October 2024

One of the recurring themes of the H₂O Zone is our admiration for the brilliant methods scientists are capable of coming up with in order to either protect or restore our increasingly delicate natural environment. 

This example is built on ‘fire ecology’, which is basically the use of controlled fire in order to enhance biodiversity. Fires have been used since neolithic times for wildland management and the benefits are well-known. This latest innovation creates a powerful partnership with information technology - in order to monitor the effects of controlled burns and share the information across the country. 

This story begins back in 1895, when an area of longleaf pine trees known as Tall Timbers, located in Northern Leon County, Florida, was run as a quail hunting estate. 

When quail populations declined in the 1920’s the owner, Henry Beadel, sponsored a study to understand why – an effort which led to the land at Tall Timbers eventually being endowed as a real-world research laboratory. In simple terms, without being controlled, the vegetation in pine communities such as this would grow too dense for native plant and animal species. 

One piece of research involves monitoring controlled fires at Tall Timbers using something called geographic information system (GIS) technology to create a digital twin. This digital twin is then used to understand the benefits of controlled burning, and pass this knowledge on to the people working to preserve similar areas around the US.     

We’ve written about the manatees of Florida in the H₂O Zone previously, highlighting, for example, their surprising reliance on coal-powered power plants. This particular story is even less positive, however, picking up on the fact that baby manatees in Florida are dying out at a record rate.

According to the report, 130 have died this year, with scientists tracing the cause back as far as 2021, when harmful algal blooms impacted areas including the Indian River Lagoon. The presence of the algal blooms meant that the lagoon lost 80% to 90% of its seagrass, which left the manatees living there – as well as other wildlife – without a valuable source of food. The lack of food caused long term health problems for manatees which – fast forward to 2024 – have contributed to the record numbers of perinatal deaths, with many manatees being stillborn.

Scientists monitoring the situation are keen to point out that manatees are what is known as a ‘keystone species’ – meaning that their health and well-being acts as an indicator of the state of the wider ecosystem. The loss of seagrass, for example, is related to problems with water quality caused by issues which fuel algal blooms, such as storms, leaky septic systems and agricultural runoff. 

When it comes to keeping plants alive and healthy with the best irrigation tools, we know a thing or two. And knowing which plants will thrive best - and where - also plays a vital role in creating and nurturing a landscape that works for the benefit of both people and their green spaces. 

This month we were able to add to our knowledge in the form of a study published by the University of Florida, which found that plant species native to Florida outperform non-native species in ‘growth and floral abundance’ under both full and partial irrigation techniques.

Other advantages of sticking to native Florida species included the fact that the plants have lower maintenance costs, are more attractive to pollinators and adapt more quickly to new environmental conditions. The study took place over a period of two years, and compared 10 native plants with 10 non-native.  All of the plants which received full levels of irrigation thrived during the first year, but native plants fared better over both years when coping with lower levels of irrigation. 

Anyone working under the water restrictions or drought conditions often apparent in Florida will doubtless be pleased by the evidence that native plants are clearly more resilient and water efficient. In simple terms, it seems that planting local plants will create sustainable landscapes, conserve water and support local pollinators and wildlife. 

Much of the news coverage in Florida this month has naturally been focused upon the impact of Hurricane Milton, a relatively rare, category five hurricane. Although many reports have detailed the devastating impact of Milton, it will be a while before the full cost can be collated. 

The first category five hurricane to ever make landfall on the Florida panhandle, however, was Hurricane Michael in 2019, which impacted almost 50,000 structures.

This story from the BBC looks at one of the few structures able to emerge completely unscathed from extreme weather events of this kind, namely a caterpillar-like dome-shaped structure known as Golden Eye located in a small gulf-front community in Mexico Beach. The unusual structure was constructed in 2015, and was somehow barely touched at all by wind speeds of up to 160 mph.

Given the fact that hurricanes have caused more than $1.3 trillion in damages in the US since 1980 – and as of 2023, 6,890 deaths directly attributable to hurricanes had been recorded – storm resilient structures are likely to become ever more important with the widespread and extreme damage to buildings that we're now seeing on a regular basis.

While the dome shape has been in and out of favor with buildings throughout history, it’s not surprising that interest in domed houses has grown in recent years - their aerodynamic shape means such buildings are not only able to present less resistance to the wind, but they can absorb and distribute the energy safely.  

The impact of hurricane Milton as it moved across Florida was huge, with the bare statistics often quite difficult to take on board. It sometimes helps, when dealing with stories like this, to focus on tales of the effect such an event has on an individual and – in this particular story – the ingenious solution they came up with to protect their family and home in the future. 

Florida TikToker Dr. Meghan Martin, filmed herself lamenting the devastation caused by back to back hurricanes and the fact that her home had been flooded 3 times in 4 years. Her solution? To raise the home – purchased for $260,000 eight years ago – by 12 feet. The process sounds deceptively simple. Trenches are dug beneath the house which is then jacked up, to the point at which Dr. Martin is hoping she will eventually have to climb 15 steps to knock on her front door. 

Dr. Martin plans to film the process and broadcast progress to millions of people via TikTok. It's a solution that may take hold - and help increasing numbers of Florida homeowners seriously consider adopting this method of coping with the ever-growing risk of flooding. 

Architects and landscapers seem to be fully engaged in facing the challenges that affect our built-spaces from dramatic weather events - and they're coming up with some truly amazing and extremely resilient solutions. 

A very good example of this approach can be found in the drive to create ‘hurricane proof’ communities. 

One such community can be found at Hunter Point in Cortez along the Gulf Coast.

The storm-resistant architectural and landscape designs meant that, despite storm surges turning the roads into rivers, Hunter Point stayed dry and kept the lights on during hurricane Milton.

So what features of the buildings make for this resilience? Well, they include solid concrete ground floor garages, two by six timber boards filled with hard insulation rather than foam, steel seams connecting all three floors and a roof which is also made of steel. Up on the roof, immovable solar panels (engineered so the wind can’t get underneath them) means that the homes were powered for several days even after the local grid went down. The landscaping is built to channel storm water away from the streets, and although the houses here start at a pretty steep $1.25 million, one thing which is bound to cost less are the insurance premiums paid by homeowners.