Gyrochopping arrives; it'll never look the same

This week a worker from FWC was busily gyrochopping a portion of the North Tract. He said the South Tract will get attention eventually. I'm glad I knew about it, because I was able to explain what was happening to county folks who had received calls and to one of the neibghbors.The big question will be the results. That may take some time (I don't know how much, though) to appear. In the best-case scenario, Bonamia etc. will explode. In the worst-case scenario, so will Natal grass and cogon grass. It would be funny if Lupinus aridorum were to pop up on its own next year. It will be interesting to watch. The Clitoria fragrans area was cleared. I didn't see any of the plants in a superficial search of the area where they have been living, but disturbance may favor them.I let the Archbold folks know the latest. Eric Menges said they'll be monitoring the results and compare it to prescribed burn results.

Fire strikes, but not hard enough

I was checking the fence line this week and found there had been a small fire in the back area by the TECO substation. I don't know whether it was a lightnintg strike or something else, but it was interesting. Too bad it didn't get a little more out of hand, since there's no homes to threaten in that part of the preserve, so all it would have done is to renew the landscape. OK, it might have spread some exotics, too, but that's happening anyway.

The oaks are dying

There has been a dieoff among some of the Chapman oaks in the north tract. From what research I've done online and checking with another land manager, the problem is probably drought-related and aggravated by the lack of fire that has allowed everything to be overgrown so there's not enough for everyone. I began noticing the stress a few months ago, but it's hard to ignore now.