The overarching research goal is to utilize Buck Island Ranch as a real-world laboratory to quantify the biodiversity and ecosystem services provided by working ranches. Our work provides the fundamental understanding of how we can maintain and improve ecosystem services, minimize tradeoffs, all while sustaining an economically productive agroecosystem. My research program is focused on: 1) the quantification of multiple ecosystem services provided by working ranches, 2) understanding how ranch management practices affects multiple ecosystem services and disservices, and 3) the drivers and threats to ecosystem services, such as invasive species and climate change. The overarching goal of our work is to discover innovative science-based solutions for sustainable agriculture that is profitable, delivers multiple ecosystem services to society, and reduces negative environmental impacts.

I am actively engaged in multiple national and global science networks including the USDA Long-term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network, Nutrient Network (nutnet), Disturbance, Resource Addition, and Recovery (Dragnet), Phenocam Network, Grazing Exclosure Consortium, and Community Responses to Resource Experiments (CORRE https://corredata.weebly.com/). These networks have allowed the Agroecology program to scale up the place-based research and provide data from subtropical grasslands to large national and global scale network analyses.

Broadly, my research program is focused on environmental and economic sustainability of ranches in the headwaters of the Everglades and is underpinned by basic and applied research in Ecosystem services, Ecology, Biogeochemistry, and Hydrology. 

Elizabeth “Betsey” Boughton, Ph.D.

Director of Agroecology, Senior Research Biologist 

I am a plant ecologist whose research encompass plant ecophysiology, community ecology, and functional ecology. In 2016, I became a post-doctoral fellow at Archbold Biological Station agroecology program and since then was promoted to Assistant Research Biologist. Here, I study the effect of ranching management practices on multiple ecosystem services provided by grasslands and wetlands including plant diversity, and provisioning services. I also assess the success of wetland restoration in multiple wetland restoration easements located at Archbold.
My past research focused on describing, understanding, and predicting patterns of biodiversity at local and regional scales and in response to various environmental gradients and land use changes (e.g., forest fragmentation). I obtained my PhD from the University of Sherbrooke (Québec, Canada) in partnership with Montpellier SupAgro (France). Then, I completed two postdocs at the University of Picardie Jules Verne (Amiens, France) and in the department of Botany at UW-Madison (Wisconsin, USA).
If you are more interested in my research, you can find more information here (https://gsonnier.weebly.com/) and here (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gregory-Sonnier).

Grégory Sonnier, Ph.D.

Assistant Research Biologist

Florida’ s extensive ranchlands are heavily dotted with small wetlands. Despite their small size, wetlands provide big benefits. Because wetlands are so important for conservation and for multiple services to society, research is needed to understand how ranchland management affects wetlands.   At Buck Island Ranch, we have maintained one of the longest running, and largest wetland experiments. Wetlands in the experiment are embedded in either improved pastures or semi-native pastures. Researchers established 40 wetlands as a giant experiment, 10 wetlands each with grazing, fire, neither, or both.

Plant composition and diversity, Plant traits, Forage production and quality, Soil carbon and nutrients, Methane emissions, Water quality, Aquatic invertebrates, Aquatic herpetofauna

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Our study suggests that grazing levels applied in semi-native pastures maintained high plant diversity and prevented tree and shrub encroachment. In the absence of grazing, prescribed fire is crucial to maintaining species diversity. Fenced wetlands had greater quantity of palatable species, especially when exposed to prescribed fire. To decrease unpalatable biomass in grazed wetlands within improved pastures, our research suggests that rotational grazing with adequate rest periods are required.  This ranch wetland experiment has provided science-based information for grazing in wetland restoration easements. We found that grazing is compatible with wetland restoration goals. It is likely that without the ability to graze, few ranchers would be interested in getting easements on their land.

Ranch Wetland Experiment

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