Keep South Carolina Wild

Month: April 2021

Belser Arboretum celebrates Earth Day

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Sharing from Columbia Star:
https://www.thecolumbiastar.com/articles/belser-arboretum-celebrates-earth-day/

April 22, 2021

 

By Arlene Marturano SCGardenLearning on Facebook

In recognition of Earth Day, the W. Gordon Belser Arboretum in Sherwood Forest celebrated receiving certification as a Palmetto Wildlife Habitat. In the outdoor classroom Sara Green, director of the South Carolina Wildlife Federation, commended former director Dr. Pat DeCoursey for her restoration of the arboretum and the current director, Dr. Trey Franklin, co-managers Hollis Beach, Gail Wojtowicz, Lynn Yenkey, and the thousands of volunteers who make it possible to maintain a wildlife preserve in the city, an outdoor field laboratory and lecture site for UofSC students and faculty, and a conservation outreach center for visitors.

South Carolina has over 10,000 certified habitats in backyards, schoolyards, parks, churches, libraries, businesses, and agencies. In 2019, the city of Columbia became a certified wildlife community.

Creating a wildlife habitat on your property involves providing the following components: food, water, cover, and places to raise young. The arboretum’s native plants offer nectar, pollen, berries, seeds, nuts, and foliage for wildlife.

Each layer of plants in a habitat is a home to and a protective shelter for insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. The floor of the arboretum is where accumulated organic matter decomposes by fungi, bacteria, earthworms, insects, other arthropods, and mammals. The humus formed enriches the soil for groundcovers like partridgeberry and the herbaceous layer of nectar and host plants for butterflies.

The shrub layer of hydrangea, Virginia sweetspire, and sweet shrub provides cover and shelter as well as foliage, seeds, and berries to sustain wildlife. Understory trees like dogwood, redbud, and pawpaw cater to wildlife for food and shelter.

The canopy of the arboretum is the layer where the top of the trees brushes the sky. Pines, black gum, oaks, and yellow poplar are canopy trees in the arboretum and receive the most direct sunlight. Animals inhabiting the canopy include squirrels, raccoons, numerous birds, micro-invertebrates, spiders, katydids, and walking sticks.

Water draws wildlife to it, especially the sound of running water. The arboretum’s streams, wetlands, and waterfall support the hydration of animals. Wetlands are important habitat for frogs, salamanders, and aquatic insects to breed and develop in safety. A birdbath and shallow saucer of fresh water are important water sources also.

Since property management affects the health of the soil, air, water, and habitat for native wildlife and humans, certified habitats must follow sustainable gardening practices including eliminating pesticide use, composting, mulching, capturing rainwater to irrigate, selecting a native plant palette, and controlling invasive species.

To investigate certifying your property as a wildlife habitat, visit www.scwf.org. The process is an educational adventure for the family, classroom, neighborhood or organization.

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Learn more about the Belser Aboretum:

https://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/artsandsciences/biological_sciences/research/resources_facilities/arboretum/index.php

https://www.facebook.com/uofscarboretum/

Photos by Brantley Bissette., SCWF Education Outreach Intern

2020 Scholarship Winners Announced

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The South Carolina Wildlife Federation is honored to be in a position to distribute educational grants to full-time students pursuing environmental education at South Carolina schools of higher education. Both undergraduate and graduate students are eligible, based on their performance in academia and in related community activities.

The winners of the 2020-2021 SCWF Scholarships are:

Jennifer Linscott – 2nd year PhD student at the University of South Carolina

Jennifer wants to be a biologist at a state or federal agency when she graduates, organizing targeted conservation projects for shorebirds, which are experiencing population declines in South Carolina and across the US. As a PhD student, she studies the migration of a threatened shorebird: the Hudsonian godwit (Limosa haemastica), using small satellite tracking devices to follow godwits as they fly from southern Chile to Alaska (and back!) every year. By looking at the places where they decide to stop along the way, Jennifer can draw conclusions about the resources they need to successfully complete migration — and, ultimately, inform landscape-level conservation plans to better support migratory shorebirds as they travel through the continental United States. In the past, Jennifer was a research technician studying mixed-species bird flocks in the Peruvian Amazon; spent a summer working as a surveyor for the Bureau of Reclamation, looking for endangered Southwestern Willow Flycatchers (Empidonax traillii extimus) and declining Yellow-billed Cuckoos (Coccyzus americanus) on the Rio Grande River in New Mexico; and spent another summer working as a surveyor for the Center for Conservation Biology, looking for endangered Black rail (Laterallus jamaicensis) in coastal North Carolina. She has also volunteered for bird banding and educational outreach with the Louisiana Bird Observatory, and for Audubon Louisiana as a Coastal Bird Surveyor. Since moving here, she has volunteered with the bird banding project at Fort Jackson.  This experience is all in addition to teaching and mentoring USC undergrads, and teaching free English as a Second Language community classes for Delgado Community College in New Orleans.

