It is the wetland ecosystems that were the focus of our field trip. It is essential to experience these environments in person if you are to truly understand their importance. Florida is the U.S.A's 4th most densely populated state and this has put these fragile environments under immense amounts of pressure as agriculture and development has led to the destruction of huge areas of wetlands.
Whilst visiting Florida we stayed at the Vester Field Station in Fort Myers located on the Gulf of Mexico coastline. This was a perfect base to work from as the field station was located at the waters edge next to a small mangrove forest. We were also within driving distance of many areas of interest such as "Lover's Key" state park and the JN "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge.
Hello Ciaran. I'm not sure if you still use this site, but I have just stumbled across your blog when looking for diagrams of mangrove habitats. I have just returned from the Bangor University Florida field trip for 2024 and have found reading through your posts so interesting! It's interesting to see the differences and similarities in the trips 10 years apart - we also visited Lover's Key, FGCU, Corkscrew Swamp and the Everglades, as well as a few other places! We stayed at Archbold Biological Station about an hour and a half away from Fort Meyers, as I believe the station the trip originally stayed at was unfortunately destroyed by a hurricane!
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