Gardening to Benefit Long Island with Native PlantsUnderstanding Natural Landscapes & Geology follow below.
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Habitat Management & Restoration
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Habitat management modifies natural landscapes. For example, creating food plots, cuttings for browse, and mowing grassy openings to benefit quail and deer.
Restoration is an ecosystem approach. For example, consider what habitat is being restored ( pine barrens, barrier beaches, saltmarshes, and grasslands, etc. Within each, there's a mixture of plant communities that vary over time and space. Ecological restoration reestablishes not an exact match, but similarity by returning the land to a more natural state where native plant communities and natural processes can flourish. Understanding site prior history with plant seeds or roots still viable, will enable a “no-plant, edit-only approach." This which means to weed out the invasive species and enable native plants to thrive. Another approach is "helping nature along" through plantings and seed broadcast. Alternatively, a highly engineered construction project, creates an instant landscape with site reconstruction of soils and plants. Not all habitats can be restored using this approach. For example, those habitats that take thousands of years to mature (bogs). Highly engineered construction projects are more costly. |
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Of equal importance to planting, is the ongoing removal and management of nonnative invasive species which damage your habitat or restoration goals. Invasive species are a national threat to natural areas because can outcompete native species. They are evaluated by their ease of removal, extent and persistence in the landscape. Some common invasive species include: Oriental Bittersweet and Honeysuckle, Mile-A-Minute, Mugwort, Norway Maple. Yet Common Milkweed, Trumpet Creeper, and Goldenrod are native aggressive species, but they also have great ecological value for wildlife, and can potentially outcompete the more invasive exotics. To complicate things, many introduced species have become part of a new evolving food chain. They don't overpopulate they fit in.
Aesthetics Visualized With Nature Art Illustration
Have you ever walked along a trail that is boring? Mostly likely, it's dull because the trail went too straight, and had no proper views. Have you ever been to a park, and saw an ugly red sign blocking an otherwise pristine view? Have you ever appreciated an illustration of a natural setting? Management of natural plant communities, natural landscapes, and the trails and roadways accessing them, complimented by design processes add beauty to the scope of the project.
What's wrong with this picture?
Indian Island County Park, Riverhead, NY (photographed in 2012) |
Nature art illustration and aesthetics when done right, add beauty and inform us of what natural landscaping can achieve.
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Gardening For Wildlife
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The practice of gardening for wildlife is to protect what's natural, remove invasives, and plant what is missing and wildlife friendly. Field guides will help you identify the invasives, like porcelain berry, exemplified in this video (on right). The best way to learn about invasives is to intern or volunteer with someone actively pulling weeds.
Julie Sullivan, Go Native Long Island is using pliers to pull out invasive porcelain berry in Carpenter Farm Park, Huntington, NY. In the video she'd discussing Professor Doug Tallamy's new book on natural landscaping.
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Pollinator Gardens, Rain Gardens, Beautification Gardens and Drift Planting
Pollinator gardens or rain gardens focus attention to singular aspects of a natural landscape. Their primary use of native plants qualify them as natural landscapes with additional focus on aesthetics and blooming times. Native grasses can be added to provide additional wildlife cover and habitat, but the primary focus is on wildflowers. Rain gardens are designed with a variety of native plants that are best suited for areas of poor drainage. Beautification plantings may incorporate natural settings and/or include spot plantings of native plants. Drift plantings may mimic natural colonizers such as common milkweed, or may be grouped together in colorful arrangements.
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Quality Parks Bee Friendly Nursery & Pollinator Gardens, Port Jefferson, NY
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Old Town Road Greenway, Brookhaven, NY, beautification with Old Town Blooms
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Sustainable Farming Practices
Sustainable Farming practices can include improving crop biodiversity (seed biodiversity) and allowing for buffers between the wild landscape and row crops. More needs to be said on this topic. Contributors are welcome to contact Quality Parks.
Understanding Natural Landscapes
Long Island Habitats and Ecosystems, contributed by Chris Duffner, Master Naturalist Graduate & Instructor
Ecosystems can be divided into two categories: Terrestrial ecosystems And Aquatic ecosystems. There are many types of terrestrial ecosystems and three major categories of aquatic ecosystems: Marine, Freshwater, and Estuarine.