In Jennifer’s two years at USC, she has already been named a finalist for the inaugural Lanyon Award from the American Ornithological Society recognizing the most promising early career scientists in the field of ornithology, submitted a first-authored paper to the ornithological journal with the highest impact factor worldwide (Condor), been awarded two nationally competitive external research grants, undertaken three stints in the field during which she has outfitted more than 40 long-distance migratory birds with satellite transmitters, and begun supervising two undergraduate students on their own field research project along the South Carolina coast. To say that she has already accomplished a lot is an understatement!

SCWF is proud to award Jennifer Linscott with the Nicole Chadwick Memorial Fund Scholarship.

Katie Maddox – Masters student at Coastal Carolina University studying Coastal, Marine, and Wetland Studies

Katie’s professional goal is to become a field biologist for a governmental agency or a non-profit. Since graduating with a Bachelors of Science in Ecology from the University of Georgia, Katie has worked a wide variety of environmental jobs including: field technician at the Luquillo LTER in Puerto Rico, studying the various effects of increased hurricane occurrence on the stream dynamics within El Yunque National Forest; environmental educator in upstate New York, educating over one thousand students from the greater New York City area; and a naturalist and deckhand aboard a whale watching boat in Seward, Alaska. Currently, Katie is employed by Coastal Carolina University as a Graduate Teaching Assistant for the Marine Biology undergraduate program. She has also held a variety of volunteer positions including: research assistant in a marine ecology lab; two summers immersing (quite literally) herself in the ecology of Georgia’s intertidal ecosystems assisting on projects studying oysters, mangroves, seagrasses, sharks, and multiple invasive species; member of Turtle Patrol at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center; research hand assisting the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery in Alaska; and has helped on three ornithology related projects studying five different sparrow species from Georgia’s coast to the coast of Virginia.

Her masters project at Coastal Carolina University investigates the population biology differences between urban and rural Loggerhead Shrikes in Horry County, SC. Loggerhead Shrikes, as are most other grassland birds, have been steadily declining over the past thirty years. It is widely unknown as to why, but overwintering survival and recruitment have been posed as potential causes. She has been studying urban shrikes, and now plans to use this scholarship money to begin to expand the study to include rural shrikes and investigate the various causes of their population decline in contrast to urban shrikes.

SCWF is proud to award Katie Maddox with a Conservation Education Foundation Scholarship.

Sharon Kendrick – Senior at the University of South Carolina, majoring in Marine Science

Sharon is a first-generation, non-traditional student balancing a military family life and three children with her work toward her Bachelor’s degree. Her career goal is to work in the Marine field in research. Her conservation ethic was formed at a young age when working with animals that the family raised and in various jobs including pet stores, animal shelters and museums. As part of a military family serving around the world, she has continued to care for and educate herself about animals and conservation efforts.

For the last 2 years, Sharon has also been the co-director for the Black Families Down Syndrome Network, which she founded as a subgroup of DSDN (Down Syndrome Diagnosis Network) the national organization.

In her application, Sharon said, “The position that I am in to finally aggressively pursue the remainder of this degree allows me a confidence and joy that is irreplaceable. I strive to show my children that regardless of what life throws at you it is possible to achieve your goals.”

SCWF is proud to award Sharon Kendrick with a Conservation Education Foundation Scholarship.

SCWF Scholarship Program:

The SCWF receives contributions from our members; however, a large portion of the funds for these scholarships are received from these three funders:

  • Nicole Chadwick Memorial Scholarship Fund – honoring the legacy of an endangered species biologist who made a long-lasting impact on wildlife conservation in South Carolina, this fund was created in 2019 out of a desire by community members to honor the long-lasting impact of Nicole Chadwick’s work for wildlife conservation. The new scholarship fund will specifically be awarded to female students studying environmental fields in South Carolina.

  • D. L. Scurry Foundation – In 1969, Mr. D. L. Scurry and his CPA, Mr. J. F. Burgess, created a non-profit foundation which emphasized providing educational scholarship funds for individuals attending colleges, universities and technical schools in South Carolina. Since that time, the D. L. Scurry Foundation has helped further the educational goals of thousands of students and many organizations within the state.

  • The Riverbanks Conservation Support Fund (CSF) – This Fund was created to provide financial assistance for conservation oriented projects/programs worldwide that promote preservation of the Earth’s biodiversity.

Knowledge lays the groundwork for analyzing environmental problems, resolving conflicts, and preventing new problems from arising. The South Carolina Wildlife Federation is committed to supporting future leaders by helping to provide the financial resources necessary to lay the groundwork for more responsible decision-making tomorrow.

