Thursday January 29th, 2015 was our first field trip as a class and we went through the Nature Trails on campus. I had never been on those trails before even though my freshman year I had lived right next door to them in South Village. Now being a Junior it was my first experience exploring them. Overall I thought that it was a great experience. As you can tell from my previous post I have hiked through the woods in my hometown in Ohio so I am not new to the nature walk experience. I really did enjoy seeing a difference of walking through woods in Florida compared to the woods I am used to hiking in. The nature trail has such a variety of different ecosystems within it, such as the pine flat wood and the oak canopy.
My favorite part of the trip was being able to hear an owl and other birds as we walked, as well as learning about our state tree, the Sabal Palm, which is actually considered a type of grass. I also liked the story the naturalist told us about why the parts that stick out of the Sabal Palm are called boots (because pioneers used to hang their boots on them to dry). I don't have a least favorite part of the trip because I really enjoyed the whole experience. Something that I learned from our naturalist as well was that woods in Florida need to be a part of a controlled burn every 3-5 years in order to burn away dead debris so that there can be room for new growth and less chance of a huge and hot forest fire spreading throughout the area. I never would have thought that fire was a good thing when it came to woods I only have considered the negative effects and with this experience I was able to understand that fire is actually good because it can help the forest flourish.
I would recommend that my friends and family would walk the trail while visiting FGCU because it really is a interesting experience to be able to see how different ecosystems interact and that there can be a variety of different ones in just one area and you only have to walk a few feet to be in a different ecosystem than what you were just in. It also can help show them why it is important that these areas should be protected. Most of my family are not an outdoorsy type people, but who knows maybe walking through these trails and informing them of what I learned on this trip could change their mindset.
Below are some photos I took on the trip:
(Poison Ivy)
(Lily Pads)
(Holly on a tree)
(Paper trees)
(a tiny pine-cone that was on the trail)
(Random trees)
(Holes from a Woodpecker)
(Oak Canopy)
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