From left to right: intern Seth Raynor, intern Lily Fulton, research assistant Lexi Siegle-Bates, and research assistant Scott Ward work together to measure large rosemary. Photo by volunteer Linda Gette.

Author:  Lexi Siegle-Bates

Scientists at Archbold Biological Station work in some of Florida’s unique habitats. One of these interesting habitats is known as ‘Rosemary Scrub’ or, more informally, a ‘rosemary bald.’ You may have walked through a rosemary bald before without even knowing it. A rosemary bald is a relatively open landscape characterized by large Florida Rosemary shrubs (Ceratiola ericoides), and a few other dominant plants. Not many other plant species can grow in this habitat.  This is partly due to allelopathy, which is when plants release chemicals that inhibit the growth of other plants. In particular, Florida Rosemary plants secrete a chemical known as ceratiolin, which prevents most other plants from germinating in the area surrounding the rosemary shrubs.  Allelopathic interference, droughty soils, and other environmental limitations, result in patches of bare sand forming between rosemary shrubs, hence the name ‘Rosemary Bald.’ Since there is not much competition from other plants, rosemary shrubs can grow in large clusters, often with 100’s of individual plants in a small area. Florida Rosemary is also a long-lived perennial shrub with a steady growth rate, meaning it can often grow taller and wider than the scientists at Archbold!

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Author: Dr. Jim Carrel

Female Red Widow Spider. Photo by Jim Carrel.

Hidden away in the native scrub habitats at the Archbold Biological Station is a rare spider whose presence generally goes unknown to all but ardent field biologists. The Red Widow Spider spends most of its life hidden in short palmetto bushes.  Its world-wide range is restricted to undisturbed sand ridges in four central counties and two counties near Florida’s Atlantic coast. Dr. Jim Carrel, Research Associate at Archbold and former professor of biology at the University of Missouri, explains, “Although this species has a toxic venom like the dreaded Black Widow, there is no record of it having ever harmed a person. This is not at all surprising considering how much work I have to do to find them. The likelihood of anyone encountering a Red Widow by chance is near zero.”

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Author: Dr. Angela Tringali

Four Florida Scrub-Jays perch above oak scrub at Archbold Biological Station. Photo by Dr. Reed Bowman.

There are numerous articles on how friendships change in your 20s, 30s, and after marriage or parenthood. What we do not know is how ubiquitous these changes are throughout the animal kingdom. Researchers at Archbold Biological Station describe the social lives of Florida Scrub-Jays in different stages of life.

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Authors: Eli Haines-Eitzen, Abby Parker, Natasha Radic, and Keith Tarvin

A model Florida Scrub-Jay mounted on the top of a 15-foot pole appears to be ‘on sentinel,’ scanning its surroundings for predators. A rope and pulley system allows the researchers to raise the box below the model, causing the sentinel to ‘disappear.’ Photo by Keith Tarvin.

Have you ever noticed how strange or awkward it feels when a murmuring crowd suddenly goes quiet for no apparent reason? As a member of such a crowd, perhaps in an auditorium before a speech or performance, chances are you never really notice the murmuring until it stops. But once it ceases, you may look up and scan the room to see what caused the sudden hush–is there a problem? Does someone know something that you don’t?

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Oberlin College Researchers at Archbold Biological Station. From left to right: Keith Tarvin, Eli Haines-Eitzen, Madeleine Gefke, Mary Garvin, Natasha Radic, Abby Parker, Katherine Karson. Photo by Katherine Karson.

Authors: Madeleine Gefke, Katherine Karson, and Mary Garvin

During their winter January Term, faculty and students from Oberlin College visited Archbold Biological Station to research mosquito and bird behavior. Biology Professors Mary Garvin and Keith Tarvin established a base at Red Hill and were joined by Oberlin students Katherine Karson, Madeleine Gefke, Natasha Radic, Eli Haines-Eitzen, and Abby Parker. Having returned to chilly Ohio in early February for their spring semester, the students are grateful for the opportunity to have experienced Archbold and the amazing Florida scrub. Below, we describe the Garvin team research, and next week we will report on the Tarvin team research.

