Current research interests:
- Population biology, behavioral ecology, and natural history of amphibians and reptiles
- Disturbance dynamics and community ecology of seasonal wetlands
- Restoration of agriculturally impacted wetlands and fire-suppressed sandhill

Betsie B. Rothermel, Ph.D.

Director of Herpetology & Restoration Ecology, Associate Research Biologist

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 

Executive Director of Archbold Biological Station since 1995. 
Leadership for science, conservation, and education programs at Archbold 
Oversight for 8,800-acre Archbold Biological Station on the Lake Wales Ridge and the 10,500-acre Buck Island Ranch. 
Builds partnerships to amplify Archbold's science, conservation, and education impacts regionally, statewide and globally. 
Leadership role for science networks including USDA LTAR and GLEON. 
Facilitates liaison with local, state, and federal agencies, non-profits, and landowners to implement Archbold's goal to understand and protect Florida's ecosystems.
Responsible for programs, data and technology, budget, facilities and support. 
Manages 60-70 staff plus graduate students, interns, and visiting scientists.  
Personal research interests lie in conservation biology, agroecology, and limnology. Conducts research for federal and state agencies on sustainable ecosystems,  survival of listed species, Lake Annie, large landscape conservation and the Florida Wildlife Corridor. 
Long-term public role in protection of conservation lands in in Florida, most recently the implementation of the Florida Wildlife Corridor.

Hilary Swain, Ph.D.

Executive Director & CEO, 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

As of 2023, Archbold has xx acres enrolled in the wetland restoration easement program (WRE). Using long-term datasets on water level and vegetation surveys  before and after hydrological restoration, we highlighted restoration success at both ABS Reserve and BIR. In most easements, we observed a significant increase in water level and hydroperiod. This led to shifts in vegetation with more species adapted to wet conditions and higher floristic quality. Seasonal wetlands at the Reserve were not as impacted by this changes. We will monitor these easements over the long term and will continue our involvement in the WRE program. 

Plant composition and diversity Water level data (staff gauge and automated transducers) 

Data and Analysis Types

Archbold Biological Station, Buck Island Ranch

Ranch Wetland Restoration

Major Findings & Impact

Project Details

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