According to the Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants, there are more than 4,200 plant species naturally occurring in the state. Nearly 3,000 are considered native. The Florida Native Plant Society (FNPS) defines native plants as “those species ... READ MORE
Category: Natural Resources, WildlifeFor several years now Dr. Angela Collins, with Florida Sea Grant, has been conducting research on the status of the Goliath Grouper. This extremely large member of the Family Serranidae has been of concern to fishermen, divers, and resource ... READ MORE
Category: Natural Resources, Water, WildlifeAwareness is Growing!Photo by: Aprile Clark That is, when it comes to lights on our homes and businesses near their nesting beaches. Humans have long-known that artificial light can have negative consequences for many nocturnal animals, including ... READ MORE
Category: Natural Resources, Wildlife
For the past month, I have asked our staff to bring me whatever bugs they might find on our 475-acre farm. This is a very busy time for our faculty and staff, so I only received a few specimens so far, but they are beauties. There's nothing ... READ MORE
Category: Agriculture, Crops, Events, Farm Management, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife
The word “phytophagous” is an adjective that means “plant-eating,” and it’s typically used to describe arthropods that feed on the tissues of living plants, but not those that consume pollen or nectar. You’ve probably also heard ... READ MORE
Category: Agriculture, Crops, Pests & Disease, WildlifeWhen doing programs about snakes I find plenty of people who hate them… but I have never found anyone who hated turtles. I mean what is there to hate? They are slower, none of them are venomous, they have shoulders… people just like them. ... READ MORE
Category: Natural Resources, Wildlife
By Ronit Amit, PhD, Wildlife Ecology & Conservation Department The return of Florida panthers (Puma concolor coryi) from the border of extinction can be seen as a conservation success in terms of increasing genetic diversity and population ... READ MORE
Category: Conservation, Natural Resources, UF/IFAS Research, WildlifeBy Dr. Chris J. Mortensen, Assistant Professor, Department of Animal Sciences Never before in our history as a species have we faced the challenges that we face now. The United Nations now estimates a human population of over 10 billion people ... READ MORE
Category: Agriculture, Conservation, Livestock, Natural Resources, WildlifeCan you tell me how old a fish is just by looking at a slice of bone? That’s one question youth will learn how to answer in the Manatee Marine Explorers Day Camp created by two University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences ... READ MORE
Category: 4-H & Youth, Camp, Coasts & Marine, Conservation, Natural Resources, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS Extension, WildlifeFlorida has the highest number of sea turtles of any state in the continental US. Three species are common here including loggerhead, green and leatherback turtles. The Federal Endangered Species Act lists all of sea turtles in Florida ... READ MORE
Category: Natural Resources, Wildlife