A day of research

One of the cool things I get to do on occasion is assist researchers interested in Panther Island. Currently, there is a graduate student doing some vegetation survey work. And today we managed to trudge through and document vegetation types and their densities along three transects at different sites. And of course...we were greeted in the morning by a beautiful black racer hanging around in the tree right where we parked the work truck! So not only do I get to learn more about the plants on the property I manage, but I get to "hang" out with some pretty nifty critters!

Gators on parade!

Today's adventure began with my awesome interns helping me tackle some nasty invasive grasses. The target species were: West Indian marsh grass (Hymenachne amplexicaulis), torpedo grass (Panicum repens), barnyard grass (Echinochloa crus-galli), and coast cockspur (Echinochloa walteri).