Flowers in a Different Light

In the quest for pollinators, plants really pull out the stops, producing flowers with powerful scents, elaborate structures, and dramatic colors -- including in parts of the light spectrum that humans can't see but that insects and other pollinators can. Learn and see how that works in this piece for Wildflower Magazine

Rare plants disappearing in Big Bend

 Thieves are stripping the rare living rock cactus out of Big Bend National Park, while people remove ocotillo and yucca from the area for landscaping. Read about the consequences of removing plants from these habitats. 

Citizen Science Projects

These days, much research depends on the input of citizen scientists, people who make and record observations on everything from the wild animals they see to how many mosquito larvae are in a discarded bottle. These three projects could use your help figuring out the effects of climate change.

Texan by Nature

This non-profit seeks to spur Texan-led conservation efforts with tangible benefits for people, prosperity and natural resources. Or, as founder and former First Lady Laura Bush says, “to keep Texas, Texas, for the benefit of Texans and wildlife.” Find out how you can participate in this piece for Texas Co-op Power Magazine.

The Blanco River's iconic trees

The Memorial Day flood on the Blanco River near Wimberley killed more than 13,000 trees, a drastic change to the landscape. Experts weigh in on how best to help it recover, in this piece for Newsweek.
 

Credit: Rachel Ranft, TNC

People Power

From the Winter 2009 issue of Wildflower Magazine
For 10 days last fall, Phillippa Francq of St. Petersburg, Florida, hiked muddy hills in the Puerto Rico rainforest, taking measurements and recording data. Francq, 70, joined other volunteers on an Earthwatch expedition helping to research sustainable tropical rainforest management. A veteran of many such trips, Francq came away from this one feeling as if she had contributed to something significant. “The forest is very denuded in Puerto Rico, and this project is helping it grow back. Just look at the impact it is making and how it is changing the landscape.”

Kate Quinn, manager of volunteer programs for Earthwatch, found it exciting to observe different growth patterns in project test plots and was impressed with items made from the sustainably harvested blue maho and mahogany trees. The work can be a little rigorous, she admits. But there is a free day and recreation on-site, including evening slide shows, music and dancing. Volunteers stay in tents on a covered platform or in a bunk house and have access to flushing toilets and running water. There is a full kitchen.

Francq enjoys the work on these projects but also the other volunteers. “It is generally all ages, from people older than I am down to teenagers. I love the moment when the team first meets. There is a sense of anticipation. We’ve come halfway around the world to be in this place at this time, and we’re all interested in the same subject. It’s an immediate connection.”

In 2009, Earthwatch sponsored more than 120 research projects in 38 countries and 20 U.S. states. Since 1971, volunteers have contributed $72 million worth of time to scientific fieldwork. Those who go on an expedition often return for another, Quinn says. “They find that this is the new way they want to see the world.”

Combining volunteering with travel, dubbed “voluntourism,” has clearly caught on. In 2007, more than 3.7 million Americans volunteered at least 120 miles from home, according to a study by the Corporation for National and Community Service, while another 1 million volunteered overseas. More than half of respondents to an MSNBC and Condé Nast survey expressed interest in volunteering on vacation, and 95 percent of volunteer travelers intend to do it again. Whether they come out of a desire to give back and make a difference or because of a connection to a particular cause, volunteers like Francq say they feel a sense of satisfaction, of having done something meaningful.

With demand on the rise, David Clemmons, founder of voluntourism.org, says opportunities for volunteer travel have increased as well, perhaps as much as a hundredfold in the past five years. The types of offerings have greatly expanded, too, with a wide array of activities and everything from luxury accommodations to roughing it, in nearly every corner of the globe.

The Sierra Club offers some 90 service trips each year, many that involve removing invasive plants or planting natives. These outings contribute around 47,000 hours of labor annually, valued at $450,000. A typical project includes four work days and one day off. The club provides a trip leader, cook and accommodations, often at a campground.

The Sierra Club offers a service trip to Martha’s Vineyard, where partnering organization The Nature Conservancy owns a 90-acre farm. Trip leader Sandra Raviv says a typical work week includes a couple of days in the nursery, weeding or collecting seeds, then a few days removing non-natives around the farm or other locations there.

“I think most people who come on the outings enjoy meeting other people of like mind,” Raviv says. “Most everyone shares a love of the outdoors and a desire to preserve what we have. I have gone back a couple of times, and you can see a difference in areas where previous work was done.”

Now in its 10th year, the Vineyard trip is quite comfortable by Sierra Club standards, says volunteer trip leader Kermit Smyth, since participants stay in a farm house. Smyth believes in providing a variety of work, including chores for those less physically able. Trips come together quickly in terms of shared interests and people feeling at ease with each other, so he can often stand back and lets the group figure out how to work together.

