Management
Water levels in the rookery are regulated through
a well and an electric pump to provide optimum depths at various
stages of the wood stork's reproductive cycle. If there is not
enough rainfall, then the electric pump is turned on to increase
the water level. The water at the rookery serves as a protective
mechanism: alligators limit the number of raccoons and snakes
that are able to reach the eggs and nestlings. Yearly drawdowns
at the end of the breeding season in July are required to maintain
healthy cypress for nesting. Mid-story and understory vegetation
is reduced using fire, chemical, and mechanical means as needed.
Invasive aquatic vegetation is also controlled as needed.
In 1995 the wood storks left the Little Gator Creek
Wildlife Management Area but returned to nest in 2002. According
to Victor Echaves, district biologist for FWC, part of the problem
may have been that the area around the cypress trees where the
birds nest had become overgrown with buttonbush and small maples,
concealing the water. Wood storks seek water below their nests
as protection from predators. Once the underbrush was removed,
the birds returned.
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