Archbold Biological Station has awarded the David S. Maehr Florida Wildlife Corridor Applied Science Fellowship to Dr. Janardan Mainali, a Post-Doctoral Researcher at Stetson University’s Institute for Water and Environmental Resilience.

The Florida Wildlife Corridor is an 18-million-acre connected network of public and private lands stretching from the Everglades north to Georgia and west to Alabama. It is primarily designed to protect connections between wildlife habitats and is about 55% conserved, so far. Last year, the Florida legislature unanimously passed, and Governor DeSantis signed, the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act, formally recognizing the geography and providing funds for state land conservation activities. Along with other key groups including the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation, Wild Path, Conservation Florida, and Live Wildly, Archbold is championing the Corridor vision—to conserve natural and agricultural lands of value to wildlife all across the state.

The David S. Maehr Fellowship aims to catalyze the science needed to effectively and efficiently conserve the Florida Wildlife Corridor, and the ecological (e.g., wildlife, water, and ecosystem processes) and societal (e.g., ecosystem service, recreational, and agricultural) benefits it provides. The fellowship is named in honor of Dr. David Maehr, renowned conservation biologist known internationally as a world expert on large carnivores, most notably Black Bear and Florida Panther.  Maehr was a faculty member at the University of Kentucky who conducted research at Archbold Biological Station for 25 years. His work helped form the backbone of knowledge on which the Florida Wildlife Corridor geography and conservation campaign are built, and he trained and mentored many students and scientists who have gone on to careers in conservation. He was conducting an aerial survey of Highlands County Black Bears with friend and colleague Mason Smoak, prominent leader in the Highlands County agricultural community, when they were tragically lost when their plane went down southwest of Lake Placid, Florida in 2008.

Dr. Mainali’s project, “Spatial Patterns of Landscape Modifications and Their Relationships to Aquatic Habitat Quality in East Central Florida”, aims to examine the relationship between human-impacted land use and the health of aquatic ecosystems in East Central Florida, which includes sections of the Florida Wildlife Corridor that are most imperiled by urban development. The project will identify opportunity areas for more robust protection of land and aquatic ecosystems within the current Florida Wildlife Corridor boundaries, while also seeking to increase regional connectivity of aquatic ecosystems.

Janardan explained, “Here in Central Florida, humans frequently interact with aquatic ecosystems such as wetlands, lakes, rivers, and the ocean. Our proposed scientific research funded by this award will examine the relationship between people and aquatic ecosystems and contribute to protecting the water quality of wetlands, lakes, and rivers.” He continued, “We also plan to explore loss of connectivity in natural ecosystems, such as fragmented habitats, and how more urban development has impacted aquatic ecosystems in this region. We hope our results will help inform decision making for the Florida Wildlife Corridor and suggest ways to: protect upland terrestrial habitats; increase the habitat quality of the aquatic ecosystem; and advocate for a better understanding of the land-water connectivity.”

The East Central Florida Regional Planning Council is serving as the primary community partner for Dr. Mainali’s project and will work closely with Archbold, Stetson’s Institute for Water and Environmental Resilience, local and state government, and other stakeholders to apply the results into the conservation elements of the East Central Florida Regional Resilience Action Plan. 

Archbold’s Director of Conservation, Dr. Joshua Daskin, said “We look forward to collaborating with the work Dr. Janardan Mainali and his collaborators at Stetson University and the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council have proposed, and helping to turn their science into conservation action outcomes to help protect the Florida Wildlife Corridor.”

Author: Iris Kennedy

Around 2 million years ago when the sea level was higher, the majority of Florida was completely underwater except for a region of sandy islands. Those sandy islands are now known as the Lake Wales Ridge, a ribbon of ancient sand dunes forming a backbone down peninsular Florida. Because this region has been above sea level for so long, many unique plants and animals have evolved there and it is now home to many endemic species. An endemic species is found only in one region and nowhere else. The Lake Wales Ridge has one of the highest levels of endemism in North America and is home to many unique and rare species found nowhere else on Earth.

Wedge-leaf Button Snakeroot (Eryngium cuneifolium) is one of the rare plants endemic to the Lake Wales Ridge, and only found in Highlands County, Florida. Dr. Sterling Herron, a research assistant in Archbold’s Plant Ecology Program, describes Wedge-leaf Button Snakeroot as “the rarest member of the carrot family, which can be detected from a carrot-spice scent in the fall.” The small white flowers of this plant bloom throughout Fall and are often visited by Black Swallowtail butterflies.

Wedge-leaf Button Snakeroot often grows in ‘gaps’ in rosemary scrub, which are open areas of bare sand. It also can be found growing along sandy fire lanes. Because of its preference for gaps, Wedge-leaf Button Snakeroot benefits from disturbances such as fires. Fires are an incredibly important part of the Florida scrub ecosystem, as they open up the landscape and create gaps where native plants like Wedge-leaf Button Snakeroot prefer to grow.

Wedge-leaf Button Snakeroot populations are able to recover after fire because of their soil seedbanks. Iris Kennedy, the Maxwell-Hanrahan Plant Ecology Intern explained, “A soil seedbank forms when seeds are dropped by plants and do not germinate immediately, instead remaining dormant in the soil to germinate at a later time.” The seed bank allows populations of Wedge-leaf Button Snakeroot to regenerate after experiencing a disturbance, like a fire. Kennedy is collecting data on the sizes of these seedbanks in the scrub. “Because of the larger size of Wedge-leaf Button Snakeroot seeds, they are relatively easy to sift out of the sand. This provides a valuable opportunity to investigate the way Wedge-leaf Button Snakeroot seeds are distributed in both natural and disturbed areas.” Kennedy hopes that studying Wedge-leaf Button Snakeroot seed banks, especially in disturbed roadsides, will contribute to the conservation of this federally endangered plant.

With so few populations of Wedge-leaf Button Snakeroot left, scientists at Archbold are always on the lookout for more wild populations. If you find any Wedge-leaf Button Snakeroot on your property, please reach out to the Archbold Plant Ecology program (contact information on our website http://www.archbold-station.org). Protecting all the natural treasures in Highlands County may seem like a daunting task, but step one is simply recognizing and appreciating the value of what we have.