After Ian: Native Plant Performance

Presented at the South Florida Native Plant Seminar October 18-19, 2023 Naples Botanical Garden

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Thank you to our sponsors

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After Ian: Native Plant Performance Stephen Brown Jenny Evans Nick Ewy Jared Franklin Heather Shields

Southwest Florida Storm Surge

NOAA

Wetlands: Salinity change February 2023

October 2019

February 2023

May 2023

Sand Cordgrass

Blue Flag Iris

Saltmarsh Mallow

Common Arrowhead

Beach dunes: Shifting sands September 26, 2022

October 10, 2022

April 3, 2023

Railroad Vine

Inkberry

Sea Oats

October 2022

May 2023

Dune Sunflower

Mangroves: Slow Recovery

18 months post-Charley

5 years post-Charley

10 years post-Charley

Insect Pressure

Edwards Wasp Moth & Strangler Fig

Yellow Woolly Bear & Giant Leather Fern Mahogany Stem Borer

Source: UF/IFAS, https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/orn/e dwards_wasp_moth.htm

Exceptional Plants

Lignum Vitae

Jamaica Caper

Green Thatch Palm Sea Oxeye Daisy

Our 110,000 Acres Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve

Native Plants with Minimal Surge Damage <5% of the total leaf area damaged post-storm • Trees

• Succulents and Cacti

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Cabbage palm (Sabal palmetto) Florida thatch palm (Thrinax radiata) Black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) Red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle)

Florida agave (Agave decipiens) Sea purslane (Sesuvium portulacastrum) Barbedwire cactus (Acanthocereus tetragonus) Shell mound prickly-pear (Opuntia stricta)

• Shrubs

• Vines

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Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) Falsewillow (Baccharis angustifolia) Groundsel tree (Baccharis halimifolia) Sea-oxeye (Borrichia frutescens) Saltwort (Batis maritima) Limber caper (Cynophalla flexuosa) Jamaican caper (Quadrella jamaicensis) Mayten (Maytenus phyllanthoides) Wild cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) Myrsine (Myrsine cubana) Christmasberry (Lycium carolinianum)

Palms, mangroves, and other salttolerant species appear to be especially resilient.

Mangrove vine (Rhabdadenia biflora) Railroad vine (Ipomoea pes-caprae) Poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) Love vine (Cassytha filiformis)

• Grasses and Forbs -

Yellow joyweed (Alternanthera flavescens) Crested saltbush (Atriplex pentandra) Coastal searocket (Cakile lanceolata) Marshhay cordgrass (Spartina patens) Golden leather fern (Acrostichum aureum) Giant leather fern (Acrostichum danaeifolium) Sixangle foldwing (Dicliptera sexangularis) Swamp flatsedge (Cyperus ligularis)

Native Plants with Mixed Responses to Surge Tended to survive, but significant (5-75%) leaf drop.

• Trees -

Gumbo-limbo (Bursera simaruba) Jamaican dogwood (Piscidia piscipula) Buttonwood (Conocarpus erectus)* White mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa)* Pondcypress (Taxodium ascendens) Live oak (Quercus virginiana) Strangler fig (Ficus aurea) Slash pine (Pinus elliottii var. densa) Seagrape (Coccoloba uvifera) False mastic (Sideroxylon foetidissimum)

• Vines -

Coinvine (Dalbergia ecastaphyllum) Gray nickerbean (Guilandia bonduc)

• Grasses and Forbs -

Mangrove spider lily (Hymenocallis latifolia)* Seashore dropseed (Sporobolus virginicus)* Sea oats (Uniola paniculata)*

*These plants did the best overall within this group, but on areas directly facing the Gulf they showed high amounts of damage (probably more from wave action than actual surge.)

• Shrubs -

Seacoast marshelder (Iva imbricata)* Cocoplum (Chrysobalanus icaco) Coral bean (Erythrina herbacea) Catclaw blackbead (Pithecellobium unguis-cati) Yellow necklacepod (Sophora tomentosa) Wax myrtle (Morella cerifera) White stopper (Eugenia axillaris) Spanish stopper (Eugenia foetida) Sevenyear apple (Casasia clusiifolia) Snowberry (Chiococca alba) White indigoberry (Randia aculeata) Saffron-plum (Sideroxylon celastrinum)* Gulf graytwig (Schoepfia schreberi) Bay-cedar (Suriana maritima)* Hog plum (Ximenia americana)

In many cases, these plants began to resprout within a couple of months post-storm. Plants growing directly on the Gulf exhibited the worst damage.

