#SixMileCypressSlough

[photographybymichiale]

"You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”

(An alligator at the Six Mile Cypress Slough in Fort Myers FL)

[gscheelsushi]

Journal 3

Field Trip 2 - Six Mile Cypress Slough

The Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve is about 3,500 acres of wetlands in Fort Myers, Florida. The wetland came into protection thanks to a high school environmental group who had learned about the few standing hardwood wetlands and took initiative to have Lee county purchase this land and have it be placed into preservation.

It's amazing to read that from this first initial act of love to care for our local environment, these high schoolers created an opportunity for the Lee county community to have voted over 30,000 acres into preservation. This conservation effort had three main goals of flood protection, drinking water supply, and recreation -- which all directly benefit us humans.

Essentially, a slough is a drainage channel within a wetland, so this area is very important to the water management and circulation in Fort Myers. The slough drains a 33-square mile watershed and during the wet season holds water 2-3 feet deep. That means the Slough is important for water storage and flood protection. The technical term for this slough is a cypress swamp, as it is a wetland dominated by trees.

It's important to note that this particular slough is a second generation forest of regrowth due to logging. Many of the trees along the boardwalk were planted recently in efforts of restoration. I noticed that there aren't many other plant species than the cypress. This is due to the difficulty of sustaining life amongst standing water. The cypress trees have adapted overtime to thrive in this type of environment . One way is by the design of the base of the tree. The cypress trees trunks are wide, sort of like straddled legs, to help stabilize their grounding amongst the soft soaked soil. The widening of the trunks is called buttressing.

Gator Lake is an attraction within the preserve, and it is a man-made lake due to limestone mining used to build the foundation of a road. An indicator to knowing this is not a natural occurring lake is that it's got steep sides and deep water. Even at the height of the dry season, the lake still retains water, inviting alligators and other wildlife at a time when water and prey are scarce.

In the photo below, you can see just above the treeline, floating on the surface of the water is a little gator. It is common to also find a variety of bird species such as the white ibis, great egret, little blue heron, and snow egret.

When it comes to Florida, elevation means a whole lot to what can be grown, even just a mere few inches of gradual change.

The berm that surrounds Gator Lake is man-made as described earlier, but it creates a narrow land surface high enough for pine trees to establish and grow out of the flooded swamp. Coming from the berm, the elevation drops only a couple of inches, but it is enough for oaks to outcompete the pines. The laurel oaks can tolerate wetter soil than the pines, so you'll find them next as you move downhill and off the berm. As you continue to move toward the center of the slough, the elevation drops further, and cypress trees become the dominant plant species.

You can observe this subtle change in elevation by paying attention to the thin layers of ecosystem changes. This transition is known as an ecotone.

Within the Wood Duck Pond, there's two other tree species that will grow in the deeper waters at the edge of these natural water bodies. Pond apple and pop ash are both native tree species that are adapted to growing in flooded swamp soils. These trees have shorter lives than the cypress, and are smaller with multiple limbs, but they are similar by being deciduous. They also form buttressed bases to give them more stability in the soft soils, just neither are as strongly supported as the cypress has adapted to be.

These two trees are important in supporting the protection of wading birds and their nestlings. The birds enjoy being around the bases of these trees where they can seek safety from lurking predators, like the alligator.

A fish commonly seen swimming in these ponds is the Florida Gar. It is a long and narrow spotted fish that is native to Florida, as the name hints at. The spawning season for the Florida Gar occurs in late winter and early spring, within the shallow weeded waters where the females can safely discharge their eggs which will attach to the marshy grass.

One of my favorite things within wetlands are the breathing knees of the cypress trees. They remind me so much of the aesthetic of stalagmites found within caverns. The nubby knees poking above the water is another adaptation in the fight to survive within the Six Mile Cypress Slough. They provide extra stability in the soft shifting soil of the swamp and are an extension to the underground rooting system that we are visually unaware of.

This is such a powerful quote by Chief Seattle. We must live our lives with the future in mind. Many things we do are taking away opportunities for the ones to come.

By looking to nature, we can see it has many groups/communities/ecosystems (ponds, lakes, ecotones due to elevation differences), that co-exist within a larger sustainable system (the slough).

