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Volunteer Conducts
Study of Flora in the Preserve In the
spring of this year, (2006) Suzan Campbell came out on one of our walks.
She told us many things about the Preserve and then returned to take
photos and complete a
Floristic Quality Assessment (FQA).
What is a FQA?
According to
a study
document prepared in 2001 for the state of Michigan, a FQA "is a
tool to assist environmental consultants, scientists, natural resource
managers, land stewards, environmental decision-makers, and restorationists in assessing the floristic, and implicitly, natural
significance of any given area."
Why is its relevance to Holliday?
According to the Michigan Department of From the same document:
"Natural Resources (1988), over 70 percent of Michigan’s original
wetlands have been drained or filled, while many remaining wetlands are
no longer representative of original landscape types.
"As a consequence, much of Michigan’s native biota is now restricted to
relatively small and often isolated tracts of landscape across the
state. With intensive pressure on Michigan’s remaining natural lands,
particularly in southern Lower Michigan, there is a need for a
consistent and practical method for identifying and recognizing the
potential significance of remnant areas for the long-term survival
of Michigan’s native biodiversity." A FQA allows for a simple,
consistent, and repeatable method for evaluating the relative
significance of tracts of land in terms of their native floristic
composition. View the
FQA prepared by Suzan Campbell and learn more about the flora in
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