Nitrogen and Phosphorus Removal - Prof. Mitsch Lecture

On Day 7 of our Florida wetlands trip we had the great honor of receiving a lecture of Prof. William J. Mitsch. As I mentioned in my Day 4 post the authority on wetlands and author of the wetlands textbook now in its 5th edition.

The Lecture

The title of his lecture ‘Using wetlands to prevent phosphorus and nitrogen pollution in downstream wetlands,lakes,rivers and coastal wetlands’ and he drew on some of his most recent projects to explain the problems and the potential of wetlands in this area.

MSc Group Photo with Prof. William Mitsch (Center),

 Dr Christian Dunn (to his right)and Prof. Chris Freeman (Far left)

He started with the problem of nitrogen pollution in the ‘MOM’ (Mississippi-Ohio-Missouri) basis and its severe consequences on the gulf of mexico. The Gulf of mexico in recent decades has been facing an increasingly larger crisis in the form of hypoxia (low oxygen levels) driven by the large increase in nutrient inputs from the MOM basin.

In his paper: ‘Restoration of wetlands in the Mississippi–Ohio–Missouri (MOM) River Basin: Experience and needed research' - 2006 he outlines the causes of this mainly through the conversion of wetlands in the MOM basin to agricultural land which then suffers from fertilizer run off.

He also recommends the mind boggling figure of 2.2 million hectares of treatment wetland that would need to be created in order to treat the problem.

2.2 MILLION hectares.

He then moved onto some more recent research conducted by himself and other members of the Everglades wetland research park (which we visited on Day 5)

This research focuses on the removal of phosphorus from waste water which tackles the increasing problem of phosphorus pollution in the highly oligotrophic everglades (again mostly due to agriculture and urban runoff). Us policy dictates a target of 10 part per billion phosphorus in any water that enters the everglades system in order to protect the characteristic sawgrass (Cladium jamaicense) from being out competed by other species.

This is a target that has rarely been reached but in this research examining the removal of phosphorus from different treatment wetland plant communities it was briefly achieved. the results of this research are published in this paper : ’Protecting the Florida Everglades wetlands with wetlands: Can stormwater phosphorus be reduced to oligotrophic conditions? ‘ - 2015.

My Thoughts

This was a truly fascinating lecture which not only highlight the importance of wetland in the natural ecosystem but also their usefulness to its restoration.

Some of the figures that were mentioned are almost incomprehensible to think about however i look forward to watching the research Prof. Mitsch and his team are doing develop and to hopefully see its future application.

Florida Gulf Coast University - Florida Day 6

Our sixth day in Florida saw another very early start. This was because we were heading to the Florida Gulf Coast University main campus to catch some birds!

Bird Ringing

Top - Jerry Jackson in front of a Mist net explaining
 their history. Bottom Left - Yellow Rump Warbler
(Setophaga coronata) caught in mist net.
Bottom right- Jerry holding the 'Butter Butt'

When we reached our destination we met up with a semi retired member of staff called Jerry Jackson. Jerry holds the correct licensing and permissions to carry out bird ringing for the US fish and wildlife service using the otherwise illegal mist nets.

Mist nets brought to the US by italian immigrants in the 1900’s caused a rapid decline in small bird populations leading to outrage and banning. Now a days they can be used under licence for research purposes only and under strict guidelines. Their thin monofilament nylon mesh means they are almost invisible to birds subsequently catching and holding them safely until they can be examined and ringed by the researcher.

Jerry had set up three of these nets in a dry slash pine forest on campus and after multiple visits we were lucky.

The nets had captured a pair of Yellow rumped warblers (Setophaga coronata) who also go by the name of ‘butter butts’

Top - Jerrys Albino Red-eared Slider Turtle
  (Trachemys scripta elegans). Bottom - Pete and Repete
a two headed Red-eared Slider Turtle.

Jerry handled the small birds firmly but delicately in order to obtain the required measurements for the Banding to take place.

During the time we were with Jerry he spoke to us about the complex history and development of the bird ringing system in the USA, Canada and Mexico, its applications and how its still evolving today with the advent of GPS tagging.

Jerry ended by treating us to two of his own pets, both with rare genetic mutations. Firstly, an Albino Red eared slider turtle (Trachemys scripta elegans) and secondly a two headed red eared slider turtle, brilliant named Pete and Repete. Pete and Repete were brought to him over 20 years ago by a farmer who said they wouldn't survive but the dedicated care of jerry, and a credit card to separate them at feeding times, means they have survived.

Exploring the Grounds

The second half of the day was spent with Prof. Edwin 'Win' Everham, some what of a legend at FGCU because of his passion and enthusiasm for all of nature and the environment.

He took us for a tour of the university grounds, including the wet bits, blessed relief for us wetland students who thought we might spend another day completely dry!

Left to right - Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta). African Cichlid (Pterophyllum sp.). Swamp Bay (Persea palustris). Prof. Chris Freeman Slogging through a stormwater treatment wetland.

Wins passion and knowledge of the environment around his was very inspiring as he led the charge through the campus and its stormwater treatment wetlands, pine forests, wet prairies and cypress domes constantly finding something interesting to point out to us even if he didn't know what it was!

As we went he also pulled parts of the campus apart (he did also fix them afterwards) too see how nature was making use of them. This was most often the electrical junction boxes in which we found a Cuban Treefrog (Osteopilus septentrionalis) and razer snake eggs to name but a few things. He also has a number of fish traps set up in the stormwater ponds around the campus in order for us to get a full picture of their biodiversity.

