Non-Native Invasive Species on Santa Rosa Island

My capstone project will be focused on non-native invasive species on Santa Rosa Island. There are many invasive species on the island, most of which get dropped there as seeds from visitors shoes or gear and will often take root near Ports of Entry. These invasive species then compete with natives for space and nutrients to thrive, diminishing the natives populations greatly. I will work on creating a Plant Identification Chart for others to easily identify invasive species. I will also catalog plants using a GPS unit to map out a 20m zone around Ports of Entry as well as sample 500m transects along dirt roads and trails to see how much coverage invasive species are taking up. Ultimately the goal of this project will be to effectively map out the locations of these invasive species and create a management plan to potentially begin restoration. I hypothesize that invasive species will higher in coverage near Ports of Entry than Dirt Roads and Trails further inland.