1 Greetings From the Director

2 A Brief History of the Ordway-Swisher Biological Station

3 The Ordway-Swisher Biological Station Today

4 The Ordway-Swisher Biological Station’s Future

6 NEON Takes Off at the Ordway-Swisher

7 Research Spotlight: Clare Rittschof, Biology Doctoral Student

8 The Ordway-Swisher Needs Your Support

Greetings From the DirectorWelcome to the inaugural issue of The Sandhill — the newsletter of the Ordway-Swisher Biological Station.

In The Sandhill we plan to keep you in-formed about the latest projects, activities and developments at the Ordway-Swisher, a 9,135-acre field station located about 30 minutes from the University of Florida’s main campus.

This first issue will give you a review of the Station’s history, an overview of some of our current programs and a glimpse at our vision for the future. Upcoming issues will include in-depth looks at specific features of the Station, updates on research, teaching and conservation programs there, and profiles on the people who use the Station in their work.

We’d like to know what you think about this issue, and what you’d like to see next time. Please email your com-ments to osbs@ifas.ufl.edu and include “The Sandhill” in your subject line.

You can also access The Sandhill at the Station’s website, http://ordway-swisher.

ufl.edu.To receive updates

and announce-ments regarding the Station, please send your email address to osbs@ifas.ufl.edu and include “Email List” in your subject line.

This is an exciting time at the Ordway-Swisher, and we are actively seeking partners to help us achieve our vision for the Station. You can find more informa-tion about helping us on Page 8.

I hope you enjoy reading this issue of The Sandhill and look forward to keep-ing you up to date on activities at the Ordway-Swisher in the years to come.

John P. HayesDirector, Ordway-Swisher Biological Station

ordway-Swisher Biological StationDepartment of Wildlife Ecology and ConservationUniversity of FloridaP.O. Box 110430Gainesville, FL 32611-0430

(352) 846-0576osbs@ifas.ufl.eduhttp://ordway-swisher.ufl.edu

contact

contentS

The Ordway-Swisher Biological Station is a 9,135-acre field station situated close to the main campus of the University of Florida.

the neWSlet ter oF the orDWay-SWiSher BioloGical StationiSSue 1. Summer 2011

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a Brief history of the ordway-Swisher Biological Station

2010 – Major efforts begin to draw public support for the Station, construct a campus on the site and greatly expand educational and research programs.

approximately 12,000 B.c. – Native Americans arrive in Florida. It’s unknown when they reached present-day Putnam County, but artifacts recovered at the Station indicate Timucuans lived there well before Europeans arrived.

miD-1500s – First permanent European settlements in Florida.

1845 – Florida becomes a state.

1847 – Elijah Wall, the first homesteader in the area, arrives from South Carolina to establish a farm with his family near Putnam Hall. The Wall family cemetery is located on the Station.

late 1860s – Following the Civil War, more settlers arrive. They grow subsistence crops, cotton and tobacco and raise hogs and cattle.

1870s – Sweet oranges introduced to the area, but the fledgling industry is wiped out by a series of freezes starting in 1894.

early 20th century Pine trees provide new economic opportunities, via logging and turpentine production.

1926 – Carl Swisher, son of tobacco magnate John H. Swisher, buys his first property in the area, establishing a private hunting and fishing preserve. When he dies in 1972, Swisher owns about 25,000 contiguous acres.

1979 – The Swisher family donates 3,000 acres to The Nature Conservancy, a conservation organization, to establish the Carl Swisher Memorial Sanctuary.

1980 – UF Foundation buys 6,000 acres adjacent to the Swisher sanctuary with a $5.25 million grant from the Goodhill Foundation, a philanthropic organization founded by Katharine Ordway, heiress to the 3M Company fortune.

1983 UF begins managing the Swisher sanctuary.

2006 – UF and The Nature Conservancy agree to give their properties a single name, the Ordway-Swisher Biological Station.

2007 – The National Science Foundation selects the Station as one of 20 sites nationwide to be used in a long-term study of environmental change by the National Ecological Observatory Network, or NEON.

2008 The Nature Conservancy donates the Swisher sanctuary to UF.

one reaSon the Ordway-Swisher Biological Station is scientifically important is that it has been maintained in such a pristine state. On this 9,135-acre property, scientists can observe North Florida ecosystems as they existed hundreds of years ago — before housing subdivisions, mini-malls and freeways made their mark. Nonetheless, people have played a role in this land’s history. Here's how:

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The Station holds two Native American burial grounds and 14 historic home sites.

