Back to Basics: Exploring some of Southeastern Virginia's Last Wild Places

This viewing platform was constructed by volunteers, the dedicated individuals that make this place the haven that it is. Photo credit: Shannon Titus My assignment this week is to highlight an organization or non-profit for my study area. Luckily for me, this is an easy one, as I am already a member of one such group. The Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge Society is a volunteer organization that is a Friend group to the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Way back in 2021, I was in smack in the middle of studying for my Master's, and I had an assignment to reach out to an official of a nonprofit of my choice. I hadn't been to Back Bay in a few years, but the place left its mark on me and so I set out to try and find someone who would be willing to talk to me about their organization. Luckily for me, I found Richard Dyer, the President of the Back Bay NWR Society. He was kind enough to let me interview him, and after hearing about how passionate he was about the newly-formed Soci

Loblolly pine forest in False Cape State Park. Photo credit: Shannon Titus The forests of Southeastern Virginia are something special. Clusters of live oaks cover the lee sides of the dunes, their low, sweeping limbs providing welcome shade in the summer. Pines are more prevalent here than up north or inland, as they thrive in the well-drained nutrient-poor sandy soil. Beneath the shade of the live oaks and fragrant pines, American holly, flowering dogwood, and all a manner of vines provide ground cover, food, and habitat for a myriad of creatures. Take a little walk through the forest, so to speak, by reviewing the flashcards below: Sources/Further Reading: Arbor Day Foundation (2022).  Baldcypress . Retrieved from:  https://www.arborday.org/trees/treeguide/TreeDetail.cfm?ItemID=787 Arbor Day Foundation (2022).  Loblolly Pine . Retrieved from:  https://www.arborday.org/trees/treeguide/TreeDetail.cfm?ItemID=899 Arbor Day Foundation (2022).  Sweetbay Magnolia.  Retrieved from:  https:

Southeast Virginia is, unfortunately, plagued by several species of invasive plants and animals. While some, like the wild boar, have been nearly eradicated, others like phragmites, need nearly constant management to stay under control. Phragmites ( Phragmites australis ) is a beautiful but insanely invasive species of marsh grass. Photo credit: https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/invasive_phragmites_australis_what_is_it_and_why_is_it_a_problem Full disclosure, I'm not the biggest fan of Google Slides. I find Slides to be a bit cumbersome, and I don't really see an advantage over Powerpoint. I wanted to introduce invasive species in a more user-friendly way, so I used Quizlet to make flashcards. The only downside to using Quizlet was that I would have to post a link to an external site in order for users to access the flashcards. However, I am editing this post days later because I learned how to embed my flashcards, y'all!  For the presentation below, you can choose "learn&

 As I may have mentioned, I'm a reptile girl at heart. However, here in Virginia, I don't really need any apps to identify species because I am familiar with nearly all of them (though I once had to use iNaturalist to identify a mole kingsnake because I HAD to be sure I'd actually found this elusive species). However, my plant ID skills, though better than average, certainly need some work. Therefore, I am always interested in finding new apps to help with the process. Today, I stumbled across an app created by the USDA to identify invasive species in the Southern United States. I was intrigued, because the Southeast has more invasive plant species than anywhere else in the United States, and it's a huge problem from both an agricultural and ecological standpoint. The app was created specifically for iPad and iPhone, so sorry, Android users, this ain't for you. I eagerly downloaded the app on my iPhone and found a wealth of information. The home screen is broken dow

Today I used the Web Soil Survey for the first time. This website, provided by USDA.gov, allows users to choose an Area of Interest (AOI) and delve into various aspects of the soil and terrain. I tried to set my AOI to encompass the entirety of BBNWR and False Cape. This was an immediate mistake; though I could clearly see the soil types listed, the area was too big to get detailed information beyond general soil types. I tried to zoom further in, but got the following error message: In case the text isn't readable from the photo, there is a warning that tells me that the soil map isn't valid at this scale. Even though the Web Soil Survey allows users to choose an AOI up to 100,000 acres, the survey area must be much smaller to get specific details about soil types, quality, irrigation, engineering specifications, etc. Also, the area must be somewhat uniform or the following error will appear: Again, in case the text isn't clear from the photo, it reads, "Multiple Soi

Though the Back Bay NWR Society, the Virginia Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service and hundreds of volunteers are all working tirelessly to restore, preserve, and protect BBNWR and False Cape State Park, there is one factor at play that is bigger than all of us: climate change. Above is a climate projection for Virginia Beach, Virginia. Thus particular graph shows the prediction for days with average temperatures higher than 95 degrees F. The gray area shows the observed data, which already shows a slight increase over time. Higher temperatures are particularly detrimental for reptile species that rely on nest temperatures for sex determination in developing embryos. Climate change will likely have devastating effects on all ecosystems, but wetland and coastal regions are particularly vulnerable.  Climate prediction data is becoming more prevalent over time. For the graphic above, I used a site called The Climate Explorer . This site allows users to look at past and pro