University Colloquium: A Sustainable Future

(Photo: Lauren Lukasik) 1. The Biodiversity of Lovers Key?     Lovers Key is an ecotone, meaning it is a transition area between two habitat types. It sits between the inland and coastal habitats; areas of shrub forest lead to mangrove swamps. The sea oats hold the beach in place on one side, while the mangroves do the same job on the opposite side. This also for a wide range of biodiversity in plants and animals. There are sea turtles on the beach side and red, black and white mangroves on the other. Although we did not see one, alligators commonly hang out in the mangroves. (Photo: Lauren Lukasik) 2. How does this connect with your learning from Shiva (Team 2's presentation)?     I can make the connection between Lovers Key and Shiva in the development of Lovers Key as we know it today. In the 60s and 70s, we thought we were doing ourselves a favor a creating a canal for drainage through Black Island for development purpose...

(Photo: Lauren Lukasik) 1.  A brief history of the city - how it started, how it has grown , its main functions , key people involved etc.     As much as 14,000 years ago people were living in a much wider, much cooler Florida. So much water was still held in the glaciers that Florida was twice as wide as what it is today and megafauna such as saber tooth tigers, mammoths, giant sloths, horses and other large animals roamed the land. In the 16th century, when Spanish explorers reached the SWFL shoreline, the Calusa indians were the first people they encountered. The Calusa could tell right away that the Spanish were there to pillage their lands and resources and take over as if the area was their own. The Calusa were resourceful people though, thriving on the SWFL environment hunting deer, bear, raccoon, possum and others and using their canoes to ride up and down the Caloosahatchee. The two met and violence ensued, eventually leading many deaths inclu...