Scholarship applications are accepted online through our website each year until October 31st.

Town of Chapin Nature Park

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Thanks to a grant from Dominion Energy, SCWF has begun work to create a 17-acre nature park around Chapin Town Hall which will beautify the property and preserve natural wildlife habitat, while also making it more accessible to citizens and visitors. We will install walking trails, a pollinator garden, and bird boxes throughout. Interpretive signs will provide information about local plants and wildlife.

Volunteers gathered yesterday with partners at the Chapin Town Hall, the Chapin Garden Club, and the Chapin Beautification Foundation to install a 70-foot native plant pollinator garden at the trail-head located behind the Chapin Town Hall.

The property is ecologically significant and is home to many birds in decline, either during their migration to and from the tropics, or during the breeding and winter seasons. Installing nest boxes will improve habitat for bluebirds, screech owls, Carolina chickadees, and barred owls. Native plants, which benefit pollinators and other wildlife, will be installed in strategic locations around the property. Signage will educate the public on what wildlife is being helped on the property through the enhancements.

Local schools will benefit from the trails as they will offer opportunities for teachers to use the ecology of the area for their science curriculum during field trips. SCWF will provide “virtual field trips” so teachers can learn about the area and feel comfortable taking students there in the future.

The protection and preservation of natural habitats, and the environmental stewardship components, will be a part of Chapin’s certification as a nationally recognized “Community Wildlife Habitat” with the National Wildlife Federation in 2021. To achieve this certification, Chapin residents will also be encouraged to create habitat in their own yards – the pollinator garden at the Town Hall will be a demonstration site for residents to see a model habitat garden that can be replicated in their own yards. As Chapin continues to grow, this property will also act as a place of respite for citizens of all ages who are seeking a quiet open space to unwind, exercise, and enjoy nature.

More info about the Community Wildlife Habitat program can be found on our website here.

Photos by Brantley Bissette, SCWF Education Outreach Intern

Restoring Crab Bank Seabird Sanctuary

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US Army Corps of Engineers on Track to Restore Crab Bank Seabird Sanctuary

By Brantley Bissette, SCWF Education Outreach Intern

Scheduled to start in September of this year, the US Army Corps of Engineers (COE) is set to restore a critically important shorebird nesting habitat in South Carolina.

Crab Bank is a stretch of sand sitting just below the mouth of Shem Creek in Charleston Harbor, the result of dredging operations in the 1950s. One of five seabird sanctuaries owned and managed by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR), it historically served as an optimal nesting habitat for species including black skimmers, royal terns and brown pelicans. It also hosted threatened red knot and other migratory shorebirds that utilize the state to rest and refuel during their spring migration. South Carolina hosts the largest concentration of red knot in the southeast. The sanctuary had hosted upwards of 5,000 seabird nests per year. Unfortunately, Crab Bank has slowly disappeared in recent decades and, in 2017, Hurricane Irma washed away all that remained of its suitable nesting habitat.

In 2017, working with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and environmental organizations, the Charleston Harbor Post 45 Deepening Project identified Crab Bank as a possible recipient of suitable newly dredged material as part of the COE’s efforts for beneficial uses of dredged material. Because placement here would be less cost-effective than the originally proposed offshore dumping site, SCDNR and several environmental agencies met and formed the Carolina Coastal Bird Conservation Fund to cover the expense of this and other future efforts to benefit shorebirds. A grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation was developed and awarded to Audubon South Carolina that supplemented community fundraising efforts by SCDNR, Coastal Conservation League, South Carolina Wildlife Federation, Coastal Expeditions and others. The campaign’s success proved a clear indicator of the importance of the restoration project to South Carolina shorebird lovers.

The project would add a total of 80 acres of sediment to the sanctuary, 28 of which would provide suitable nesting habitat. The successful restoration of Crab Bank would maintain South Carolina’s reputation as one of the most important shorebird nesting and wintering sites along the Atlantic coast. In addition to its immediate conservation implications, the restoration would also provide storm and sea level rise protection to Town of Mount Pleasant properties, as well as unique educational benefits, as the sanctuary is just a short boat or kayak trip from nearby communities. Coastal bird partners and the Charleston District of the COE will continue to monitor conditions of nearby Shem Creek to ensure a positive environmental response to the project while remaining in close contact with SCDNR and local community leadership. Restoration efforts will feature the one-time placement of 660,000 cubic yards of dredged material and require only a few months to reach completion.

Along a rapidly developing South Carolina coastline, the restoration and preservation of nesting and wintering habitat is a key step forward in the conservation of these iconic species. The continuing support of the community will ensure the project’s timely completion and help protect South Carolina’s shorebirds for generations to come.

Red Knots, photo by Teri Carter (cropped for top banner image)