It’s that time of the month again…blog post time! In all seriousness, work is amping up, so I cannot update as frequently. However! Know that it is because I am doing very exciting (but tiring) things!
I’m almost four months into my new internship in the Plant Ecology Department of Archbold Biological Station. I work in the sandy and dry scrub. Yes, I know. Shockingly, Florida isn’t only beaches and swamps. It has dry habitats where cacti exist and wildfires burn. Exhibit A:
Introduction to Archbold
Archbold Biological Station lies along the southern end of the Lake Wales Ridge, one of the highest points in Florida. Water covered most of Florida in prehistoric times, and only a few islands existed above sea level. These islands are the modern-day Lake Wales Ridge.
For context, the highest natural point in Florida is 345 feet (105 meters) above sea level [1]. Archbold’s highest point is 200 feet (61 meters) above sea level. The sandy ridge is visible from satellite pictures!
Now that the Archbold introduction is out of the way, it's time for the good stuff, the life of a field researcher (my life)!
What Plant Research Includes
The Plant Ecology Department focuses on rare species research, especially important in the endangered subtropical scrub habitat!
For me, a typical morning begins in the field, monitoring and learning about rare and endemic species (native and specific to the Florida scrub habitat). We take various measurements when monitoring plants, including plant height, the number of stems and branches, herbivory, presence/absence, etc.
Some of these can be difficult to tell, though. Small and young plants can be a challenge to identify. Some plants will have hundreds and hundreds of branches. So far, I have only counted up to 60 branches in a single plant of the Crotalaria genus (rightmost picture below), but I’ve worked on data with plants containing over 400 branches! For these, the Plant Lab uses a counter.
I have also gone on a few rare species searches. For these, we go to a specified site and walk lines back and forth through various habitats while on the lookout for rare species. These can be fun and exciting when we see several rare species and mark their location with GPS.
Sometimes, it can be demoralizing when we’re struggling through dense undergrowth, fighting for every foot forward, only to see few (if any) rare species. The first rare species search I joined was demoralizing and exhausting, but the rest afterward were much better!
I also collect fungi specimens for the lab’s new fungi herbarium! Elan Tran, a very impressive intern, heads this project. She is a soon-to-be graduate student at UC Berkeley and recently became an NSF Graduate Research Fellows Program recipient!
My Project: Plants and Water in Soil!
At Archbold, every intern works on their own independent project. Mine has to do with plants and how they interact with water! The relationship between plants and water is fascinating because of how seasonality works in the scrub. Rather than four distinct seasons, the scrub experiences a “dry season” and a “wet season.”
The dry-wet cycles have unique influences on life in the Florida scrub. Seasonal ponds form in low elevation areas during the wet season, changing the landscape. There isn’t much that grows in these low-lying lands during the dry season except grasses and other quick-establishing wetland plants. However, during the wet season, small ponds will form. I’m looking forward to seeing the changes that will occur!
The wet season strongly impacts one part of my project. I am measuring leaf water potential, which indicates how stressed the plant is for water. I am using the Scholander Pressure Chamber you see below to measure this. As the name describes, there is a pressurized chamber. I put a leaf inside the chamber, stem-side poking out, and then increase the pressure to push water out from the leaf and stem! The pressure it takes to push the water out equals how much the plant pulls water through its system. Isn’t it amazing how we can measure something like this?
Other Cool Things I’ve Done
I’ve joined quite a few cool and interesting experiences related to my job. I’ve joined a plant BioBlitz, where people from various organizations joined to find as many plant species as possible at the DeLuca Preserve. We made over 1600 observations which came out to be 337 different species!
I also was a judge for both the international Terra Science and Engineering Fair and the Florida State Science and Engineering Fair! Through both events, I judged 30 projects and learned about so many exciting and unique projects: one student built a drone and its controller from plywood and fiberglass by himself; another student worked on water quality and interviewed probably a hundred experts in the field, including someone from the Smithsonian; yet another used parasitic cordyceps fungi as a pesticide for aphids!
At Archbold, I joined one of the Education Department’s livestreams as a guest scientist. I talked about plant stomata, the tiny openings in plants where carbon dioxide can enter while water vapor and oxygen leave. At first, I didn’t think I had anything to present since I’d only been at Archbold for two months. However, Communication Intern Katie Caldwell and I worked out the stomata topic! Here is the entire video; I start my part at 18:25.
A few weeks ago, I joined a field trip at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens as a part of this year’s Rare Plant Task Force meetings! We saw a fascinating mix of coastal plant habitats interspersed with more upland habitats next to each other. Interestingly enough, the historic shell mounds also influenced the plant species that grew there. One example is this horsetail palm, the largest that our tour guide had ever seen!
Reflections on my First Four Months
All this I’ve done in the first four months of my internship here. I’ve enjoyed working at Archbold, and I’ve learned so much about the Florida scrub and the ecology field in general. I have five more months to go, and I know there is much more to do and see in my time here.
The fact that I research outside of academia is a whole new world that people don’t often discuss. Research is not only done in the university setting. In fact, at this current point in life, my career goals are international environmental policy and justice. Yes, my current position is research, but it’s all a part of my life’s journey. I’m fascinated by the plants I work with and always will be, but I also want to use my science background to help implement change in the world. I want to connect significant research implications to the people who can use the findings to implement change in the world.
Sources:
Snyder, F. “Discover Britton Hill: Florida’s Highest Natural Point.” Visit Florida. N.d. <https://www.visitflorida.com/travel-ideas/articles/arts-history-britton-hill-highest-point-florida/>.
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