everglades – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Where Does Charcoal, or Black Carbon, in Soils Go?

By Guest PostMay 2, 2013Environmentbiochar technology, black carbon, bonanza creek, carbon cycle, carbon sequestration, charcoal, climate change, ecology, environmental factors, environmental fate, everglades, fate of charcoal, florida international university, georgia coastal ecosystems, german, Germany, global carbon budget, global scale, hubbard brook, konza prairie, marine geochemistry, max planck society, national science foundation, organic carbon, rudolf jaffe, saran twombly, soils, thorsten dittmar, university oldenburg, yan ding

Scientists find surprising new answers in wetlands such as the Everglades

Scientists have uncovered one of nature’s long-kept secrets–the true fate of charcoal in the world’s soils.

The ability to determine the fate of charcoal is critical to knowledge of the global carbon budget, which in turn can help understand and mitigate climate change.

However, until now, researchers only had scientific guesses about what happens to charcoal once it’s incorporated into soil. They believed it stayed there.

Surprisingly, most of these researchers were wrong. (more…)

UF Scientists Find State Record 87 Eggs In Largest Python From Everglades

By Guest PostAugust 18, 2012Environment, Naturealligator, anatomy, burmese python, claudia grant, egg, everglades, exotic snake, female snake, florida, kenneth krysko, leroy nunez, nicholas coutu, ornithologist, predator, reproductive capability, skip snow, snake, south florida, southeast asia, university of florida, wildlife management

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida researchers curating a 17-foot-7-inch Burmese python, the largest found in Florida, discovered 87 eggs in the snake, also a state record.

Scientists at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the UF campus examined the internal anatomy of the 164.5-pound snake Friday. The animal was brought to the Florida Museum from Everglades National Park as part of a long-term project with the U.S. Department of the Interior to research methods for managing the state’s invasive Burmese python problem. Following scientific investigation, the snake will be mounted for exhibition at the museum for about five years, and then returned for exhibition at Everglades National Park. (more…)

Severe Declines in Everglades Mammals Linked to Pythons

By Guest PostJanuary 31, 2012Environment, Natureafrican python, alex wolf, alligators, america, beni anaconda, boa constrictor, bobcat, burmese python, camp walker, christopher gillette, cottontail rabbits, dan kimball, deschauensee anaconda, ecological impact, ecosystem, everglades, everglades ecosystem, everglades national park, everglades python, fox, geographic pattern, green anaconda, invasive species, john willson, mammal decline, mammals, marcia mcnutt, marsh, michael dorcas, michael rochford, national park, opossums, prey, python, python predation, rabbits, raccoons, robert reed, spread of pythons, therese walters, U.S. Geological Survey, united states

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Precipitous declines in formerly common mammals in Everglades National Park have been linked to the presence of invasive Burmese pythons, according to a study published on Jan. 30, 2012, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The study, the first to document the ecological impacts of this invasive species, strongly supports that animal communities in this 1.5-million-acre park have been markedly altered by the introduction of pythons within 11 years of their establishment as an invasive species. Mid-sized mammals are the most dramatically affected. (more…)

UF-led study: Invasive Amphibians, Reptiles in Florida Outnumber World

By Guest PostSeptember 24, 2011Environment, Scienceamerican alligator, bishop museum in honolulu, brown anole, burmese pythons, cargo ships, cement walls, Cuba, everglades, florida, florida museum of natural history, fred kraus, greenhouse frog, iguanas, invasion of lizards, invasive amphibian and reptile, kenneth krysko, lizards, python, turtles, university of florida, west indies, zootaxa

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida has the world’s worst invasive amphibian and reptile problem, and a new 20-year study led by a University of Florida researcher verifies the pet trade as the No. 1 cause of the species’ introductions.

From 1863 through 2010, 137 non-native amphibian and reptile species were introduced to Florida, with about 25 percent of those traced to one animal importer. The findings appear online today in Zootaxa. (more…)

Ancient Trash Heaps Gave Rise To Everglades Tree Islands

By Guest PostMarch 24, 2011Environmentalligators, birds, carbonate, charcoal, chmura, ecological richness, Environment, everglades, florida everglades tree islands, gail chmura, garbage mounds, human artifacts, margo schwadron, maria theresia, marshes, nesting site, panthers, perched carbonate layer, prehistoric humans, shark river slough, south florida, tree island, water control systems, wildlife

SANTA FE, N.M.— Garbage mounds left by prehistoric humans might have driven the formation of many of the Florida Everglades’ tree islands, distinctive havens of exceptional ecological richness in the sprawling marsh that are today threatened by human development.

Tree islands are patches of relatively high and dry ground that dot the marshes of the Everglades. Typically a meter (3.3 feet) or so high, many of them are elevated enough to allow trees to grow. They provide a nesting site for alligators and a refuge for birds, panthers, and other wildlife. (more…)

Tag Archives: everglades

Where Does Charcoal, or Black Carbon, in Soils Go?

UF Scientists Find State Record 87 Eggs In Largest Python From Everglades

Severe Declines in Everglades Mammals Linked to Pythons

UF-led study: Invasive Amphibians, Reptiles in Florida Outnumber World

Ancient Trash Heaps Gave Rise To Everglades Tree Islands