The Manasota Scrub Preserve is an area of protected land in
Sarasota County, Florida
Sarasota County is a county located in Southwest Florida. At the 2020 US census, the population was 434,006. Its county seat is Sarasota and its largest city is North Port. Sarasota County is part of the North Port–Sarasota– Bradenton, ...
. It is located at 2695 Bridge Street in
Englewood, Florida
Englewood is a census-designated place (CDP) in Charlotte and Sarasota counties in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 20,800.
The Sarasota County portion of Englewood is part of the North Port–Saras ...
, in a
suburban
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separa ...
area that is part of the
Lemon Bay
Lemon Bay is a long, narrow and shallow body of water covering 8,000 acres in Charlotte County, Florida and Sarasota County, Florida. It is protected as the Lemon Bay Aquatic Preserve, designated in 1986. It is one of five Charlotte Harbor Aquatic ...
watershed.
Manasota Scrub Preserve
Discover Natural Sarasota
The 154-acre preserve was acquired during 2000 and 2002 with funds from the state's Environmentally Sensitive Lands Protection Program and the Florida Communities Trust The Florida Communities Trust (FCT) is a governmental land acquisition program in the state of Florida, USA, administered by the Florida Department of Community Affairs (DCA). Grants are awarded annually on a competitive basis to local governments ...
. It is named after the Manasota Land and Timber Company and the type of vegetation present, scrubland
Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It ma ...
. It includes trails, a boardwalk, and a picnic area. The preserve's upland and wetland habitats are home to gopher tortoise
The gopher tortoise (''Gopherus polyphemus'') is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae. The species is native to the southeastern United States. The gopher tortoise is seen as a keystone species because it digs burrows that provi ...
s, northern quail, swallowtail butterflies
Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful butterflies in the family Papilionidae, and include over 550 species. Though the majority are tropical, members of the family inhabit every continent except Antarctica. The family includes the larges ...
and great horned owl
The great horned owl (''Bubo virginianus''), also known as the tiger owl (originally derived from early naturalists' description as the "winged tiger" or "tiger of the air"), or the hoot owl, is a large owl native to the Americas. It is an extr ...
s. Plant species include wildflower
A wildflower (or wild flower) is a flower that grows in the wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. The term implies that the plant probably is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar that is in any way different from the ...
s: grassleaf, goldenaster and blazing-star.
References
{{reflist
External links
Manasota Scrub Preserve
- official site
Protected areas of Sarasota County, Florida
Nature reserves in Florida