Terrestrial ecosystems/habitats are typically described by the dominant type of plant or plants present in that ecosystem or habitat. This is simply because the plants are the most obvious thing present. Also, factors like climate, micro-climate, soil characteristics, micro-biota etc. determine the dominant plant community. The plant community, in turn, dictates the type and variety of fauna.
Terrestrial ecosystems/habitats are typically described by the dominant type of plant or plants present in that ecosystem or habitat. This is simply because the plants are the most obvious thing present. Also, factors like climate, micro-climate, soil characteristics, micro-biota etc. determine the dominant plant community. The plant community, in turn, dictates the type and variety of fauna.
An aerial view of Long Island shows the “fish-shape Paumanok” (From: Google earth)
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A “map-view” shows the barrier beaches and south shore bays as well as the many north shore inlets and coves where sailors found safety from the open waters of Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. (From: Loving-Long-Island.com)
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Oak-dominated deciduous forests
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Caleb Smith State Park – Oak Forest Most forests north of the Ronkonkoma Moraine are Oak-Hickory forests with typical stratification.
Forest stratification refers to the vertical “layers” often observed in a forest. From top to bottom these can include:
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Over-story trees are typically sun-loving shade-intolerant and may include: Oaks, Hickories, Black Walnut, Eastern White Pine, American Beech, Tulip trees, and Pitch Pine. Under-story trees are usually more shade tolerant and can include: Sassafras, American Holly, Eastern Red Cedar, Black Cherry, Tupelo, Red Maple, and Scrub Oak.
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The Shrub Layer can be anywhere from about one foot to ten or more feet in height. Typical Shrub layer plants vary in terms of soils and hydrology. They may include: blueberry, Mountain Laurel, Black Huckleberry, Spicebush, and Maple-leafed Viburnum. The shrub layer may also include vines like Catbrier and Wild grape, and ferns.
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The Herbaceous Layer is the lowest living layer and can be comprised of a variety of wild flowers, grasses, etc. reaching heights of less than one or two feet. They also vary in terms of soils and hydrology. Typical species include: Little Bluestem, Pennsylvania Sedge, SwitchGrass, Bush Clovers, Violets, Asters, and Milkweeds.
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Long Island Pine Barrens
Pine Barrens are another type of forest found on Long Island. Pine Barrens are a “fire climax” ecosystem with porous, acidic, nutrient-
poor soils. The pine barrens are dominated by two fire adapted tree species: Pitch Pine and Scrub Oak
Long Island’s “Central Pine Barrens” occupy about 100,000 acres in eastern Brookhaven, southwestern Riverhead and western Southampton townships. This is but a fraction of the space this ecosystem once occupied, stretching all the way from eastern Nassau County to the present Location.
About 2500 acres of the Central Pine Barrens is the
Dwarf Pine Plains. This ecosystem is south of the Ronkonkoma Moraine in the Westhampton area. The Dwarf Pine Plains contain a stunted mixture of Pitch Pines and Scrub Oaks which only grow to a height of 6-8 feet. When a fire occurs here, the forest literally
“burns to the ground.” These pitch pines have adapted to this situation by having nearly 100 % of their cones of the serotinous variety. The cones protect the seeds from the intense heat prior to opening as a result of exposure to that heat.
Shrub layer and herbaceous layer plants in the pine barrens can include: Bayberry
High-bush and Low-bush blueberry Black Huckleberry Bearberry
Pine Barrens Heather Wintergreen
Prickly Pear Cactus
Flowering Prickly Pear Cactus, penssyvania sedge, hair grass, and many other species.Maritime ForestsAs the name implies, these are forests that exist in close proximity to the sea, (ocean, bay or both.)
poor soils. The pine barrens are dominated by two fire adapted tree species: Pitch Pine and Scrub Oak
- The Pitch Pine is fire adapted in several ways: a percentage of its cones are serotinous which only open to release the seeds in an intense heat such as that experienced during a fire. Pitch Pines have thick bark which chars, but rarely burns in a fire. They also have epicormic buds which quickly sprout new growth following a fire.
- Scrub Oaks have enormous underground rootstocks, which can also sprout new growth after a burn.
Long Island’s “Central Pine Barrens” occupy about 100,000 acres in eastern Brookhaven, southwestern Riverhead and western Southampton townships. This is but a fraction of the space this ecosystem once occupied, stretching all the way from eastern Nassau County to the present Location.
