One of the characteristics of the Thousand Islands that makes them so worthy of our efforts to preserve them, is the fact that the Thousand Islands lie right on a transition zone between two climate regions, subtropical to the south and temperate to the north.

In the next slide we see a plot of each calendar day’s maximum temperature, averaged over the past few decades, for Orlando in green, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in blue, and Patrick Air Force Base in red. From the graph we see what everyone knows who’s been in Orlando in the summertime – it’s hotter in the middle of the state than it is near the ocean. Water moderates climate, and the Atlantic Ocean is a lot of water.

The next graph depicts the average low temperature, for each calendar day over the past few decades. The results are surprising. Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, just 15 miles from Patrick Air Force Base, has average daily low temperatures much more similar to Orlando than it does to Patrick.

The difference in average low temperature between Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Patrick Air Force Base demonstrates that these two locations straddle either side of a climatic transition zone between temperate to the north, and subtropical to the south. The Thousand Islands lie right in the middle of this transition zone.

Part of the reason for this is the expanse of water surrounding the Thousand Islands that we know as the Banana River Lagoon. In the slide below we see how the islands are surrounded by a large amount of water. This water moderates temperatures and protects plants from winter cold fronts. The result of this is a suite of plant species - stoppers, capers, gumbo limbo, torchwood, and others that are more common in extreme south Florida, and other areas such as the Bahamas and Puerto Rico. This also makes our area vulnerable to invasion by these tropical non-native plants.

All five of the problematic invasive non-native plants found in the Thousand Islands are designated as Class I Prohibited Aquatic Plants by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. This makes it illegal to posses, collect, transport, cultivate, or import them without a permit from the Department. 

The Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council rates all five of these plants as Category I invasives. This category is defined as an “invasive exotic that is altering native plant communities by displacing native species, changing community structures or ecological functions, or hybridizing with natives.” This definition relies on scientifically documented ecological damage caused by the plant in question. These classifications do not come lightly, and reflect the grave concern biologists have over the ability of these trees to invade, degrade, and even destroy natural systems.

Learn about these plants on the next page Here