Native plants are helping restore habitat in Florida's Saint Sebastian River

Representative Image of the Saint Sebastian River restoration with native plants returning along its banks (AI Generated Image) A stretch of the Saint Sebastian River in Indian River County, Florida, is getting its native vegetation back. Staff from the Peninsular Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office are continuing a multi-year project with Indian River County, Friends of the Saint Sebastian River and local environmental groups to restore fish habitat along the river. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the work is taking place alongside Cypress Bend Community Preserve, a former citrus grove purchased by the county that borders the Saint Sebastian River. An earlier planting put 1,500 emergent and submerged plants directly into the river, while a later planting added 2,000 bare-root smartweed plants along the riverbank and another 8,000-plus riparian and upland plants. Smartweed is especially important because the Fish and Wildlife Service says it is the top habitat for the opossum pipefish, an imperilled fish found in the Saint Sebastian River.Saint Sebastian River habitat restoration: invasive plants have crowded out native fish habitatFish and Wildlife Conservation O...