Photo courtesy of Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast
Earlier this year, Selby Gardens’ botany team completed a botanical inventory of Myakka Headwaters Preserve, an ecologically important area in Manatee County where seven creeks converge into the Myakka River.
Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast acquired this 363-acre area in 2020 for permanent protection. This exceptional part of the Myakka River and the greater coastal Florida ecosystem contains numerous diverse habitats. It also sits next to the 2,300-acre Flatford Swamp, the river’s largest forested wetland.
Conservation Foundation engaged Selby Gardens in 2021 to complete a botanical inventory of its newly acquired preserve. The project took our botany team one year to complete and identified 282 vascular plant species in the floodplain marshes and swamps, hammocks, and pinelands found throughout the preserve.
“The botanical inventory will help Conservation Foundation staff have a more complete understanding of what plants are present on the preserve and where they are found,” said Bruce Holst, Selby Gardens’ vice president for botany. “This will help to guide management efforts like habitat restoration, invasive species control, and imperiled species protection.”
To learn more about the Myakka Headwaters Preserve, go here.