About 2500 acres of the Central Pine Barrens is the
Dwarf Pine Plains. This ecosystem is south of the Ronkonkoma Moraine in the Westhampton area. The Dwarf Pine Plains contain a stunted mixture of Pitch Pines and Scrub Oaks which only grow to a height of 6-8 feet. When a fire occurs here, the forest literally
“burns to the ground.” These pitch pines have adapted to this situation by having nearly 100 % of their cones of the serotinous variety. The cones protect the seeds from the intense heat prior to opening as a result of exposure to that heat.
Shrub layer and herbaceous layer plants in the pine barrens can include: Bayberry
High-bush and Low-bush blueberry Black Huckleberry Bearberry
Pine Barrens Heather Wintergreen
Prickly Pear Cactus
Flowering Prickly Pear Cactus, penssyvania sedge, hair grass, and many other species.Maritime ForestsAs the name implies, these are forests that exist in close proximity to the sea, (ocean, bay or both.)
Grasslands, Old Fields, Meadows
Grasslands, Fields, and Meadows depend on disturbance and history. Long Island has a variety of open grassy areas with a mix of native wildflowers. Note: We've also classified a wet meadow under freshwater wetlands. Learn more
Freshwater Wetlands
Freshwater Wetlands are periodically flooded or saturated, with saturated soils most of the year, and with plant species are adapted to wet conditions. They can be bogs, wet meadows, marshes, swamps, ponds, lakes, rivers. Learn more
Salt Marshes, Barrier Beaches, Cobble Beaches
Marine habitats include: the bluffs, beaches, rocky shores, estuaries (most productive and nursery for many species), tidal wetlands, salt marsh, intertidal zones, and ocean layers. Learn more
The Bedrock of Long Island Natural Landscapes: Geology
The preglacial period is the most ancient going back over 400 million years. It is the period of time where the bedrock, upon which Long Island sits, was formed. The bedrock was formed by mountain building tectonic activity that was eroded down over the course of hundreds of millions of years. Stream erosion of areas north and west deposited sand gravel and clay onto the bedrock roughly 60-100 million years ago.
The sand and gravel layer below the clay formed the lower aquifer (Lloyd). This aquifer lies approximately 400 feet below sea level in northwest Huntington and Orient, and over 1,500 feet below sea level at western Fire Island. The sediments from the north and west continued and covered much of the clay layer, with erosion exposing portions of the clay member and eroding it as well. The portions that lie above the Raritan clay layer comprise Long Island’s second, younger aquifer. This is Long Island's drinking water source.
The geologic events that most dramatically formed the surface features of Long Island were those occurring during the continental glaciers of the Wisconsinan age (20-86 thousand years ago). Two terminal moraines formed by the deposition of glacial debris at the maximum advance location of the glacier, which were carried from the north as the glacier advanced retreated and advanced again. The older of the two is known as the Ronkonkoma moraine, and the younger of the two is known as the Harbor Hill moraine.
After each glacial maximum, as the glacier melted back, vast amounts of water carrying finer debris (outwash) flowed out to the Atlantic Ocean depositing sand and silt on the flat plain. The glacial outwash streams from the Harbor Hill advance actually made gaps in the Ronkonkoma moraine causing it to be more discontinuous than the Harbor Hill moraine.
The glacial outwash is essentially large deposits of highly permeable sand and gravel which overlie the Magothy Aquifer reaching depths of 700 feet in some areas. As the continental glacier retreated, large chunks of ice and debris would fall off the terminus- very similar to the large pieces of ice that fall off Alaskan glaciers into the sea. These large ice chunks would make depressions in the terrain. Those depressions that filled with groundwater became the kettle lakes (Lake Ronkonkoma, Lake Panamoka and many others).
Some of the most noticeable postglacial changes to Long Island occur along its miles of shoreline. Constant wave action, winds and storms have eroded and reshaped the sandy shoreline features created by glacial deposits and melt waters. Winter storms and hurricanes make drastic modifications to the shores, sometimes carving new inlets across the barrier islands of the south shore. The inland of Long Island is also under constant postglacial reconstruction by its rivers and streams, albeit at a much slower rate than at the coastline.
Soil profiles reveal a layer of leafy matter, decomposing organic matter, and soil leached with organic matter to sand and gravel. And reflect the geology of place. Mineral soils is made up of varying percentages of sand, silt, and clay.
