NSU’s main campus boasts a large collection of lush and tropical plants from all over the world, but perhaps the most precious of the plants on campus are the species of plants that are native to South Florida and attract beautiful, and sometimes rare animals.
The coontie plant, a native species of cycad, could previously be found in small patches on NSU’s main campus. By looking at it, most people wouldn’t guess that it has been nearly wiped out in many of the places where it once grew naturally.
Paul Arena is an associate professor in the department of biological sciences and a faculty advisor for NSU’s Nature Club. Arena teaches the Natural History of South Florida class, where students learn about the importance of native plant species such as the coontie, whose populations have been under restoration efforts after mass harvesting in the 1800’s. In some places where the coontie previously grew, populations have been completely wiped out and the plant is suspected to be functionally extinct in those areas.
Early in the school year, Arena was made aware by another faculty member of the removal of some large patches of coontie on NSU’s main campus.
“They brought it to my attention and wanted to see if we could put a stop to that, and we’re actually going to be putting some signage where there are remaining or replanted coontie to bring awareness of its importance,” he said.
The coontie plant is not only special because of its depleted populations and native status, but also because it is the host plant for a rare native species of butterfly.
“The Atala butterfly is another native species that is relatively small, maybe an inch in size. It has some really beautiful coloration and is a very dainty flier. The Atala uses the coontie as its larval host plant, so this is the only thing that the caterpillars feed on,” Arena explained.
The removal of coontie plants has grave implications for local populations of the Atala butterfly; if there isn’t as much coontie, there won’t be many Atalas.
Joshua Feingold is a professor in the Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography. Feingold is a marine biologist but has an interest in butterflies, and has been following the Atala populations for quite some time, as well as assisted in a student project on butterflies this past year.
“The reason the Atala population is decreasing in general is because humans are removing the natural habitat. If you don’t have the host plant, you can’t have the eggs. Coontie is naturally found in pine rockland areas, and generally in South Florida we’ve removed most of the native coontie habitat,” Feingold explained.
Having rare native species of plants on campus that attract rare native species of butterflies is not only a good choice for the overall ecosystem, but provides a unique learning experience for students as well.
“Aesthetically, I think it’s very pleasing [to have coontie that attracts butterflies], especially because it’s a responsible use of plants. It seems to me that it would be counterproductive to use invasive plants that would throw off the balanced ecosystem and portray that as an aesthetic goal of the university,” Feingold said.
“It’s a unique educational experience [for students] to have this rare plant that provides a very important feeding stage to a rare caterpillar that turns into a beautiful butterfly, which then adds some aesthetic value to the campus as well. Especially because both of these species have low populations that have nearly gone extinct, even locally,” Arena added.