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Richard Archbold circa 1930, mounted in the original cardboard frame from the photographer. Photo credit:  Kaiden Studios, Inc.

Author:  Joe Gentili

Richard Archbold, founder of Archbold Biological Station in Venus, Florida, spent the period from the late 1920’s until the beginnings of WWII on a series of expeditions that took him across the globe. In conjunction with the American Museum of Natural History, he led three scientific expeditions to New Guinea and participated in an earlier one to Madagascar. During his travels to and from these expeditions, he and his crew visited places as far flung as Hawaii, Australia, and Equatorial Africa. Along the way, he accumulated a wealth of photographs, documents, artifacts, and more. The official Archbold Expeditions materials are archived at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, but his personnel collection from the expeditions, as well as other personal and family memorabilia are housed at Archbold Biological Station. These materials are collectively known as the Richard Archbold Archive: Archbold Librarian Joe Gentili said, “The overarching goal of the Richard Archbold Archive is to protect and preserve Mr. Archbold’s materials.”

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BEFORE: Disturbance, buildings, an old tennis court, and a large stand of non-native bamboo on the future location of Archbold’s Learning Center and Lodge in March 2005. Main Drive is on the right. Photo credit: Archbold Biological Station

Author:  Dr. Hilary Swain

Every real estate person lives by the maxim—location, location, location.  When Archbold designed and built the Station’s Frances Archbold Hufty Learning Center, location was the pressing issue. But it wasn’t about where to site a new facility to increase market value. Dr. Hilary Swain explained there were many questions for Archbold staff, the architect, and the engineers: “Could Archbold add a large new facility dedicated to outreach and education while minimizing impacts?  Could a building serve as a portal to the Florida scrub and be in harmony with nature? Could it be built without disturbing or degrading any native scrub or wetland habitats? Could the design complement the existing historic buildings and not detract from their appearance?” The answers were all yes; Archbold selected a location that met all these goals, but it took a lot of thinking and planning to get there. This is the second in a series of monthly articles on the principles of ‘green building’ design, using Archbold’s Learning Center to illustrate how to build while also enhancing rather than degrading the environment.

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Seedlings grown from seeds placed into an introduction Photo Credit: Archbold Biological Station’s Plant Ecology Program

Author: Rohan Patel

We are situated on a unique landscape, the Lake Wales Ridge. Formed millions of years ago when most of Florida was underwater, it is one of the most diverse spots in Florida, home to dozens of rare and endangered species found nowhere else on Earth. One of the rarest is Florida Ziziphus..

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The Plant Ecology Program crew along with St. Lucie County land managers begin clearing encroaching oaks from a population of Lakela’s Mint. Left to right: Seth Raynor, Lexi Siegle-Bates, Angela Soto, Drew Cunningham (St. Lucie County) and Stephanie Koontz. Photo credit: Scott Ward.

Author: Stephanie Kootnz

Running north south along the eastern coast of the Florida peninsula, the original habitat of the Atlantic Coastal Ridge exists as small remnants of Florida scrub dotting the landscape, nestled between hospitals, county buildings and major highways. These scrub patches are relics of what the ridge looked like long before development. Similar to the Lake Wales Ridge in central Florida, the Atlantic Coastal Ridge is an ancient sand dune paralleling the Atlantic coast of Florida from St. John’s County south to Palm Beach County. It shares many of the same plant and animal species found in Florida scrub habitat in Highlands and Polk counties; however, this ridge is much younger at around 130,000 years old compared to the Lake Wales Ridge which likely exceeds 1-2 million years in age. Even so, while the Lake Wales Ridge has many more endemic species, plants and animals found only on the Lake Wales Ridge, the Atlantic Coastal Ridge has endemics unique to its dune system.