“The finishing of good, hard work is very satisfying for people, and they enjoy that aspect,” he says. “People see this as a vehicle to give back and also to see another place. Sierra Club leaders are usually knowledgeable about a place, and that contributes to what you take away from a trip.”

Volunteers who take another Sierra Club service trip to Point Reyes, California, participate in an ongoing effort to remove ice plant and cape weed from the bluffs and European beach grass from the dunes.

“This takes a special type of person, someone willing to spend their vacation doing something to renew themselves and give back. But it can be incredibly rejuvenating,” says Didi Toaspern, who chairs the service subcommittee of Sierra Club national outings. Trip leaders recognize that people are on their vacation and so accommodate an individual’s work pace and comfort level.

For those unable to commit a week to the Sierra Club, Point Reyes has twice-monthly, staff-led workdays, says Sierra Club volunteer Harriet Dhanak, and tries to accommodate drop-in travelers. “The park lacks funds, so they need volunteers. I think it’s a wonderful way to introduce people to conservation; it’s very hands-on.”

There are many other opportunities to work for a few hours or a few days while traveling. The national park system, for example, relies heavily on volunteers. In fiscal year 2005, 137,000 volunteers system-wide provided 5.2 million hours of work worth $91.2 million.

Golden Gate National Recreation Area enjoys one of the largest and most vibrant volunteer programs and welcomes drop-ins. Last year, 22,121 volunteers put in 414,000 volunteer hours there, equivalent to more than 200 full-time employees, says Terry Kriedler, volunteer manager for the park. “Without those extra hands, our habitats would not be coming back and visitors would not be served at the level they are now. Folks can’t necessarily give us every Wednesday morning, so we let them come whenever they have time. Staff members understand the importance of working with volunteers and creating opportunities for them in the park.”

Golden Gate is a collection of sites along 60 miles of coastline near San Francisco, including Alcatraz, Muir Woods and the Presidio. According to staff member Chris Powell, many volunteer opportunities involve removal of nonnative plants, planting natives or working in park nurseries.

“For people who work in an office or live in an urban environment, this is a great way to reconnect with nature,” Powell says. “If you can drop in for a few hours, that is great. We offer a variety of chores based on people’s physical ability and desire.”

He agrees that, without volunteers, not nearly as much work could be done. “Every individual who comes out doubles or triples the work we get done in the park.”

On Sunday mornings, teams remove invasives, plant natives and collect seeds at various locations. Invasive plant patrol takes place seasonally on Wednesday mornings. While drop-ins are welcome, calling ahead is advised.
Those planning to visit other national parks or whose travels take them close to one can call the individual park about volunteer opportunities. Some, such as Golden Gate, also have volunteer information on their websites. People looking for a particular type of volunteer work can search the National Parks Service or Take Pride in America websites.

Single-day work experiences also can be found at many nature preserves. Every Saturday morning, Ives Road Fen Preserve in southern Michigan swarms with volunteers. Since 1990, they have been slowly but surely removing invasive buckthorn and honeysuckle.

“Seeing a restored section gives you a sense of what this land looked like many years ago,” says Chuck Pearson, volunteer crew chief. “You get a feeling of accomplishment.” Volunteers also get to see more than 680 species of flowering plants, 177 species of birds and countless butterflies. The preserve provides fresh cookies, too.
Work days are posted on the website, and Pearson says no particular skill is needed. Tools are provided, as are boots and gloves if necessary. Sign-up is available online, and drop-ins are welcome.

While public workdays are uncommon at The Nature Conservancy’s Clymer Meadow Preserve in northeast Texas, preserve manager Jim Eidson often works with master naturalist groups and hosts corporate workdays. These volunteers help with wetland restoration and riparian enhancement projects or work in the preserve’s container nursery and outdoor growing area.

“If anyone is traveling through and wants to volunteer on a drop-in basis, I suggest they call. We can always use help,” says Eidson. “It’s mainly field work, for someone who wants to get dirty and sweaty and worn-out.”
Some major hotels are getting in on the volunteer travel act, offering short-term projects for their guests. The short time commitment and comfortable accommodations offer an easy introduction for those new to volunteer travel.
For example, guests at the Ritz Carlton Key Biscayne in Miami can help remove invasive plants and restore native vegetation in Florida’s Bill Baggs Cape State Park. The park, listed as one of the country’s best beaches in 2008, suffered damage from Hurricane Andrew.