Nature is forgiving of us, and resilient to our actions, and we must work together and find our humanity to heal our mother, for our children of the future.

The foundational story to the Six Mile Cypress Slough is very inspiring to learn that a couple of passionate tree hugging high schoolers have changed the ecological course and sustainability of Fort Myers forever, sharing a beloved spot, providing the community with a greater sense of place.

Grace

*disclaimer: all photos were retrieved from the Youtube video provided for us to view*

[lizj]

My first river otter portraits 😃 #riverotter #riverottersofinstagram #riverotters #sixmilecypressslough #florida #floridawildlife #otter #wildlifephotography #wildlife #wildlifeplanet #natgeoyourshot (at Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve) https://www.instagram.com/p/CO6OpNWgCV3/?igshid=6z698ikmhwv8

[lwlittrell]

Patience and perseverance are the word of the day! @nature_skyshotz @florida_greatshots @bestofthesunshinestate_nature @raw_florida_ @floridatravelguide @flphotographers @fl_wildcorridor @visitflorida @staysaltyflorida #herronsofinstagram #blueherrons #natureinflorida #floridaphotographer #floridanature #sixmilecypressslough #travelphotography @adventuretravelphotography #floridanature https://www.instagram.com/p/B49_g82Fwee/?igshid=1tzis4tqp1z38

[melneedsakidney]

See ya later alligator... #NoFilter #SixMileCypressSlough #NaturePreserve #FloridaLife (at Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt6cgPHH_4L/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=y3ck7nvenptp

[kanonkaylie-blog]

I’m running out of things to post, maybe this will encourage me to actually start editing

p.s. pls tell me the things that suck about my photos and how to make them less awful to look at ty (at Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2S1yclldMe/?igshid=uy4igbd8xbyf

Tags: [#photography #nature #naturephotography #tree #trees #treephotography #sunflare #sunflarephotography #sixmilecypressslough #sixmilecypresssloughpreserve #canon #canoneosrebelt6]

[universitycolloquiumjournal16]

(Photos taken by Danielle on her blog)

[photocreationsbydeb]

Green and Creativity Re-birth

Green and Creativity Re-birth

I have found with my busy lifestyle that if I don’t take time to get out into the ‘green’ my creativity begins to wane.  Between the concerts, portraits and weddings I have taken on, I’ve not had a lot of available time to be out in the woods or off in a nature preserve.

This past weekend I had some much needed time off.  I had finished editing the last wedding on my books and was almost finished…

[photographybymichiale]

"I envisioned a lot of things I thought I’d be doing when I got older. Bragging about a good night's sleep was not one of them… And yet here we are." (A great egret in flight at the Six Mile Cypress Slough in Fort Myers, Florida)

[photographybymichiale]

"Do you ever feel like your body's 'check engine' light has been on and you are still driving it like 'no, it will be fine'... “

(A great blue heron at the Six Mile Cypress Slough in Fort Myers, Florida)

[photographybymichiale]

"I'm not much for seizing the day. I just kind of poke it with my beak" (A woodpecker at the Six Mile Cypress Slough in Fort Myers, Florida)

[photographybymichiale]

"I do not have time for one of your infantile meltdowns, can we schedule this for another time?" (A sleeping alligator at the Six Mile Cypress Slough in Fort Myers, Florida)

[photographybymichiale]

“If you believe, you WILL achieve...” (A little blue heron in white morph at the Six Mile Cypress Slough in Fort Myers, Florida)

[photographybymichiale]

Happy World Turtle Day! “When you give joy to other people, you get more joy in return."—Eleanor Roosevelt (A turtle at the Six Mile Cypress Slough in Fort Myers, FL)

[photographybymichiale]

"Leave the road, take the trails." —Pythagoras

(A pair of turtles at the Six Mile Cypress Slough in Fort Myers, FL)

[photographybymichiale]

[tv announcer] "Are you bloated? Tired? Unable to enjoy the activities you once loved?"[me with a mouthful of chips] "YEAH"

(A pilated woodpecker at the Six Mile Cypress Slough in Fort Myers, Florida)