Hurricane Matthew

The wind and rain of Hurricane Matthew visited the Francis Beidler Forest October 7-8, 2016. In preparation for the storm, we put shutters on the windows, unplugged the electronics and went home.

Shuttered windows - Image Mark Musselman

Neither the wind nor the rain alone would have caused much damage to the swamp. However, in combination they brought down some mighty trees, mainly oaks. It rained through the night of October 7th, which saturated the ground and set up the shallow-rooted oaks for the morning winds of October 8th.

We knew there would be trees along driveway that would need to be cleared before we could access the buildings and boardwalk. There were twenty-one trees across the driveway and all but two simply tipped over.

Trees across driveway - Image Mark Musselman

The vast majority of the trees across the driveway fell adjacent to the recent clear-cut on our neighbor's property to the north. With absolutely nothing to slow the wind, the narrow strip of trees in the drainage along the north side of the driveway took the full brunt of the storm's winds.

Neighboring clear-cut visible in background - Image Mark Musselman

With help from the staff of the Silver Bluff Audubon Center and Sanctuary, the driveway was clear the day after the storm. No buildings sustained damage. The boardwalk had three damaged sections along the backside.

Driveway after clearing - Image Mark Musselman

The boardwalk damage spanned the spectrum from major to minor to emotional. One section sustained only damage to a few deck boards and was quickly repaired. Another portion of the boardwalk (image below) had an oak destroy the entire 12-foot section, but the repair was straightforward.

Damaged boardwalk - Image Richard Covey

Major damage was inflicted upon the boardwalk by an oak tipping from alongside the boardwalk with the root ball uplifting an entire section like a drawbridge. Full of soil, the root ball cannot be chainsawed without damage to the saw nor can the root ball be easily dismantled by other means. The crown end of the heavy tree is still supported by at least one other tree upon which it fell, so cutting through the trunk without pinching a saw will be tricky. This repair has yet to be attempted as the water level, which rose over the boardwalk after this image was taken, is only now receding below the fallen tree.

Damaged boardwalk - Image Richard Covey

Finally, the emotional damage occurred when the living-yet-hollow bald cypress, into which visitors could step, folded over upon itself. Search a visitor's photo library and they likely have an image of someone in their group peering out from "the hollow tree."

The Hollow Tree - Image Richard Covey

After the storm and most of the cleanup, the water continued to rise. In the image below, a sign on the boardwalk rail shows the water level from last October's historic rain. Just beyond that sign at the base of the hickory tree is a nail denoting the high-water level from 1979's Hurricane David. Hurricane Matthew's water level crept slightly higher than what can be seen in the background, but fell short of Hurricane David's mark.

High-water levels - Image Mark Musselman

The next two images show the boardwalk before the rising water came up over the deck boards.

Rising water - Image Mark Musselman

Rising water - Image Mark Musselman

The following images show the high water from last October's historic rain. Although slightly higher than the Hurricane Matthew water level, the images give an idea of how the boardwalk appeared.

Boardwalk directly behind nature center - Image Mark Musselman

Boardwalk at #1 - Image Mark Musselman

Boardwalk near #2 - Image Mark Musselman

Boardwalk at fork near #3 - Image Mark Musselman

Boardwalk near #4 - Image Mark Musselman

Boardwalk back to #14 - Image Mark Musselman

Boardwalk at #18 - Image Mark Musselman

Boardwalk at #19 hollow tree - Image Mark Musselman

Boardwalk at #11 Goodson Lake - Image Mark Musselman

Beyond some road erosion, the only other damage yet detected occurred in our young longleaf pine stands. Seedlings that may have been planted in wet areas or areas with poorly consolidated soils after logging operations were unable to stand up to the storm's winds as 12-15' trees.