Park staff dispense information about the area’s ecosystem and lively history, which includes shipwrecks and pirates. Post-work, volunteers climb the park lighthouse for views of Miami, the Atlantic and, sometimes, manatees.
The Mandarin Oriental Miami Hotel on Brickell Key partners with Everglades National Park, where volunteers spend the morning planting native south Florida trees or removing invasive species. After a hotel-provided box lunch, rangers lead a tour of the lush park.

Arizona’s Sonoran Desert inspired the Four Seasons Scottsdale Troon North’s Desert Preservation Hike in neighboring Pinnacle Peak Park. Park Coordinator John Loleit leads the hike, pointing out wildlife, archaeological sites, geology and native plants, including edible and medicinal ones. Participants then plant native species such as buckhorn cholla cactus in carefully chosen locations. Desert plants tend to live a long time, Loleit adds, so volunteers who come back in five or 10 years can see the one they planted.

The chance to see tangible results, say leaders and volunteers alike, is what it’s all about.

Coast Guard

From the Summer 2009 issue of Wildflower Magazine

Leaving coastline in its natural state is key to protection

After Hurricane Katrina, Russ Marane, president of the St. Simons Land Trust in Georgia, viewed aerial photographs of a two-mile-wide barrier island off the Mississippi coast. On the island’s seaward side, the storm completely flattened trees for about a quarter-mile inland. Trees in the next quarter-mile lost their tops, but on the backside of the island trees remained fully intact. Behind that island, and in contrast to the rest of the coast, “Not a single structure was damaged,” Marane says. “It’s one of the best examples I’ve seen of why you don’t touch barrier islands.”

Coastal landscapes – barrier islands, dunes, wetlands, grassy marshes, woodlands and mangroves – provide protection from the winds, waves and storm surges. This protection is worth an estimated $23.2 billion per year, according to Robert Costanza, Ph.D., professor at The University of Vermont. “Coastal wetlands reduce the damaging effects of hurricanes by absorbing storm energy in ways that neither solid land nor open water can,” he says. “Coastal vegetation also decreases surges and waves and maintains shallow water depths, which has the same effect.”

Wetlands also serve as filters, cleaning rainwater before sending it out to the ocean or aquifer. By contrast, water quickly runs off pavement and other impervious surfaces, carrying with it fertilizers, pesticides, oil, heavy metals and other chemicals. This pollution is directly related to the amount of impervious cover and is the leading threat to water quality nationwide.

A natural coastline is also more durable than an altered one. Wetland systems and mangroves reduce shoreline erosion by retaining sediment, a function especially critical where dams and levees reduce the flow of sediment from rivers. Beach dunes serve as reservoirs of sand, slowing erosion and replenishing beaches. Artificial seawalls, ironically, contribute to further erosion. In response, communities often rebuild beaches with sand dredged from the ocean floor. This sand is different from what occurs on the beach naturally, thus disrupting vegetation and wildlife. This approach also damages the marine environment and is very expensive. “It would be more sensible and economical to leave dune systems intact,” says David Godfrey, executive director of the Caribbean Conservation Corporation, “and keep development far enough behind them to account for normal and storm-wrought changes on the beach.”

It is far too late, of course, to leave much of the U.S. coastline in its natural state. However, better development practices can preserve many benefits of those natural systems. Three key practices, according to Texas SeaGrant and the Gulf Coast Institute, are creating compact development, controlling stormwater run-off, and preserving as much open or natural space as possible.

“The one thing that does the most by far is compact development,” says John Jacob, associate professor, Texas A&M University, and director of the Texas Coastal Watershed Program. “Nothing else comes close.” Compact development may create more impervious cover on a few acres, but it results in less overall. For example, a typical suburban layout of four units per acre for 1,000 houses would cover 250 acres. At 10 units per acre, those same 1,000 homes occupy 100 acres. A 20-house-per-acre development, such as townhomes, occupies only 50 acres. “Fifty is a big difference from 250,” Jacob says. “And you get a more interesting neighborhood, with the benefits you get from bringing people together and the natural environment around you. It’s the best of both worlds.”

Palmetto Bluff in South Carolina is a development of Crescent Resources, and it clusters development in three villages on 20,000 acres. Patty Kennedy, executive director of the non-profit Palmetto Bluff Conservancy, says, “We are developing in areas where settlement had historically occurred.” Much of the rest of the land is left undisturbed.

Building more compact communities allows developers to protect dunes, wetlands and open space – and to enjoy their benefits – says John Kuriawa, a coastal management specialist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Ocean and Coastal Resource Management Office on the Chesapeake Bay. “Sprawl clearly results in degradation of water.”

