BOTANICAL SURVEY

Botanical Survey evaluates the health of the vegetation at the Arcade Creek by monitoring the spread of invasive species, and by collecting samples of indigenous plants biyearly to analyze the degree of plant diversity present.

The Botanical Survey (Botany) study collects, preserves, and identifies samples of plants that grow along the riparian corridor of the Arcade Creek. The study's first objective is to produce an extensive herbarium of all fall and spring samples, which functions as a reference of the area's plant diversity from year to year. In addition, Botany maps the percent coverage of invasive plant species, including Himalayan Blackberry, Periwinkle, English Ivy, Red Sesbania, Fan Palm and Catalpa.

Invasive plant species tend to out-compete native plant species, reducing the plant diversity of the creek and resulting in the starvation of animal species that rely on these indigenous plants. By mapping the nonnative species biyearly, Botany helps the Restoration study to easily locate and eradicate spreading populations. Moreover, Botany maintains a database of the invasive species and native species present at each site along the arcade creek, facilitating year to year comparisons and allowing a direct method of checking when certain species spread, or disappeared, from specific locations.

STUDY FILES:

Botany Protocol
Plant Pictures with Names
List of Invasive Species