Riverview Point Preserve Site
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8250 DeSoto Memorial Hwy Bradenton, FL 34209 Manatee
County
Riverview Pointe Preserve is an 11-acre site located in
northwest Bradenton, Florida. The site is adjacent to the DeSoto National
Memorial but is managed by Manatee County's Natural Resources Department. Although small in acreage, the preserve is
home to a variety of wildlife and uplands and coastal habitats including the
rare scrub ecosystem, oak hammock, and mangrove forest. This location is also
home to a thriving gopher tortoise colony. Riverview Pointe has a rich cultural
history – it was designated as part of “Shaw’s Point” Archaeological District
by the 1939 United States De Soto Expedition Commission and was added to the
National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
Riverview Pointe is part of a large
prehistoric coastal village inhabited by Florida Indians from about 356 B.C. to
110 A.D. The village and midden complex ran from the Riverview Pointe property
northward into the De Soto National Memorial. The village complex included a
huge temple mound, several smaller mounds, and a central freshwater spring, yet
none of these features remain today. Most, if not all, of the complex was
destroyed during the early twentieth century when its shell was mined for
roadfill.
Riverview Pointe Preserve offers walking and hiking through
a variety of unique Florida habitats including Coastal Strand, Hammock and
Scrub. The Coastal Strand ecosystem is a transitional zone between the windy
coast and the stable upland systems. The plants living in this area are
tolerant of the winds and salt and help protect inland areas from severe
storms. The plant community, often stunted by the growing conditions, includes
buttonwood, necklace pod, fish poison vine, Christmasberry, prickly pear cactus
and Spanish bayonet. Sheltered from the harsh coastal conditions, the Coastal
Hammock ecosystem can be identified by its large trees and a rich understory of
small woody plants and vines. Tree cover includes cabbage palm, live oak,
hickory and cedar. The understory includes wild coffee, beauty berry, Cherokee
bean and many vines including several species of wild grape and Virginia
creeper. Look out for poison ivy.
Most of the animals that inhabit the Coastal
Hammock are nocturnal, such as raccoons, opossums, foxes and armadillos. The
rare Coastal Scrub habitat, an ecosystem that features plants adapted to living
in high heat, little food, and sandy soil. Plants here include very large, old
sand pine with the typical scrub oak contingency: sand live oak, Chapman’s oak,
and myrtle oak, along with saw palmetto. The very sandy soil filters the
rainwater and the aquifer below receives crystal clear water as a result. The
habitat is ideal for colonies of gopher tortoise, a keystone species which
shares its burrow with many other creatures including the gopher frog, eastern
indigo snake, rabbits, mice, and insects. (See also Emerson Point Preserve,
Robinson Preserve, and DeSoto National Memorial all located nearby.)
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