Many of the older longleaf pines on the Station have scars called ‘catfaces.’ These are remnants from the days when pine resin was collected in the manufacturing of turpentine for the naval stores industry at the beginning of the 20th century.

Carl Swisher’s family developed the well-known Swisher Sweets cigars.

The 3,000 acres donated to UF by The Nature Conservancy was valued at $11 million.

3Summer 2011 THE SANDHiLL NEWSLET TER

locateD in northwestern Putnam County, the Ordway-Swisher Bio-logical Station is rapidly becoming a globally significant research site for scientists and students. Its 9,135 acres include pristine examples of ecosys-tems that are vanishing from Florida. Since 1980 the Station has been used exclusively for research, education and conservation activities.

Here’s an overview of what’s going on now:

reSearchScientists from UF and other institu-tions use the Station as an outdoor laboratory. Between 1982 and 2010, approximately 65 graduate projects and 275 publications involved research conducted there.

Much of the research has focused on sandhill ecosystems, which dominate the property. Characterized by rolling hills, longleaf pines, turkey

oaks and grasses, sandhills were once common in the Southeast. Today, few remain in their natural state.

Studies at the Station help scien-tists generate information to protect animals such as the gopher tortoise. For example, researchers are investi-gating respiratory infections that may threaten the tortoises.

eDucationThe Station is used as a teaching site for UF classes on natural resources ecology year-round.

In winter and spring, the Ordway-Swisher hosts prescribed fire training sessions, in connection with con-trolled burns on the property.

Plans are under way to greatly expand the Station’s physical plant, adding classrooms and living quarters.

conServationThe Station's sandhill habitat, predominantly longleaf pine and wiregrass, is maintained with pre-scribed burning. Fire helps control hardwoods, increases plant diversity and promotes wildlife habitat.

Other ecosystems on the Station include upland mixed forest, dry forest hammock, historic subsistence farm fields and old pine plantation.

The Station is home to about 55 permanent and temporary lakes and ponds, a hardwood swamp and three wet prairies. Station staff conduct long-term monitoring on environ-mental parameters including weather and water quality.

More than 500 plants and almost 300 vertebrates have been cataloged on the property, including endan-gered, threatened and rare species. ◄

the ordway-Swisher Biological Station today

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See a video about the Station at http://www.floridatomorrow.ufl.edu/gallery/video_galleries/Initiatives/Ordway-Swisher_Video.htm

Universities that have used the Station:

Cornell UniversityDuke UniversityFlorida State UniversityHarvard UniversityHumboldt State UniversityKansas State UniversityLouisiana State UniversityUniversity of FloridaUniversity of GeorgiaUniversity of MissouriUniversity of North CarolinaUniversity of South FloridaWashington University

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“We’re at a unique place in time right now, where, with proper resources, we can move to the next stage in a vision that brings ecosystem and conserva-tion science to the public, educators, students and researchers in a way like never before,” said John Hayes, Director of the Station.

That vision includes plans to develop a one-of-a-kind campus at the Station — one that allows the public, students and researchers to visit and learn about the ecology and natural resources of the region, while serving as a model for green building practices.

The proposed campus would be built on a 55-acre section of the Station along State Road 21, providing excellent accessibility on paved roads

without requiring travel through the ecologically sensitive heart of the Station.

The core of the new campus would be a quadrangle of buildings that would serve as the hub for scientific, educational and outreach activities at the Station. The largest building of the campus would be the public outreach center, which would house two large classrooms and feature a central display area with natural history exhibits that could be visited by students and the public.

“Our planned outreach center will be very different than what you find in most parks or natural areas. Because the Station is a working research and conservation laboratory, our outreach center will not only

highlight the area’s natural heritage but also will highlight the ways that scientists discover new knowledge,” Hayes said.

In addition, NEON laboratories (see story on Page 6) and other research labs would be provided in nearby buildings. To the extent pos-sible, these working labs will be directly linked to outreach efforts. In addition, the campus would feature temporary housing for visiting researchers, classes and field crews.

“Our vision is that this campus

the ordway-Swisher Biological Station’s Future: enhancing the outdoor classroom and laboratory

outreach center — rendering of front view

The Ordway-Swisher Biological Station has made significant strides in advancing

its conservation, research and education missions in the past several years.

However, for the Station to achieve the full impact possible, it will need new

educational and research facilities to capitalize on the opportunities that the

Station offers.