The sand and gravel layer below the clay formed the lower aquifer (Lloyd). This aquifer lies approximately 400 feet below sea level in northwest Huntington and Orient, and over 1,500 feet below sea level at western Fire Island. The sediments from the north and west continued and covered much of the clay layer, with erosion exposing portions of the clay member and eroding it as well. The portions that lie above the Raritan clay layer comprise Long Island’s second, younger aquifer. This is Long Island's drinking water source.
The geologic events that most dramatically formed the surface features of Long Island were those occurring during the continental glaciers of the Wisconsinan age (20-86 thousand years ago). Two terminal moraines formed by the deposition of glacial debris at the maximum advance location of the glacier, which were carried from the north as the glacier advanced retreated and advanced again. The older of the two is known as the Ronkonkoma moraine, and the younger of the two is known as the Harbor Hill moraine.
After each glacial maximum, as the glacier melted back, vast amounts of water carrying finer debris (outwash) flowed out to the Atlantic Ocean depositing sand and silt on the flat plain. The glacial outwash streams from the Harbor Hill advance actually made gaps in the Ronkonkoma moraine causing it to be more discontinuous than the Harbor Hill moraine.
The glacial outwash is essentially large deposits of highly permeable sand and gravel which overlie the Magothy Aquifer reaching depths of 700 feet in some areas. As the continental glacier retreated, large chunks of ice and debris would fall off the terminus- very similar to the large pieces of ice that fall off Alaskan glaciers into the sea. These large ice chunks would make depressions in the terrain. Those depressions that filled with groundwater became the kettle lakes (Lake Ronkonkoma, Lake Panamoka and many others).
Some of the most noticeable postglacial changes to Long Island occur along its miles of shoreline. Constant wave action, winds and storms have eroded and reshaped the sandy shoreline features created by glacial deposits and melt waters. Winter storms and hurricanes make drastic modifications to the shores, sometimes carving new inlets across the barrier islands of the south shore. The inland of Long Island is also under constant postglacial reconstruction by its rivers and streams, albeit at a much slower rate than at the coastline.
Soil profiles reveal a layer of leafy matter, decomposing organic matter, and soil leached with organic matter to sand and gravel. And reflect the geology of place. Mineral soils is made up of varying percentages of sand, silt, and clay.
Long Island Wildfires contributed by Master Naturalist Instructor: Mindy Block
Another geological effect due to sandy pine barrens soils is fire in the landscape. Begin with understanding vegetation structure from a firefighter’s point of view, thinking in terms of ladder fuels (how fire can spread up from grass into shrubs and low tree limbs), applying the fire triangle (fire weather, fuels, and topography). The pine barrens is a fire prone community. With changing climate (increasing temperatures and more drought), even less prone fire communities can have wildfires. Fuel loads consider dead and live fuels and their density both horizontally and vertically.
On Long Island, firefighters refer to a wildfire or a wildland fire as a Signal 12 - brushfire. Where residential and commercial development is present its known as the wildland/urban interface. Fire Danger is a regional prediction approach to wildfire potential, but fire behavior is what is actually happening on the ground. Subsurface fires can occur where plant roots catch fire, especially in dry conditions. Various methods are applied to suppress wildfires, some more eco-friendly than others. Fire ecology is the study of the effects of fire on flora, fauna, and plant communities.
Fire is good for the ecology, stimulating plant growth, especially wild blueberries.
On Long Island, firefighters refer to a wildfire or a wildland fire as a Signal 12 - brushfire. Where residential and commercial development is present its known as the wildland/urban interface. Fire Danger is a regional prediction approach to wildfire potential, but fire behavior is what is actually happening on the ground. Subsurface fires can occur where plant roots catch fire, especially in dry conditions. Various methods are applied to suppress wildfires, some more eco-friendly than others. Fire ecology is the study of the effects of fire on flora, fauna, and plant communities.
Fire is good for the ecology, stimulating plant growth, especially wild blueberries.
References:
- Long Island Sound Study, Long Island Sound Habitat Restoration Initiative, Section 4: Coastal Grasslands, February, 2003
- Springer-Rushia, Linda and Pamela G. Stewart, A Field Guide to Long Island's Woodlands, Museum of Long Island Natural Sciences, State University of New York at Stony Brook, 1996
- Stewart, Pamela G. and Linda Springer-Rushia, A Field Guide to Long Island's Freshwater Wetlands, Museum of Long Island Natural Sciences, State University of New York at Stony Brook, 1998
- Fire Effects Information System
