After its establishment, and with the growth in research in Biological Sciences and Environmental Studies, the Preserve has become a resource for research at FIU. Organisms in the Preserve are sources of materials that yield secondary compounds for analysis of their distribution and chemistry, and yield samples of DNA for sequencing and phylogenetic analysis.

For instance, David Lee, sampled the distribution of anthocyanins in plants of the Preserve. This provided part of the database that led to publications, listed below. Scientists in the Center for Ethnobiology and Natural Products (CENaP, established by support from the National Institutes of Health) at FIU, have taken advantage of plants in the Preserve representative of the unusual tropical flora of South Florida to analyze materials for the presence of natural products (secondary compounds) with unusual biological activities.
Over the past year CENaP scientists have been collecting and extracting hundreds of plant samples from the FIU preserve, and are initiating biological evaluation of these extracts, looking for activity against pathogenic fungi and bacteria, antibiotic resistant organisms as well as potential bioterrorist agents. In collaboration with Miami Children's Hospital, CENaP is also screening plant extracts for potential immunomodulators, cancer chemotherapeutic and chemopreventive agents.

Once a plant extract has shown promising biological activity, fractionation and chemical evaluation of biologically active plant extracts takes place. This is important to both understanding the mechanism of action, as well as to identify the active phytoconstituent(s) of an extract. The preserve contains a number of plants that are known and used traditionally by the Miccosukee tribe. CENaP director Brad Bennett has worked extensively with Mikosukee elders, and has documented a significant amount of Mikosukee traditional plant lore. In the face of eroding traditional knowledge and practices, the potential of the preserve as a force for conservation of traditional plants and plant knowledge is significant.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lee, D.W. and T.M. Collins. 2001. Phylogenetic and ontogenetic influences on the
distribution of anthocyanins and betacyanins in leaves of tropical plants. International Journal
of Plant Science 162:1141-1153.