Fallen longleaf pine - Image Mark Musselman

Leaning longleaf pine - Image Mark Musselman

GIS at FBF

The new Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest webpage has made it easier for us to share Geographic Information System (GIS) data.  You can learn more about GIS at our GIS page.  We currently have a sample lesson on using GIS data from Beidler Forest in conjunction with the ArcGIS Online site.  There is a selection of GIS data files related to Beidler Forest that can be downloaded from our data page.  These files will be periodically updated with new information and additional data files will be loaded in the coming weeks, so check back often!

The ArcGIS Online map-making site is easy to use and can be a powerful tool in education.  We have used the  site to create a virtual tour of the boardwalk.  Once the map is loaded, click on any symbol to see text and an image for that location.  We will continue to add data to this map.  You can use the map to plan your trip around the boardwalk or use the map after your visit to help share your experience!

The screenshot above was taken from the National Weather Service's Charleston site. The site also offers GIS and Google Earth files of the weather service's imagery.

Today, there is plenty of thunder in the area and the weather service's radar shows rain, but it will take many days of this type of weather to fill the swamp again.  Additionally, those 90F temperatures in coming weeks will accelerate the removal (evaporation, transpiration) of any water from today's system that falls within the swamp's watershed.

The lower water in the swamp has made it trickier to find some of wildlife.  However, we have some new images and will post them shortly.

Making Maps at ARHS

In the last post, we covered the TogetherGreen project that the Francis Beidler Forest education staff will be developing with the students of Ashley Ridge High School (ARHS).  Part of the project will involve the introduction and use of various geographic technologies such as Global Positioning System (GPS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

Students will be using these technologies to gather data and create maps in order to analyze and share that data.  We have created an example map using the free ArcGIS.com site, which students can use to create maps for whatever data they collect or wish to highlight.  In our example, the proposed nature trail is shown on the south end of the ARHS campus.  The trail line was created from points collected with a GPS unit.  The stick pins show locations of interest.  If you click on a stick pin, an image and a description for that location will appear in a popup window.

Click here to go to the interactive map.

Images and map by Mark Musselman

TogetherGreen at Ashley Ridge High School

Audubon South Carolina has received a TogetherGreen grant to help students at Ashley Ridge High School create a nature trail on campus.

The National Audubon Society and Toyota have joined forces to launch TogetherGreen, a nationwide initiative that aims to inspire environmental leadership and community-based action.  Announced in March 2008, TogetherGreen represents an important alliance between Audubon and Toyota, created through a shared belief that we must all work together if we hope to confront the tremendous environmental challenges and opportunities of today and the years ahead.  TogetherGreen supports building a greener, healthier future through innovation, leadership and volunteerism by engaging communities to work together toward progressive environmental goals.

The Ashley Ridge High School Nature Trail will be implemented under TogetherGreen Youth.  Audubon, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums have proposed TogetherGreen Youth as a national program designed to offer real-world, hands-on opportunities to students.  The basic goals of TogetherGreen Youth include educational training, programming and outreach, leadership development, and building connections to nature through experiential learning.  Students will explore environmental issues and apply knowledge to engage the next generation in understanding and caring for the environment.

Immature Common Yellowthroat

TogetherGreen Youth couples an Audubon intern, Emily Cavell here at Francis Beidler Forest, with area high school students, who work together to achieve a common environmental goal.  As part of Audubon SC’s TogetherGreen Youth grant, the Education Department at Francis Beidler Forest will facilitate a community action project involving the Ashley Ridge High School community.  ARHS students will plan and develop an on-campus nature trail, identify and catalog flora and fauna around the trail, prepare informational materials regarding the trail (research, content, photography, video, artwork, webpage, brochure, etc.), and map all aspects of the project using Global Positioning System (GPS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies.  The ARHS Nature Trail will provide an outdoor space to investigate curriculum opportunities that stretch far beyond the traditional classroom setting, facilitating dynamic educational experiences for students and increased accessibility to hands-on outlets for teachers.  The addition of the ARHS Nature Trail will aid in fulfilling South Carolina Department of Education high school standards, perpetuate continued opportunity for students to create, develop and implement innovative ideas, and nurture exploration and discovery of the natural world.

