FSML: A New Generation of Integrated Fire Research Equipment for Archbold Biological Station

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This facilities improvement project will support a new generation of more up-to-date general use fire equipment for Archbold Biological Station. Archbold supports research and education by providing access to study areas and organisms on its 2,000 ha globally significant scrub preserve, one of the most distinctive regions in the U.S. This remnant xeric ecosystem lies on a narrow, north-south ridge of relict, sandy dunes running down the center of the Florida peninsula. It is characterized by endemic shrubby scrubs, with adaptations to droughty, nutrient-poor sandy soils. Fire is the dominant ecosystem process in scrub, with extremely high intensity, patchy, variable fire behavior. Archbold provides experimental manipulation, through large and small-scale prescribed fire, to test hypotheses about ecological responses to fire. The prescribed fire program has made Archbold one of the most exciting and productive field stations for studying fire ecology. The entire scrub ecosystem at Archbold is fire-dependent, and virtually all research relies on an active and effective prescribed fire program. Prescribed grassland fires at the MacArthur Agro-ecology Research Center, a major division of Archbold at a 4,200 ha cattle ranch, are Archbold established in 1941, is a not-for-profit independent research facility in central Florida, dedicated to long-term ecological research. Staff, visiting investigators, and students conduct research primarily focused on the organisms and environments of the Lake Wales Ridge and adjacent central Florida. Areas of research strength include ecology and conservation biology, in particular long-term processes. A major emphasis is the relationship between species and fire as an ecosystem process.