Environmental Learning Center

WILDLIFE

Native Flora And Fauna

Discover the Fascinating Ecological Relationships of Florida’s Plants and Animals

Only when we understand these relationships can we fully appreciate nature. Where native plants and animals are never merely isolated individuals.

Widespread understanding of this interdependence in the natural world is crucial for the success of sustaining biodiversity because land conservation alone has proven to be insufficient in preventing the wholesale extinction of species, especially among insects.

Individuals can help by creating natural habitat for wildlife with native plants in their own yards and be part of a network of connecting conservation areas that mitigate fragmentation due to development.

White Sweetclover

White Sweetclover (Melilotus albus) blooms in the spring on the dike at the South end of the ELC campus and truly lives up to its name. The compound, trifoliate leaves