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Subjects researched at the Station:

Air qualityBotanyForestryHydrologySoil scienceWater qualityWildlife ecology

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and the research opportunities at the Station will create a magnet drawing scientists from around the world,” said Steve Coates, Program Coordina-tor for the Ordway-Swisher.

“There’s no other place like the Ordway-Swisher, and the research opportunities at the Station are very significant,” Coates said. “To provide the necessary foundation for scientists and educators to take full advantage of the Station, we need to have infrastructure in place to support them and their work. Once this is in place, the potential for the Station to make cutting-edge impacts is staggering.”

“I think these new facilities will open tremendous opportunities for youth education, citizen science and organizations like 4-H,” Hayes said. “With a well-developed campus we will have the opportunity to bring an

Group Bunkhouse floorplan

outreach center — rendering of back view researcher housing rendering

understanding of the natural world to students in a way that no one else really can.”

Leading away from the outreach center would be a nature trail featur-ing stations with information about the region’s natural environment as well as information about ongoing research.

“There are places you can go that

are primarily for conservation and to enjoy the natural environment, there are places you can go to learn and that are educational, and there are places you can go that are focused on research,” Hayes said. “Those three elements — conservation, education and research — come together here in a way that really makes this an important place.” ◄

researcher housing floorplan

outreach center floorplan

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6 THE SANDHiLL NEWSLET TER Summer 2011

in SeptemBer, boots hit the ground and planes took to the skies to begin an important new facet of the Ordway-Swisher Biological Sta-tion’s partnership with the National Ecological Observatory Network, or NEON.

A cutting-edge project, NEON will monitor the nation’s ecological processes and environmental health over the next three decades. In sum-mer 2007, the Ordway-Swisher was selected as one of 20 NEON core sites, with locations stretching from Puerto Rico to the Alaskan tundra.

NEON will feature a suite of sensors, technologies and scientific approaches at the Station to track everything from carbon cycles and atmospheric chemistry to biodiversity and soil microbiology.

To capture the big picture, NEON is linking information collected on the ground with data captured using remote sensing from aircraft and satellites.

In early September 2010, the

National Science Foundation-funded project sent crews from NEON and NASA to begin gathering aerial data from the Ordway-Swisher using spectroscopy and LiDAR technology.

Spectroscopy uses characteristics of light reflected from surfaces to enable identification of vegetation. LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) is a laser-guided system similar to radar, used to detect, locate and character-ize distant objects. Data from these technologies will allow scientists to create three-dimensional images of the vegetation and track ecological changes over time.

The preliminary flights conducted over the Ordway-Swisher will help researchers refine their approach to airborne data collection and correlate aerial data with information on plant diversity and forest canopy coverage collected on the ground, said Brian Johnson, a NEON scientist who coordinated the aerial effort.

Data collected at the Station will be fed to a central database and collated

with data from other NEON core sites to provide a comprehensive picture of environmental change throughout the U.S.

It’s expected that NEON programs will be in full swing at the Ordway-Swisher over the next two to three years. The partnership with NEON places the Station at the forefront of the nation’s most significant efforts to understand our natural environment and chart a sustainable future.

According to the Station’s Director, John Hayes: “NEON’s arrival at the Station is a tremendous step forward in the Ordway-Swisher’s path to be-coming a globally significant research and education facility.” ◄

neon takes off at the ordway-Swisher

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three-dimensional imagery of an area on the ordway-Swisher Biological Station captured using liDar.

To learn more about NEON, visit http://www.neoninc.org

To see all NEON sites, visit http:// www.neoninc.org/domains/overview

7Summer 2011 THE SANDHiLL NEWSLET TER

Nephila clavipes — better known to Florida residents as the golden orb spider or banana spider — isn’t easy to miss. Females can grow to the size of a CD, and their huge, golden webs decorate trees and power lines statewide during warm weather.

The male of the species maintains a much lower profile, however. Drab and small, they don’t weave webs but temporarily reside in the webs of the females they’re courting at the moment.

If there’s one thing about the male N. clavipes that gets attention, at least in scientific circles, it’s the baffling variation in their size. The largest adult males are about 2.5 times the size of the smallest.

That’s unusual for spiders, or for any animals, says Clare Rittschof, a University of Florida biology doctoral student who’s researching the mat-ing behaviors of N. clavipes at the Ordway-Swisher Biological Station.

