Upon first glance, it is a mouthful to pronounce — Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park. But this long name is appropriate for a place that amounts to one sizable natural wonder. The name Myakkahatchee comes from the Seminole language: “miarca” meaning “big water” and “hatchee” alluding to “river.” Approximately 10,000 years ago, this creek with its surrounding forest hammock was a prime hunting spot for the Paleo Indians, according to local lore. Today it represents an important part of our water catchment in Southwest Florida.
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Nestled amidst the growing number of housing developments in Sarasota lies Red Bug Slough. Formerly known by some locals as Skeeters’ Drain, this nature preserve is one of several recently acquired natural lands of Sarasota County. Several other counties in Florida are also exhibiting good stewardship of their lands by purchasing ecosystems as a legacy for future generations and for sound conservation management. But why go to the trouble to buy up parcels of land just to leave them wild and free?
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On the ground below, an unusual activity is taking place. People are lurking behind tree trunks, crawling on the forest floor, rigging branches with climbing ropes, and sweeping the shrubbery with nets. Their mission is to count and survey as many species as is humanly possible during a three-hour stint. The scene is a Biodiversity Blitz in the forest hammocks of Myakka River State Park, between Osprey and Arcadia. A BioBlitz is best defined as a rapid biological survey, designed to assess diversity in a specific site. One of the biggest challenges in current field biology is the slow methodology for classifying and counting species. Approximately 7,000 species are catalogued per year on Earth, but an estimated 98 million remain unclassified and undescribed. At this rate, extinction is outpacing science. New methods of rapid assessment are required, and the BioBlitz is one solution.
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