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Mission. The primary mission of MAERC is to conduct and stimulate
long-term research on the relationships between cattle ranching, citrus production, and
the native ecological systems of central and southern Florida.
Founding. In November 1988, Archbold
Biological
Station became manager of the 10,300-acre (4,170 ha) Buck Island Ranch, under a
long-term lease from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Operation. The Ranch is maintained as a full-scale working ranch and
grove, with a research design. Cattle herds and citrus groves are managed at full
production levels for research purposes. This provides staff and visiting scientists a
unique opportunity in Florida: to measure and monitor ecological effects of agricultural
practices at real world scales of space and numbers. They can also experiment on a large
scale as a way of testing how agriculture and the ecosystem interact over the long term.
Research. During 1994, three
organizations (MAERC, University of Florida's Institute
of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF-IFAS),
South
Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) created a cooperative group to initiate a
multidisciplinary research program at the Buck Island Ranch. The
Florida Cattleman's Association joined the
group in 1996 and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer
Services (FDACS) joined in 2002.
These organizations work together with the Director of Research
at MAERC on research projects in water quality, wildlife biology,
nutrient
dynamics and wetland
ecology in a working agricultural landscape. Scientific publications from MAERC now total
65 (through 2003).
Science Advisory
Board. A Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) for MAERC, separate from the SAB for Archbold Biological
Station, was organized in 1999 and had its first meeting in March 2000
and its second meeting in March 2002. The SAB
includes representatives of the various disciplines related to
the ongoing research and long-term research vision for MAERC.
Archbold Biological Station | Index
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Lake Placid, Florida 33852 USA 