Native Species
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Species that are native or naturally belonging to a particular geographic area or environment. Note: In the context of Ask IFAS, "native" is typical understood to mean "native to Florida".
Narrower Topics
Related Topics: Birds, Native Species
Related Topics: Grazing Lands, Native Species, Rangelands
Publications
Native Subterranean Termites: Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar), Reticulitermes virginicus (Banks), Reticulitermes hageni Banks (Insecta: Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae)
Thomas Chouvenc, Nan-Yao Su and Rudolf H. Scheffrahn
A UF/IFAS numbered Organism ID. Published by Integrated Pest Management
A Comparison Between the Northern Hard Clam (Mercenaria mercenaria) and Southern Hard Clam (Mercenaria campechiensis) for Restoration in Florida
Catherine Kaylor, Laura K. Reynolds, Shirley Baker, Angela B. Collins, Leslie Sturmer, andAshley Smyth
Hard clams provide many benefits to Florida’s coastal ecosystems beyond supporting the clam aquaculture industry. One of these benefits is improved water quality through filtration and nutrient cycling. However, both pollution and overharvesting have led to a decline in native clam populations for many areas, resulting in a growing interest among restoration practitioners to rebuild clam populations. There are two clam species native to Florida currently used in restoration: the northern hard clam, Mercenaria mercenaria, and the southern hard clam, Mercenaria campechiensis. This publication is intended for academics, restoration practitioners, and policy makers interested in shellfish restoration. The goal of this document is to describe the similarities and differences between these two species and to serve as a resource for selecting the best hard clam for a restoration project.