Recreating a tropical hammock on Virginia Key -- where the removal of exotic, invasive species has left a moonscape-- is no casual gardening project.
“This is as rigorous a restoration as I can do,” said Gary Hunt, a volunteer who has been planning the Nov. 6 TREEmendous Miami planting project at Historic Virginia Key Beach for two years.
You could say, however, this has been in the works over the span of almost two centuries.
The species list used to select the 740 native trees, shrubs and ground cover plants that will be planted by volunteersis based on the records of plant explorers going back to the 18th century, most notably the work of John Kunkel Small.
Small was one of the first American botanists to explore Florida, beginning in 1901. For nearly 40 years, Small returned to collect specimens and photograph natural landscapes. He recognized early on how Florida’s unique natural treasures were being systematically destroyed and wrote about it in his seminal work, From Eden to Sahara -- Florida’s Tragedy.
South Florida is one of the most biologically diverse regions in North America - with more than 1,400 species of native plants. And yet...the unparalleled disturbance and destruction of critical habitats has brought an alarming loss of species, according to the Institute for Regional Conservation (IRC), a private, nonprofit dedicated to the protection, restoration and long-term management of biodiversity.
Small conservation projects, like the replanting of the tropical hammock on Virginia Key, are critical to the protection of the rarest plants in the region, according to the IRC.
The plants selected for Virginia Key provided by the Citizens for a Better South Florida nursery come from seed sources collected by City of Miami biologist Juan Fernandez. Fernandez has already restored a 13-acre maritime hammock on the island, which is considered the best example of this forest type in Miami-Dade County, according to a recent biological study of Virginia Key conducted by Miami-Dade County’s Environmentally Endangered Lands Program.
With the help of dedicated volunteers, the strangler fig, sea grape, cocoplum, pigeon plum, saw palmetto, wild coffee and myriad other species found in Fernandez’ restored hammock will soon be proliferating throughout the island, creating habitat for songbirds and butterflies as well as wonder and joy for the rest of us.
@2010 All Rights Reserved
Subscribe to View from Virginia Key for latest articles on ecology, history and explorations of the island.
Also on Facebook: Join Friends of Virginia Key
Can't wait to hear (and see photos of) how it all went!
ReplyDeleteMore than 100 volunteers participated in the planting on a cool, sunny Saturday morning. The surrounding Atlantic and Biscayne Bay waters were a remarkable aqua-blue hue. Congratulations to the organizers, TREEmendous Miami and particularly Gary Hunt on a very successful project. DERM biologist Gary Milano who was on hand to supervise the planting says although it will take 15 years to reach maturity, the tropical hammock will have a "pretty good" canopy within two years.
ReplyDelete