Identifying the Plants and Animals
@Seabranch Preserve State Park
FL State Parks Quest: 18/175
Stuart, FL
15 October 2017
Summary:
After a muddy adventure exploring Atlantic Ridge Preserve State Park, I needed to move on to the next one. I received the stamp for Seabranch Preserve State Park from Jonathan Dickinson State Park three days prior, and I need to check it out. With the physical landscape shaped by ancient oceans, there are eight miles of hiking trails. Additionally the park includes 1.3 miles of the Florida East Coast Greenway.
The parking area and entrance to the park gave more details about the park, and the nature trail had interpretive signs to help with plant identification.
The parking area and entrance to the park gave more details about the park, and the nature trail had interpretive signs to help with plant identification.
Park Profile
The Gear:
Just a camera and the clothes on my back. And water.
The Story:
Seabranch Preserve State Park features several different natural communities within a one mile walk:- Sand Pine Scrub [More information below]
- Scrubby Flatwoods
- Baygall Community
- Mangrove Swamp
The park is fairly limited, but there was some good information posted at the entrance by the start of the nature interpretive trail.
Sand Pine Scrub - Florida's "Most Distinct" Ecosystem
- There are only 1,500 square miles of Sand Pine Scrub remaining. Seabranch Preserve contains 0.8 of those square miles.
- Seabranch Preserve contains some of southeast Florida's last coastal scrub
- Scrub communities are ranked "globally imperiled" by the Florida Natural Areas Inventory [FNAI]
- Endemic animals include:
- Florida Scrub Jay
- Sand Skink
- Scrub Lizard
- Gopher Tortoise
- Scrub plants are adapted to xeric [dry; containing little moisture] conditions.
- The top three reasons for scrub habitat loss include:
- Building and Development
- Invasive Plants
- Fire Suppression
- 902 acres of Seabranch are managed with prescribed fire. This community's Optimal Fire Return Interval is 8-15 years.
Nature Walk!
Unfortunately some of the signs didn't quite line up well with the plants they were describing. For instance, there is no obvious love vine in the following picture.
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Prickly-pear Cactus | Opuntia humifusa
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Gopher Tortoise! This was actually my first time seeing one in the wild. I didn't see him when I walked by initially, but then he made a hissing noise as he retracted into his shell, and I turned around.
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| Gopher Tortoise | Gopherus polyphemus |
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| More Opuntia |
Another vague sign - Oaks | Quercus
Shrub oaks I guess...but luckily it gets more specific later.
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Partridge Pea | Chamaecrista fasciculata
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Sea Oats | Uniola paniculata
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Saw Palmetto | Serenoa repens
The only species in the genus Serenoa
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Band-winged Dragonlet | Erythrodiplax umbrataThat is my best guest. If I am correct, this is a lady because the males have the band on their wings.
According to Odonata Central, "The similar Black-winged Dragonlet is much less common and characters are given to separate it under that species. Other similar species include Filigree Skimmer (Pseudoleon superbus), which has wings with much heavier maculation, and Great Pondhawk (Erythemis vesiculosa), which may be confused with young male and female individuals with unmarked wings. Great Pondhawk, however, is bright green with the abdomen well marked with black. The face and thorax of Band-winged Dragonlet are olivaceous or greenish-brown in young individuals of both sexes."
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ANTS!
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Feay's Prairie Clover | Dalea feayi (Chapm.)
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Scrub Live Oak | Quercus geminata
This time they were specific with the type of oak and with the sign placement.
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Sand Pine | Pinus clausa
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More oak! This time, specific types.
Myrtle Oak | Quercus myrtifolia
Chapman Oak | Quercus chapmanii
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The trail reaches the paved sidewalk/trail that runs along FL State Road A1A. I opted to take this back to the trailhead.
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Found a grasshopper, potentially the Carolina Grasshopper | Dissosteira carolina
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| Beautyberry | Callicarpa americana |
The trailhead area by the parking spaces.
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I checked out the other part of the trail system, which is very undeveloped and sandy. If I had more time, maybe I would have hiked a little bit more.
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