Caspersen Beach Restoration Project

by Ed Freeman

The American Littoral Society has been participating in a restoration project at Caspersen Beach Park in south Venice on the Gulf of Mexico.  Caspersen Beach Park is a 113-acre passive park owned and operated by Sarasota County on the northern end of Manasota Key.  The property was purchased in 1976 for $3.5 million; a cost divided equally between a voter approved County environmental lands bond issue and the Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund.  The Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund is intended to preserve natural areas throughout the United States, however since the Reagan Administration most of these funds have been diverted to other areas.  A bill last year would have restored these funds, but was not passed by Congress.  In the 1980’s the County purchased two adjacent parcels that expand the preserved native habitat and increase wildlife potential of the area.  These two parcels total 144 acres and cost County taxpayers over $13 million.  The County has recently purchase of an additional 165 acres for over $3.7 million.  Together these three areas total 422 acres.  In addition Sarasota County is currently attempting to purchase additional lands around the north end of Lemon Bay.  If successful, the north end of Lemon Bay will be surrounded by over 1,000 acres of conservation land, the largest coastal conservation area between Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor.

The Florida Natural Areas Inventory (FNAI) natural communities on the uplands of the Caspersen Beach site include approximately 2 miles of beach dunes along with associated coastal berm, coastal grassland and coastal strand communities.  All four of these habitats are considered imperiled in the State due to rarity.  The site also contains maritime hammock and shell mounds, which are considered imperiled within the State.  Portions of the site were extensively disturbed in 1959/60 with the dredging of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.  Spoil from the excavation was placed on top of valuable habitat, including mangrove swamp, sea grass beds, scrub and mesic flatwoods along the eastern side of the barrier island.  Today these spoil areas have succeeded into extremely xeric areas, which most resemble coastal grasslands.  All natural plant communities on the site have been severely impacted through invasion by nuisance exotic pest plants, Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius), carrotwood (Cupaniopsis anacardioides) and Australian pine (Casuarina sp.). 

Sarasota County, the American Littoral Society, the Florida Native Plant Society and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection have joined forces to remove all nuisance exotic vegetation from the site.  In 1997 and 1998 all of the exotic vegetation was removed from the site. The American Littoral Society has committed to the long-term maintenance of the site, though in-kind labor in excess of $9,000.  The Serenoa Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society has committed $1,400 to the project.  Sarasota County has committed $30,000 from the Pollution Recovery Trust Fund toward the removal of exotic vegetation, $9,000 from the Reforestation Fund for revegetation in areas where exotics have been removed, and $9,000 in administrative expenses. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection committed $90,000 to the project.  Sarasota County is compiling a management plan for the site and will be using prescribed fires to control exotics in appropriated areas. The removal of these nuisance exotic species is allowing imperiled plant communities to recover.

Caspersen Beach Park is home to several listed plant and animal species.  Among these are the Atlantic loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) and Atlantic green turtle (Chelonia mydas mydas).  Manasota Key has the densest nesting of loggerhead turtles on the Gulf of Mexico with an annual average of 2300 on ten miles of beach.  Caspersen Beach Park averages 400 nests in two miles of beach.  Nuisance exotic plants, particularly Australian pine, interfere with turtles digging nest cavities, often resulting in nest failure.  In addition, excessive shading from these exotic plants on the beach lowers nest temperatures disrupting embryonic development and lowering overall nest success.

Portions of Caspersen Beach Park are within the home territories of several families of Florida Scrub jay (Aphelocoma coerulecens), a federally threatened species.  While the Scrub jays occasionally use small Brazilian peppers for cover, the exotic vegetation ultimately degrades the habitat for these threatened birds.  As Brazilian peppers and other exotic species grow they eventually become too dense and tall to be utilized by the scrub jays, forcing them to new territory (if suitable areas exist) or more often causing the population to decline.

The exotic vegetation at Caspersen Beach Park is degrading the habitat of two other listed species for similar reasons.  Both the Burrowing owl (Speotyto cunicularia) and the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) need relatively open sandy areas to dig their burrows.  As the exotic vegetation density increases these species are forced to abandon their burrows.  Further, the exotic vegetation shades out grasses and forbs that are eaten by gopher tortoises.  If the gopher tortoise population declines a final listed species found at Caspersen Beach Park, the gopher frog (Rana capito) will also decline, due to its dependence on the tortoise burrows for shelter.

Revegetation List for Caspersen Beach Park

01/08/04 14:44