CONSERVATION

As scientists who know and study the earth's natural systems, ecologists today also must be responsible citizens in order to help protect fragile resources. Researchers at Archbold Biological Station link their scientific inquiry to the practice of conservation, and are active in the development of rational priorities and methods for natural resource protection, both locally and globally. Archbold staff members serve as independent advisors to a host of public agencies such as county planning departments, regional planning councils, water management districts, and numerous state and federal agencies.  Station staff also works closely with private conservation organizations, especially The Nature Conservancy, to establish biological priorities for land acquisition and habitat management. Archbold has been instrumental in developing a major plan for a network of biological preserves to protect the endangered habitats of the Lake Wales Ridge ecosystem. This plan includes the first National Wildfire Refuge in the United States to be designed around protection of endangered plants.

The Archbold Biological Station is located near the southern end of the Lake Wales Ridge, one of the most distinctive natural regions in the United States.  Archbold Biological Station is a 5,193-acre, globally significant natural preserve, protecting the threatened Florida scrub habitat.  The adjacent 3.648 Archbold Reserve protects a further ~500 acres of scrub habitat. Together these two sites represent one of the largest conservation areas on the Lake Wales Ridge. Archbold Biological Station was listed in 1986 as a National Natural Landmark, under the National Natural Landmark register of the US Department of Interior, as an outstanding example of our country's natural history, and one of the best examples of biological features in private ownership. The Station supports 19 federally listed threatened and endangered species, and is recognized in the USFWS Multi-species Recovery Plan for South Florida as critical for the long-term survival of many of these.  26 rare endemic Florida scrub species at Archbold are listed under the NatureServe/Heritage system as G1 (critically imperiled worldwide), G2 (imperiled worldwide), or G3 (vulnerable worldwide), probably most important of these for conservation are the endangered lichen Cladonia perforate, rare plants such as the scrub mint Dicerandra frutescens, the edge-leaved button-snakeroot Eryngium cuneifolium, as well as a large, stable population of Florida scrub jays.

Conservation Landscape of Archbold Biological Station (RO MAP TO ADD HERE BLACK AND WHITE LINE DRAWING? or bigger scale discuss……

          If you want a glorious vista over the Lake Wales Ridge and the Florida scrub, climb to the top of the fire tower on the Red Hill at Archbold Biological Station. Archbold land stretches far in all directions, now totaling 8,800 acres, providing great security for the globally imperiled species and scrub communities sheltered within. Beyond Archbold boundaries there are scenes of hope and despair for the conservationist. North of the old sand pines on the Red Hill one can see Lake Annie and Lake Placid nestled deeply in trees and orange groves. Between the lakes lies the Lake Placid Wildlife and Environmental Area, 3,000-acres bought by the state in the 1993. This land provides a tremendous buffer for Archbold from the Placid Lakes subdivision, the last remnants of scrub in its suburbs inexorably relinquishing small troves of plants and animals in the path of development. But east of Lake Placid the town plans new developments stretching south along Old SR8 to SR70. Highlands County has designated industrial zoning on the corner of US 27 and US 70, right on our border. Like many other field stations nationwide we feel, despite our considerable size, and increasing acreage of nearby protected areas, that we are under continued threat from land use change and conversion in the surrounding landscape.

Looking east a deep green sea of citrus blankets the ridge to its eastern edge, continuous but for Gould Road, another small but precious gem of scrub saved by the state of Florida. Ironically we may look back on the days of big citrus fondly, as declining agricultural values and real estate pressures mean once profitable groves are being abandoned. One realizes, for all the conservation challenges and habitat loss posed by citrus, how much harder it will to manage our conservation lands when surrounded by subdivisions of Florida’s never-ending housing boom, rather than neighboring orange trees. This is true for all the recent state and federal scrub land acquisitions up and down the Lake Wales Ridge with continued management challenges on our borders in terms of fire, exotics, and encroachment.
 
Turning south with binoculars and a clear day one can see as far as the vast lands along Fisheating Creek, some of which are the subject of state protection under one of the larger conservation easements in Florida; the remainder of this valuable conservation landscape is, as yet, unprotected. The sound of trucks roaring down SR 27 south to Miami remind one of the disruption and dislocation of roads in the landscape; there have been two young male panthers killed on this stretch of road in the last few years. Many black bears die needlessly here too, as they move from the bear-sized complex of Archbold/XL ranch and head off across the hazards of SR27 to the deep bayheads of the Hendrie and Smoak properties. The new nursery complex immediately south of the Station has added considerably to traffic along old SR 8. Detailed tracking of collared black bears has given us wonderful insights into landscape connectivity between Archbold Biological Station and surrounding private and public conservation lands. Loss of any of these precious but tenuous landscape linkages diminishes our conservation value; no site can function as an island entire of itself.

Sweeping west, one drinks in the view across one of the last, largest roadless areas in Florida, extending to the county line and beyond.  The acquisition of the Archbold Reserve buffered the length of the Stations’ western boundary and linked us to the neighboring XL Ranch, lying along the west slope of the Ridge. It is protected by a private conservation easement. Beyond XL Ranch the vast prairies of the De Soto plain stretch out into the distance, dissected by Fisheating Creek, and encompassed by Bluehead Ranch which is contemplating a mixture of new housing development and conservation set asides, and the Brighthour Ranch, already protected by a conservation easement.