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Titusville Mint (Dicerandra thinicola) grows only in Brevard County, FL. Photo by Scott Ward

Author: Scott Ward

In November of 2019, the Plant Ecology Program at Archbold Biological Station completed its 19^th year of monitoring, of a rare mint, Titusville Balm (Dicerandra thinicola), found only in Brevard County. In addition to this species, staff also worked in Highlands County to monitor populations of two other rare mint species that only grow in Florida: Garrett’s Mint (Dicerandra christmanii) and Lake Placid Scrub Balm (Dicerandra frutescens).

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Some awesome fourth grade students and their wonderful teachers posing with the new Scrub Coloring Books after a field trip out in the Scrub at Archbold Biological Station. Photo by Dustin Angell.

Author by: Megan Selva

Archbold Biological Station is pleased to announce its release of its fourth edition of The Scrub Coloring Book! Thanks to a wonderful and generous donation by Dr. Warren Abrahamson and his wife Chris, Archbold was able to revise and print the latest edition of its coloring activity book. This book is given as a gift to children that participates in an Archbold field trip with their school, or visits with their family.

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Art and Science Incubator participants on a tour of Ringling Museum of Art. Photo by Gavin Bacon.

Author: Dustin Angell

There is a saying that goes, “It’s not like ecology is rocket science… it is much harder.” That facetious phrase reminds us that ecosystems—habitats and the web of life they support—are more complicated than perhaps they seem. Communicating environmental issues can be challenging as well. How do you make something relevant that to many people is… uninteresting? Depressing? Frightening? Challenging? Archbold Biological Station in Venus, FL is turning to the arts to help connect people with science and hoping it can bring out the human side of environmental issues.

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Building design features for harvesting sunlight in Archbold’s Learning Center. Drawing credit: Archbold Biological Station.

Author: Hilary Swain

Have you ever wondered why some buildings feel so light and airy throughout whereas others have dark corners, even in rooms with plenty of windows? Or, been frustrated switching on indoor lights on a bright, sunny day in Florida just to see what you are doing? Or, felt gloomy losing your view and the sunlight when pulling down the blinds to keep out the heat? Archbold Biological Station’s Frances Archbold Hufty Learning Center provides answers to these and other questions. This is the first in a series of monthly articles on the principles of ‘green building’ design, using this building to illustrate how to save water and energy and to improve the quality of life indoors.

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Presenters at the 4^th Annual Archbold Research Symposium. Archbold scientists were joined by collaborators from the University of Florida, University of Miami and University of Central Florida.
Photo by Bill Parken.

Authors: Stephanie Koontz and Becky Windsor

On Thursday, December 12th, 2019 Archbold staff, collaborators, and visitors gathered for the 4^th Annual Archbold Research Symposium to learn what Archbold Biological Station scientists were up to the past year. A crowd of nearly 60 people listened to talks and viewed posters from scientific programs such as Avian Ecology, Plant Ecology, Herpetology, Restoration Ecology, Agro Ecology, and Invertebrate Ecology, but also heard from the Education, Archives, and Land Management Programs. “The diversity of topics in this year’s research symposium were great,” said Dr. Angela Tringali of the Avian Ecology Program. “We jumped all around Archbold, from birds, to summer campers, to plants, to history, to cattle ranches. There is just so much going on and it’s incredible to hear about it all at once.”

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A photo of Archbold Biological Station taken during sunrise. Photo by Kevin Main.

Author: Paul Ruben

Archbold Biological Station continues to implement new data collecting technologies using Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), commonly referred to as ‘drones’. The Archbold Drone Program is expanding due to the kindness of generous donors, which allowed the Station to recently hire Geographic Information System (GIS) Research Assistant Paul Ruben. Ruben joins a small group of Archbold staff and consultants who are FAA Part 107 certified drone pilots. “I’m excited to work for such a storied science and conservation organization and to have the opportunity to use the newest technology in my field,” said Ruben. “Honestly, it’s a lot of fun and really amazing what drones are capable of teaching us,” he continued while watching a drone fly overhead on a mission to map the details of an earlier prescribed burn on the Station. “We use drones to map the boundary of a prescribed burn and document the fire intensity where the burn spread across different plant communities”.

