The willow consumes so much water in a year the amount is counted by depth, like a large puddle, and an average tree can suck up one or two feet - more if stressed - to a point where it lowers the water level in a wet prairie and diminishes its flow. The Carolina willow meets each of those criteria. The willow is among the plants and animals native to Florida that are expanding the definition of “invasive species.” The Department of Agriculture says a plant or animal (or fungus or bacteria or seed or egg) is invasive if it will likely cause harm to the environment, the economy, or human health. “Rather than having these very open wetlands, you’ve got a physical barrier where wading birds are not able to get in.” “We have had a native plant, the Carolina willow, take over many of our wetlands,” said Audubon Florida’s Lisa Korte, who is the director of the sanctuary. Long, serrated, spear-shaped leaves sprout out from branches and criss-cross one another, denying animals access to wet prairies that provide excellent foraging, and a place to cool off. The plant, which can also grow as a bush either before or after it’s a tree, sends a shallow root system into the soaked soil, and takes a never-ending gulp. The Carolina willow is selfish, and it’s a lousy neighbor. Growing ever closer to the pristine swamp is a forest of extremely thirsty, ecosystem-changing, shape-shifting, pollen-producing Carolina willows that have invaded the wet prairies in the 13,500-acre Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. In front of the tower, the scene is wildly different. Songbirds tweet, alligators bellow, butterflies flitter, woodpeckers peck, and 500-year-old cypress trees grow.

CORKSCREW SWAMP – Way up high, standing atop an observation deck built at the edge of a pristine Old Florida swamp, the quality of the view is contingent on which way you look.īehind the tower, there is a boardwalk that disappears in a darkened forest where the canopy is thick, the air cool, and the water shallow.

The dredge report tom bayles