440 acres adjacent to the Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory, University of Florida/IFAS
Get trail maps and information about the Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area — and other Indian River County conservation lands — with Indian River County’s new Map App. Click here to check it out.
Nature does nothing uselessly — Aristotle
Nature is everywhere. Enjoy exploring the puzzles & complexities of nature at the Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area & on this website. You will find some of the plants, insects, and animals that you see here in your yard, along the roadsides, and elsewhere.
Enjoy nature everywhere.
The Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory (FMEL) will offer its twenty-fourth Volunteer Nature Stewardship Class for the Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area (ORCA) in 2023, when covid concerns hopefully will have diminished. It will provide a foundation for understanding — and enjoying — the common habitats of Indian River County and what you may find in your yard. Field activities definitely will be included.
Class participants are asked to “volunteer back” and share what they have learned at the ORCA, another nature preserve, a nature center, or in another venue. You craft how and where you “volunteer back”.
You can check out the 2020 schedule: 2020 FMEL Volunteer Class Schedule
Email Janice Broda at jbroda@ufl.edu if you are interested in joining a nature walk at ORCA.
Coralbean (Erythrina herbacea) is just beginning to flower on Orchid Island. Flowering tends to be later inland at places like the Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area. Coralbean often grows in the midst of saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) and hammock plants, reaching…
Established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903, Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge (PINWR) is the precedent setting first U.S. national wildlife refuge. Over the years it has has been expanded from its original size. Local citrus farmer and PINWR advocate…
Gumbo limbo (Bursera simarouba) are burly big trees, usually multi-trunked. Only a few are found at the Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area, youngish trees “seeded” by birds after the Christmas freeze of 1989 that brought bone-chilling temperatures well below freezing and…
Every year is different, and we hopefully & thankfully welcome 2002. 2021 brought more covid challenges. It wasn’t a wonderful year for acorn production either. 2018 was a mast year. The live oak trees (Quercus virginiana) were in overdrive and…
Dr George Rogers, retired chair of the Palm Beach State College Department of Botany, led a special botany walk at Captain Forster Preserve on Saturday, 12/11/2021. His field observations always are astute, and he shared his thoughts about shoestring fern…
White crownbeard, crownbeard, Virginia crownbeard, frostweed, and angel wings (Verbesina virginica) are among the many common names ascribed to this striking herbaceous perennial that is found throughout the eastern U.S. The common name frostweed alludes to the dramatic icicles that…
Dogfennel (Eupatorium capillifolium) blooms throughout Florida in September and October. This opportunistic plant grows in flatwoods, marshes, and disturbed areas. When crushed, it soft green foliage emits a distinctive fragrance. This member of the daisy familly, Asteracae, is a nectar…
When the Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory began its Volunteer Nature Stewardship Program for the Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area (ORCA) in 1998, julia butterflies (Dryas iulia) did not range as far north as Indian River County. The first sighting at ORCA…
A weekend walk at Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge on the Centennial Trail brought disappointment. Large lantanas (Lantana strigocamara) still remained along the trail to the Tower overlooking Pelican Island and in what was the Butterfly Garden. Lantana is pretty…
White twinevine (Funastrum clausum) grows in moist places including the Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area, Captain Forster Preserve, and Toni Robinson Waterfront Trail. This fast-growing twining and clambering perennial vine is now available at some native plant nurseries mostly because it…
Sometimes in sunny spots at the Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area you will find scorpionstail (Heliotropium angiospermum). Coastal hammocks & strands, the edges of salt marshes, and ruderal (disturbed) areas are its home in south Florida, south Texas, the Caribbean, and…
The Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council has changed its name to Florida Invasive Species Council (FISC). Click here to visit their new website. Why the change? The term invasive exotic pest plant was a mouthful and resulted in much confusion…
Enjoy the Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area 