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Main Weather Station at Archbold Biological Station. Photo by Kevin Main

Author: Kevin Main

Weather data have been collected at Archbold Biological Station for nearly 90 years,” said Kevin Main, Land Manager for Archbold. “We have daily high and low temperature, and daily rainfall going back to 1931. In 1982 additional sensors were added to measure humidity, soil temperatures, and evaporation, and in 2006 we got an automated system that records even more detailed weather data.” The Station currently records 15-minute data for temperature, rainfall, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, soil temperature and moisture (at three depths), barometric pressure, and light intensity. Archbold uses the data in conjunction with the many research projects that require precise information about weather conditions and trends.

“Weather data are also useful during prescribed fires,” Main said. “I can access the data from my smartphone and look at trends in humidity, wind speed and wind direction during the day, which helps me make decisions for managing the fire.”

The Archbold weather station happens to be located in a rather cold spot. “I have received several calls over the years questioning our low temperatures. It can be 5-10 degrees colder at the Archbold weather station than other locations just a few miles away, and it’s not because of a faulty temperature sensor. We have two professional grade sensors on site, and both are always within a degree of each other,” said Main. “The record low recorded at Archbold was 13 degrees Fahrenheit, on January 12, 1982 and January 5, 2001. The temperature has sunk into the teens 23 days in the last 50 years. Snow was recorded for one day, January 19^th, 1977, when a “trace” of snow was recorded.

While Florida certainly feels hot in the summer, the actual temperature rarely gets above 100 degrees F. The highest temperature recorded at Archbold in the last 50 years was 103 degrees F, on July 3^rd, 1998. The daily high temperature was 100 degrees F, or higher, just 24 times since 1969.

Hurricanes are a big driver of weather during the summer months. The weather station has recorded tropical winds and rain multiple times. The single largest rainfall event was caused by Hurricane How on October 2^nd, 1951, when 12.15 inches of rain fell in a one-day period. The most recent hurricane to affect this area was Hurricane Irma, in 2017. Archbold received 8.89 inches of rain over a two-day period and had peak winds of 97 mph (which ended up being one of the highest reliable wind readings on the Florida peninsula during the passing of the storm).

Hurricane Irma’s path across Florida. Archbold received heavy rains
and wind from the eastern eye wall of the storm. Photo credit: National Weather Service

Archbold’s weather data are provided to the National Weather Service through the Service’s Cooperative Observer Program. “We have been an observer station for the National Weather Service since 1969, and we recently received an award from them for 50 years of service,” said Main.

“The Archbold weather data are not currently publicly available online in real time from Archbold, although you can retrieve daily data from the National Weather Service”, says Hilary Swain, Archbold Director. “Data from private weather stations like Archbold can also be viewed on websites such as Weather Underground. Vivienne Sclater, who heads up data management at Archbold, is moving us over to a new data management system in the coming months and that should rectify some of the challenges of making more Archbold monitoring data available to the public in the future.” If you are interested in local weather, there are several other weather stations in this area that provide data. NOAA maintains a very extensive Climate Reference Network (CRN) station on Archbold property a little further south towards Venus with 15-minute data for many meteorological measurements. (https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/crn/station.htm?stationId=1530). Archbold’s Buck Island Ranch has an extensive network of weather stations and data from the Ranch’s main weather station are streamed to the US Department of Agriculture for posting online. The Florida Agricultural Weather Network (FAWN) is another source of weather data locally, supporting a weather station in Sebring and another in Palmdale (https://fawn.ifas.ufl.edu/) with publically accessible data.

Dense stand of Tanglehead Grass along Old State Route 8 beside the Archbold Biological Station. Photo credit: Archbold Biological Station

Author: Mark Deyrup

As one approaches the Archbold Biological Station on Old State Route 8 both sides of the road are lined with dense even stands of knee-high grass. A distinctive feature of this grass is its clumps of messy blackish seed heads. The same grass can be found along many roads through Highlands County. While not unattractive to look at, woe betide anybody attempting to walk through this grass when it is producing seed, for they will end up with hundreds of sharp-pointed seeds working through socks and even through fabric running shoes. This plant is Tanglehead Grass (scientific name Heteropogon contortus). Tanglehead seeds also work their way into the fur of animals, and where tanglehead is abundant in other states it can prevent raising sheep because of the intense irritation caused by seeds penetrating the wool and lodging in skin.

