Apart from our field work we did a project to help with the restoration of Bill Baggs Cape Florida park. As soon as we got to the park we were meet by Elizabeth Carter the park biologist. She then took us to the area where we were gong to be planting native trees and restoring the hammock area. For the next approximately two-and-a-half hours, we planted an average of seven trees each, 35 trees in all. This was a difficult task, due to mosquitoes, heat, and fill under the soil that was put in the area in the 1950's.We dug holes for the trees, then took the plants out of the pots and placed them in the holes. Then we filled the holes with soil and watered the trees with buckets of water. After all 35 trees had been planted, Ms. Carter led us back to her office trailer, were we had lunch.

After we had finished planting the trees, Ms Carter showed us a slide show about the park. The slide show consisted of a history of the park's development and the current restoration projects. We learned that the park had once been in danger of development and the area was preserved as a state recreation park in the 1960's. Finally, we learned the effect hurricane Andrew had on the area, and what is being done to restore the parks ecosystem. Before the hurricane the park was full of Australian pines. Hurricane Andrew wiped out these and other invasive plants that were not native to the area. This gave park officials the opportunity to restore the park's native ecology. Therefore, the hurricane had a positive effect on the park restoration. In conclusion, this activity was a very educational experience in which we learned more about South Florida's unique ecosystem.