology Blog

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        • In the Grass- Salt Marsh Biodiversity Study
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In the Grass- Salt Marsh Biodiversity Study

by Rob Diaz de Villegas January 30, 2012
In the Grass- Salt Marsh Biodiversity Study

IGOR chip- biodiversity 150

Salt marshes help fight erosion, reduce storm surge, and shelter thousands of dollars worth of seafood per acre.

How does diversity help the salt marsh? This is what Dr. Randall Hughes is trying to find out in her NSF funded study.  Salt marshes are productive ecosystems that are facing massive die-off.  Does having a greater genetic diversity within a marsh’s foundation species, smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) make it less susceptible to disturbances such as drought?  Do certain combinations of plants and animals make for a stronger marsh?

Marsh periwinkleBiodiversity & Salt Marsh Die-Off
Marshes are as productive a habitat as oyster reefs, and just as vulnerable to drought. Randall Hughes looks at how biodiversity makes a salt marsh more resistant to loss.

Rhizomes of a slat marsh Spartina plant

The Many Personalities of Salt Marsh Cordgrass
It’s hard to see, but marsh cordgrass plants have their own personalities. Genetic diversity among the plants may benefit the salt marsh, along with the critters that rely on it.

Mussels, Another friend of the salt marsh

Diversity – Friends of the Salt Marsh
Those critters may benefit the salt marsh, too, particularly fiddler crabs and mussels. Randall looks at how diversity of both plant and animals (species diversity) can make a healthy salt marsh.

Black Mangrove Propagules

Black Mangroves: Strangers in a St. Joe Bay Salt Marsh
Not all combinations of plants are good for the marsh. Randall investigates the increasing black mangrove population of the SJB salt marsh and the effects it may leave on the marsh.

Seagrass wrack

Seagrass Wrack in the Salt Marsh – Blessing or Curse?
Some disturbances may be beneficial to the salt marsh. So is Seagrass wrack in the marsh a destroyer, or provider of nutrients and habitat for the these plant and animal species?

Randall’s study is funded by the National Science Foundation.

Fiddler in St. Joe Bay

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The 2021 Backyard Blog

Eastern bumblebee on blueberry flower.

With every passing day, spring brings us more flowers, and more pollinators (and many other insects as well).

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

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.

iNaturalist.org

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View robdv’s observations »

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