Native Plants Heavily Impacted by Surge Typically exhibited 75-100% defoliation and/or mortality.

• Trees

• Forbs and Ferns

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Sand live oak (Quercus geminata)

• Shrubs -

Staggerbush (Lyonia fruticosa) Chapman’s oak (Quercus chapmanii) Myrtle oak (Quercus myrtifolia) Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) Wild coffee (Psychotria nervosa) Florida privet (Forestiera segregata)

Pineland twinflower (Dyschoriste angusta) Spanish needles (Bidens alba) Camphorweed (Heterotheca subaxillaris) Snow squarestem (Melanthera nivea) Goldenrod sp. (Solidago sp.)

Roundpod St. John’s-wort (Hypericum cistifolium) Coastal groundcherry (Physalis angustifolia) Yellow-eyed grass sp. (Xyris sp.)

Bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum)

• Vines

• Grasses and Sedges

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Baybean (Canavalia rosea) Milkpea sp. (Galactia sp.)

Redgal (Morinda royoc) Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) Muscadine grape (Vitis rotundifolia)

Wild coffee, beautyberry, and upland herbaceous species in particular did not do well- in many areas the wild coffee is still dead 1+ year later!

Fimbry sp. (Fimbristylis sp.)

Blustems (Andropogon sp.)

Pinewoods fingergrass (Eustachys petraea) Green sprangletop (Leptochloa dubia) Crimson bluestem (Schizachyrium sanguineum)

• Epiphytes -

Reflexed airplant (Tillandsia balbisiana)

Six things that can happen to trees and palms in a hurricane

Leaf Loss

Main Stem Breaks

Uproots

No Visible Effects

Leans

Branches break

Apical Meristem Trauma of Palms

Topless royal palm on Sanibel. September 2023 Penciling of crownshafts

Some of the trunks had a sunken appearance. September 2023

Wind Resistance of Native Palms Highest Wind Resistance

Medium-High Wind Resistance

Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens)

Royal (Roystonea regia)

Dwarf Palmetto (Sabal minor)

Buccaneer (Pseudophoenix sargentii)

Cabbage Palm (Sabal palmetto)

Florida Thatch Palm (Thrinax radiata) Key Thatch palm (Thrinax morisii) Silver palm (Coccothrinax argentata) Paurotis Palm (Acoelorrhaphe werightii)

The Surge Effects

Sanibel: 29 November 2022

Pine Island: 1 November 2022

Surge Resistance of Native Shrubs, Hedges and Groundcovers Highest Surge Resistance Medium-High Surge Resistance

Lowest Surge Resistance

Green Buttonwood

Wax myrtle

Cocoplum

Silver Buttonwood

Simpson’s Stopper

Wild Coffee

Seagrape

Golden Creeper

Firebush

Wild Olive

Jamaican Caper

Leather Fern

Coontie

Fakahatchee Grass

Bay Cedar

Muhly Grass

Christmas Berry Joe Wood Pond Apple Spanish Bayonet Inkberry * Pioneer Plants: Beach Sunflower; Railroad Vine; Porterweed; Salvia; Goldenrod; Sea Oxeye

HURRICANE IAN NAPLES BOTANICAL GARDEN • Moderate wind damage • Salt spray/stress on leaves caused leaf drop • Natural areas and lower sections storm surge, brackish water • Irrigation lake chlorides • September 140ppm • October 1200ppm • November 920 • December 700 • January 580

NATURAL AREAS

NURSERIES

RECOVERY • Assess conditions • Cover trunks/epiphytes to prevent sunburn • Cover roots and water, root prune • Stand up/stake trees • Fresh water flush

GROWING TECHNIQUES

CITY OF NAPLES

Hurricane Irma

Hurricane Ian

Hurricane Irma – September 10, 2017

Hurricane Ian – September 28, 2022

PRUNING CYCLE Adopted by City Council – FY2016-17 Budget

Hardwood trees - 2-year cycle Tropical flowering trees - annual Coconut palms - twice per year Sabal palms - 2-year cycle Date palm species – annual