If this kind of size variation were found in humans, for example, it would be commonplace to see men as small as Verne Troyer, the 2-foot-8-inch-tall actor who played Mini-Me in the Austin Powers movies, and as large as basketball star Yao Ming, the tallest player in the NBA at 7-foot-6, she said.

In the world of N. clavipes, the larg-est male in a web can often monopo-lize the attentions of the female there by chasing smaller males away from her. This led Rittschof to a logical question — why do smaller males still exist, if they (and their genes) are liable to be pushed aside when the big guys pursue females?

The answer, based on her research, seems to be that large and small males have different strategies for reproduction.

In one of her experiments, Ritt-schof removed all males from the webs of selected females. New males

came along. If one was dominant and forced the others to keep their distance from the female, she was content to stay put.

If there was no “top dog,” multiple males would approach her and try to mate. When only a few males did this, the female might stick around. But if she proved very popular she’d aban-don the web, apparently to escape harassment.

It may be that all females are recep-tive to dominant males, and those males might mate repeatedly with the same female, exhausting their limited sperm supply, Rittschof said. Females that don’t get many suitors may accept any males that show up, even small ones. Lacking the muscle to monopolize one female, those males might move from web to web, mating successfully with several females.

So by settling for smaller mates, the seldom-courted females can ensure survival of their genes. And by seeking webs where there’s little competition, smaller males can do the same.

The results address a fundamental issue in evolutionary biology: how diversity is maintained within a single species — why all human males aren’t the exact same height, for example.

“In this study, the implication is that it’s not just the size or physical characteristics that ensure an animal survives to pass along its genes to the next generation,” Rittschof said. “It’s also a matter of how well that animal can adjust to any advantages or shortcomings behaviorally.”

Through her work at the Ordway-Swisher, Rittschof is paving the way for broader understanding of how a broad diversity of life on Earth is maintained, even within individual species. ◄

reSearch SpotliGht: clare rittschof, Biology Doctoral Student

Clare Rittschof says the mating rituals of a well-known native spider may

demonstrate how diversity in a single animal species is maintained over time.

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a female Nephila clavipes

in thiS first issue of The Sandhill we’ve shared some of the exciting activi-ties at the Ordway-Swisher Biological Station and our vision for its future. Financial support has been critical to our progress so far, and it will be even more important as we move forward.

That’s why I am making a personal appeal to you: Join our efforts to con-tinue making the Station a globally significant site for research, education and conservation. You can help by joining the Friends of the Ordway-Swisher Biological Station.

Every contribution, even $10 or $25, is important to us.Some of the goals that will be advanced by your contribution include

funding for undergraduate student research, development of a citizen science program, initiating a volunteer program for the public, and creating educational opportunities for 4-H’ers and other young people.

With your help, we can achieve all of these goals.I’d like to extend a special invitation to individuals, groups and companies

in a position to make cumulative or one-time donations of $10,000 or more. If you’re interested in exploring this option please contact me, John Hayes, at (352) 846-0552. We’ll be happy to work closely with you to direct use of your contributions in ways that match your interests.

In addition to the goals I just mentioned, we hope to establish new staff positions to better manage and conserve the Station’s precious resources, create endowed faculty positions focusing on research and education, secure additional conservation and research properties, and construct a new Ordway-Swisher campus (please see the article on Page 4 for more informa-tion on the proposed campus).

And let me say THANK YOU to all our past and present supporters, and those of you planning to begin your support. To show our appreciation, we’ll recognize donors in future issues of The Sandhill. Your generous gifts make a huge difference in our ability to study and protect this amazing living laboratory, the Ordway-Swisher Biological Station.

John HayesDirector, Ordway-Swisher Biological Station

Please use the postage-paid envelope enclosed or send your contributions to:

Friends of the Ordway-Swisher Biological StationDepartment of Wildlife Ecology and ConservationP.O. Box 110430Gainesville, FL 32611-0430

You can also donate online at https://www.uff.ufl.edu/OnlineGiving/FundDetail.asp?FundCode=008127

For those interested in exploring donations at the $10,000 level or above, please contact Dr. John Hayes, Director, at (352) 846-0552.

Become a FrienD oF the orDWay-SWiSher BioloGical Station !

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the ordway-Swisher needs your Support

Please fill out this form and include it with your contribution in the postage-paid envelope provided. You may also donate online at https://www.uff.ufl.edu/OnlineGiving/FundDetail.asp?FundCode=008127

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the Sandhill club: $1,000+