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The Gray Blister Beetle Epicauta heterodera visiting flowers of Palafoxia for nectar and pollen.  Photo Credit: Archbold Biological Station

Author: Mark Deyrup

The living world may be richer and more interesting than we imagine, so much so that it is a major challenge to formally assess this wealth. At the Archbold Biological Station scientists have recently measured one dimension of this rich living heritage. After much patient work in the field and laboratory, Archbold staff and visiting researchers have recorded and collected specimens over decades allowing compilation of a mammoth list of 1,709 different species of beetles that that have been documented on the Station. There is probably no other site in North America with such a comprehensive specimen-based catalog of beetles.

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Female Workman’s Jumping Spider found on low growing shrubs in dry, open scrub and sandhill habitats on the Lake Wales Ridge. Notice bright green jaws.
Photo by: Giff Beaton

Author: Jim Carrel

In the past three years information about every spider species archived in the museum collection at the Archbold Biological Station has been computerized. Each listing for 482 preserved individuals includes the spider’s scientific name (taxonomic family, genus, and species), latitude and longitude for where it was collected, as well as the month and year it was found. This information recently became available free-of-charge to anyone in the world at the web site Global Biodiversity Information Facility (www.gbif.org).

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From left to right: Angela Soto, Megan Verner-Crist, and Lexi Siegle-Bates wrap up the project.
Photo Credit: Katherine Charton

Author: Lexi Siegle

This summer, biologists with the Plant Ecology Program at Archbold Biological Station were on a mission: to bolster a newly discovered population of a rare mint plant called  Scrub Balm (Dicerandra frutescens). The property where the new population was found is near Lake Placid and managed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. It was recently surveyed for rare plants. When the previously undocumented population of Scrub Balm was found, biologists were excited about the discovery since only a dozen populations of this rare plant were already known. There were, however, very few plants in the newly discovered population, meaning it was vulnerable to extirpation. Thus began a plan to augment the population.

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Rachel King (left) discusses her research poster with Jennifer Jones at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America.
Photo Credit: Eric Menges

Author: Dr. Eric Menges

Over the years, hundreds of students and scientists get training and research experience at Archbold Biological Station. What happens to all these bright minds? Many things, it turns out. Some are graduate students, some professors, some work for government agencies, and others for non-profits. But they never forget their Archbold roots. This August, thousands of ecologists gathered for the largest such conference, The Ecological Society of America’s  Annual Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky. Among them were over a dozen Archbold alumni.

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The route of the 2019 Ranch to Ridge Expedition from Highlands Hammock Park to the Tiger Creek Preserve. Photo Credit: Florida Wildlife Corridor

Author: Hilary Swain

On Saturday, October 19, three intrepid Florida Wildlife Corridor explorers, Carlton Ward Jr., Mallory Dimmitt, and Joe Guthrie completed the final day of their 7-day 2019 expedition south to north through Highlands, Hardee, and Polk County. Joe Guthrie described their route: “We started in Highlands Hammock State Park, going west of the Ridge, turning north to traverse private ranches and public lands on foot and horseback, then trekked east across US 27 near the Frostproof junction into a conservation bank and state and federal lands, and ended up on paddleboards at The Nature Conservancy’s Tiger Creek Preserve on the Ridge near Lake Wales.”

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Dr. Betsey Boughton, Agroecology Research Director at Archbold’s Buck Island Ranch, monitoring plant species composition in the grassland experiment.
Photo Credit: Research Intern, Jessica Patterson

Author: Dr. Betsey Boughton

Grasslands make up more than 40 percent of the world’s ice-free land. Grasslands are important because they have sustained humanity and thousands of other species for centuries. But today, those grasslands are shifting beneath our feet. Global change—which includes climate change, pollution and other widespread environmental alterations—is transforming the plant species growing in grasslands, and not always in the ways scientists expected. Continue reading →