FIU PRESERVE BUTTERFLY GARDEN
(UPDATED JULY, 2007)

BRIEF HISTORY

Since the 1978 establishment of the South Florida Ecosystem Preserve, faculty and students of Florida International University have planted native butterfly-attracting plants in several areas of the Preserve.  One such area is adjacent to the burnt-down chickee and the Hardwood Hammock Nature Trail, in the center of the Hardwood Hammock.  Since 1980, Professor Tom Pliske has documented observations of 45 species of butterflies. See further information about Professor Pliske's compilation of butterflies observed and collected in the Preserve:  http://www.fiu.edu/~obrieng/FIUPreserveButterfies.html

LATEST BUTTERFLY GARDEN PROJECT

In 2004-05 Michael P. O'Brien, a member of Boy Scouts of America Troop 636 in Cooper City, completed an Eagle Scout Service Project at the east entrance area of the Preserve. He, with other volunteers, constructed a stone wall along a twenty meter section on the edge of the Preserve to protect newly established butterfly attracting plants that were planted from 1 to 20 meters deep into the Preserve (see a selection of slides presented during an Environmental Studies Department Seminar on February 15, 2006, click here ).  In the new FIU Preserve Butterfly Garden, there are 12 information points, each marked by a number and butterfly logo on a sign posted on or near a particular butterfly attracting plant. Michael also wrote an informative booklet about plants (and the butterflies that might be observed) at the information points. The booklet is intended to help students who are making observations along the edge of the butterfly garden to learn about some of the plant-animal interactions common in South Florida. The Guide to the FIU Butterfly Garden is available from the Environmental Studies Department office, or as a PDF downloadable from this site at: http://www.fiu.edu/~obrieng/FieldGuideButterflyGarden1.pdf
An html version of the guide is at: http://www.fiu.edu/~obrieng/FieldGuidetotheFIUPreserveButterflyGarden.html
 
 
 

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