What i liked about this is its illustration of how nature will move into constructed wetlands using them as microrefugia, protecting many wetland species, something i knew to be true but had never seen for myself until this point.

As i mentioned he took us into the cypress dome which is a truly stunning place. The presence of the cypress trees is dominating and you grasp why they have been dubbed ‘natures cathedrals’.

This was my second visit to this particular cypress dome having come before in 2012 at the end of the wet season. This time during the dry season it was really noticeable how much the water level changes between seasons.

Of course Dr. Dunn grabbed a soil sample, and then we started heading back towards the university to wash off our legs in the fountain.

Top left to right - My Fellow MSc students and I with Dr. Christian Dunn. Myself in the same swamp at the end of the wet season in 2012 as an illustration of the water level change.
Bottom left to right -  The cypress trees towering above us. Christian never happier than with a bag of soil. Prof Win Johnstone our guide across the campus. 

My thoughts on FGCU

I really enjoyed my visit to FGCU but it left me with alot to think about in terms of its philosophy and questions as to why Bangor University wasn't the same?

FGCU was built with environmental principles in mind, for example they didn't want to export more water than if nothing was there and currently around 50% of the campus is set aside for nature reserve. On top of that every single first year student at FGCU takes a compulsory module on sustainable living, how great is that?

The University also consult their staff and students on any new developments that are being planned, as after all they are either experts or trainee experts in their respective fields. Something that i'm not aware of Bangor doing.

Although it would it is a bit late for bangor to become more like its floridian counterpart in terms of its nature reserve coverage, it would be great if such things like sustainable living, or sustainable business modules became part of the curriculum here, even if it was just too increase general awareness of the world in which we live.

Our group photo at the end of the trip in the FGCU fountain

Species List

Birds

Common Name	Latin Name
Yellow-rumped Warbler	Setophaga coronata
Blue Jay	Cyanocitta cristata

Plants

Common Name	Latin Name
Cabbage Palm	Sabal palmetto
Willow	Salix caroliniana
Poison Ivy	Toxicodendron radicans
Slash Pine	Pinus elliottii
Wax Myrtle	Myrica cerifera
Cabbage Palm	Sabal palmetto
Bayberry Bush	Myrica pensylvanica
Saw Grass	Cladium jamaicense
Bladderwort	Utricularia species
Spike Rush	Eleocharis vivipara
Water Lille	Nymphaea odorata
Swap Bay	Persea palustris
Black Eyed Susan	Rudbeckia hirta
Alligator Flag	Thalia geniculata
Pond Cypress	Taxodium ascendens
Black Tupelo	Nyssa sylvatica

Reptiles

Common Name	Latin Name
Red-eared Slider Turtle	Trachemys scripta elegans
Black Rat Snake	Pantherophis obsoletus

Invertebrates

Common Name	Latin Name
Gulf Fritillary Butterfly	Agraulis vanillae

Fish

Common Name	Latin Name
Flag fish	Jordanella floridae
African Cichlid	Pterophyllum sp.
Mosquito fish	Gambusia affinis
Sailfin Molly	Poecilia latipinna
Sun fish	Lepomis auritus
Golden Topminnow	Fundulus chrysotus

Amphibians

Common Name	Latin Name
Cuban Tree Frog	Osteopilus septentrionalis

Vester Field Station and sampling - Florida

Vester Field Station

Top to bottom - The Vester field station,
The Osprey nest just beyond the stations jetties
A Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) roosting
on  navigation post near the the station,
A Manatee (Tichechus manatus) seen from the station

Apart for the first two nights of our trip the place we called home was Florida Gulf Coast University's Vester Field Station and this blog wouldn't be complete without giving it a special mention.

Donated to FGCU by Bob and Nancy Vester, who still live on site in their own apartment, the station that was once a waterfront motel is now a fully kitted out Marine and environment research station. It comes complete with Labs, boats and of course dorms.

As well as serving us well with a place to call home for the trip it also offered us some great wildlife spots. These included the Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) among other bird species roosting on posts just off shore and two resident nesting Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) .

But perhaps the best offering it had to give came on the evening of the 4th day when a Manatee (Tichechus manatus) and calf surfaced just a few feet from one of its viewing platforms. After hours of fruitless searching on our day trips, they turned up on the door step. It was wonderful to see.

Sampling

Of course no wetlands field trip would be complete without collecting some soil samples to take home with us. After our Visit to FGCU on the Sixth day we returned to the station briefly to collect some tools before heading out to collect some samples.

Our mission was simple. Together collect 5 soil samples from areas of each mangrove tree species (red, black and white).  The nearby barefoot beach provided us with sample from two of the three species but for the black mangrove species we had to go further out to sea...

In perhaps the most exciting trip to collect samples to date we grabbed a couple of the stations canoes and paddled out to a mangrove island within the estuary. Here we found the last samples.

It was so different to be sampling within a mangrove swamp rather than a peat bog with perhaps the one of the most memorable differences being the fact my hand were warm enough to still have feeling in them afterwards!

Myself and fellow MSc students going out to samples in the mangroves 

Species List

Birds

Common Name	Latin Name
Brown Pelican	Pelecanus occidentalis
Osprey	Pandion haliaetus

Plants

Common Name	Latin Name
Red Mangrove	Rhizophora mangle
Black Mangrove	Avicennia germinans
White Mangrove	Laguncularia racemosa

Mammals

Common Name	Latin Name
Manatee	Tichechus manatus