Images by Mark Musselman

Fire Ants and Black Bears

We have long known that non-native fire ants can be detrimental to bird nests, especially ground-nesting birds.  Today, however, we read that Arthur Ravenel has observed wild turkeys eating fire ants from nests baited with corn.  Has anyone else observed this behavior or might the turkeys simply have been eating the corn?

A question we frequently are asked at the Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest is, "Are there bears in the swamp?"  We have never seen a bear or signs of a bear on our property, but there is a healthy population in the nearby Francis Marion Forest.  As today's Post and Courier article notes, a black bear was hit and killed on I-26 near Jedburg in 2008, which is south of Lake Marion and Lake Moultrie and just east of the Four Holes Swamp watershed boundary.  The article in the newspaper describes how drought is causing black bears and other animals to change their normal routines and range farther in search of food resources.

As noted in previous blogs, animal behavior has changed in the swamp due to the diminishing water.  Yesterday, we did not detect any water from the boardwalk until we reached stop #8, which is just short of Goodson Lake.  Wading birds, ducks, water snakes, turtles, fish, etc. are concentrating their activities where there is water, which for now is located in the deep holes and behind the beaver dam.  The dry swamp conditions can be seen in the video below of a White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) doe browsing near #3 on the boardwalk.  Visitors later reported seeing a fawn nursing in the same area.



No bears yet, but we'll keep our eyes open!

Video by Mark Musselman

Watershed Event

How many rivers are associated with the Four Holes Swamp watershed, which contains the Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest? Can't think of one? Then you are a winner! The Santee River flows north of Four Holes Swamp and is dammed to form Lake Marion. The Edisto River flows south of the Four Holes Swamp watershed and receives all the water that exits the watershed. The water in Four Holes Swamp is nearly 100% rain that has fallen at some point within the watershed boundaries.

Yesterday, we participated in the Charleston Air Force Base's Earth Day celebration. We brought bottom samples taken from the swamp near #5 along the old-growth swamp boardwalk. Many only see leaf litter on the bottom when they look through the slightly-tinted water of the swamp. However, the bottom is teeming with animal life. Some of those animals are eating the settled organic material that was not swept away by the swamp's flowing water. Other animals, like the predatory dragonfly nymphs (see image), are eating other animals. No matter what they are eating, some of the animals cannot tolerated pollution in the water, while others can basically live in sewage. By examining the percentage of pollution-intolerant species to the total number of animal species collected in the sample, we can tell qualitatively whether the water is high-quality or low quality.

Twelve fifth grade classes (300 students) from local Charleston County schools cycled through the Francis Beidler Forest tent and picked through sample trays. They used a dichotomous key to identify dragonfly nymphs, crayfish, snails, mussels, mayfly nymphs, scuds, and various worms and smaller organisms. It is always a high-interest activity and the quarterly samples we take continue to show that the water in Four Holes Swamp is of the highest quality!

Today, the Master Naturalists from Spring Island (near Beaufort) visited to study the cypress-tupelo swamp habitats and the associated limestone bluff habitats. Although the day did not warm terribly, we did see two Banded Water Snakes, two Eastern Cottonmouths, the alligator, a Common Snapping Turtle in search of a mate, a River Frog, a Green Treefrog, a Great Egret, a Great Blue Heron, numerous Northern Parula Warblers, a Belted Kingfisher, and a Barred Owl catching and eating crayfish. We talked about the impending start of Project PROTHO, but did not detect any Prothonotary Warblers along the boardwalk.

Along the bluff, we discovered a Southern Dusky Salamander (Desmognathus auriculatus) and a Three-lined Salamander (Eurycea guttolineata) within the seeps coming from the bluff. We also saw Red Buckeye (Aesculus pavia), May-apple (Podophyllum peltatum), and Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) blooming.

Another great day in the old-growth swamp!

Images by Mac Stone