Kuriawa explains that people can take action at every level. Individuals can leave trees and reduce the size of driveways. Subdivisions can put in narrower roads, permeable pavement and swales. The city or regional level offers the opportunity to protect large areas of natural landscape. “One of the best things is to convert existing impervious cover to accommodate growth, rather than allowing it to spread and cause death by a million cuts,” Kuriawa says. “An abandoned mall can be redeveloped into mixed use with open space.”

One of the most important tools, he adds, is for communities to protect and encourage the use of native plants and trees.

“Natural landscapes need little maintenance. You don’t have to mow, edge, fertilize or water once they are established,” says Meg Whitmer, landscape architect and director of the Land to Sea Initiative at the Ocean Research and Conservation Association. “The best thing is to gently place your home among what is there naturally.”

That was the approach the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas took in building Mustang Island Conference Center, a dining hall and two dorms connected by boardwalks. “We looked at the buildings more as a ship at sea, parting the waters and leaving no evidence behind,” says David Richter, FAIA, LEED AP, of Richter Architects in Corpus Christi. “One of the most beautiful plants that grows on the island is a vine. We designed the buildings the way that vine meanders across the ground.” In the space underneath the elevated buildings, where it is too shady for native plants to grow, he put permeable surface for parking with a moveable perimeter.

“Outside of that perimeter, we didn’t do anything. We didn’t bring in one plant or do any kind of landscaping,” Richter says. “In my opinion that is not done enough on barrier islands.”
Native plants help minimize runoff by mimicking natural hydrologic processes, says Darla Inglis, Ph.D., lead for the central coast office of The Low Impact Development Center, especially when combined with measures such as rain barrels, cisterns, rain gardens, green roofs and permeable pavement.

In the Florida panhandle, St. Joe Company uses native plants in developed areas and prohibits grass lawns for individual homes, according to wildlife biologist Jim Moyers, community development naturalist for WaterSound and WaterColor communities. This reduces run-off; what remains is collected in ponds. “All the run-off from WaterSound Beach goes to five large ponds, which takes energy out of the run-off, decreases erosion and settles out the crud from the streets,” Moyers says. “These are also landscaped with native wetland plants to mimic a natural wetland, so they also have wildlife enhancement value.”

Palmetto Bluffs requires residential rainwater harvesting. It also actively preserves natural space by requiring a 100-foot setback along the riverfront and by prohibiting clearing. In addition, on a 500-acre parcel approved for 100 homes, the company planned only 10 lots and placed about half of the acres under conservation easement.

St. Joe Company has set aside coastal dune areas, explains Moyers, in some cases to conserve federally listed endangered species. “But we treat this area as a community amenity. It has value as a visual amenity and in some cases protection for development behind it. We get a lot of benefits from keeping the dunes – the plant and animal species that inhabit those systems, a great vista from the developed area and that protection from Mother Nature.” Hurricanes Ivan in 2004 and Dennis in 2005 proved that the approach works. “All we lost was the front half of tall dunes, the natural landscape – which regenerates – and boardwalks over the dunes, which are easily replaced. We didn’t lose any real property – houses or hardened structures.”
At Asilomar Conference Center, on 107 acres of state park land near Pacific Grove, California, structures built in the 1920s were situated behind the dunes. Those dunes, however, suffered from decades of heavy use. Beginning in the 1990s, a restoration project removed non-native plants, planted natives and installed boardwalks.

“Asilomar is a classic example of coastal development with dune restoration, buildings set back from the ocean and a boardwalk through the dunes,” says Travis Longcore, science director of The Urban Wildlands Group. “Current developments could learn from this.”

One lesson – the importance of preserving or restoring native vegetation – applies even in urban areas. San Francisco Bay, the largest and most ecologically important estuary on the U.S. Pacific Coast, could hardly be called a natural system after more than a century of drainage, pollution and alteration. Fortunately, intense efforts by an alliance of public agencies, nonprofit organizations and citizen groups have restored hundreds of acres of native habitat, including native flowering eelgrass, Zostera marina. The grass provides nursery habitat for fin fish and crabs, as well as keystone habitat for bay scallops, and it contributes to improved water quality.

An even larger eelgrass restoration project in The Nature Conservancy’s 38,000-acre Virginia Coast Reserve began more than a decade ago. The effort is a joint partnership between The Nature Conservancy and the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences and relies heavily on volunteers to collect seeds in the spring for planting in the fall. The project has planted more than 200 acres, and the grass has spread on its own to cover roughly 1,450 acres, says Barry Truitt, chief scientist for the Virginia Coast Reserve.

The health of this underwater prairie, like that of all coastal systems, depends on water quality. Water quality is affected by everything that happens on the land, and that, of course, depends on us.