Renewed effort

I've been away from blogging for the last 6 months.  Last post was Feb. 2012.  This doesn't mean that nothing is happening in the preserve.  On the contrary there is a great deal of progress to report and much to consider.  During this time instead of blogging I was practicing a new role - "grandfathering".  I had my first grandchild Benjamin Martin Nieter on Jan 23, 2012 - born to my son Robert and his lovely wife Connie.  My grandfather role is a very special joy. 

Now that August is drawing to a close I turn my thoughts to the start of a new semester and a new field season.  I'll have to see if I can balance field work, academics, administration and  family and do each of them well.  I may need to sleep a bit less and blog in the middle of the night but if I can I'd like to continue this chronolog.

Since I brought Benjamin into the picture in this post here is one of many pictures of our new addition.

Latest Wildlife Sighting

A few weeks ago I received two separate reports from neighbors who live on the high cliffs above the preserve.  Their home looks down on the wetlands and have splendid views of the expanse of the preserve and directly below, the far trails that wind up the eastern flank.  The reports are of two separate sightings of Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) trotting along the trail around 7 AM.  The first report was of a single fox carrying what might be a rabbit in its jaws.   The second report a few days later was of a pair of foxes casually traveling more or less the same path.  This is one of the mildest winters ever so that may be one encouragement for this pair to stay out and stay more active.  Just after sunrise would be the most likely time to actually see this kind of activity.

I know for a fact that fox once inhabited this area because I’ve seen at least one or two.  Their prints and droppings were also common years ago. But my sightings were more than 20 years ago.  We also have one specimen in the center that was struck and killed on Northern Blvd many years ago.  We haven’t seen any evidence of them in any recent years.   They could have easily died out or migrated away if their habitat requirements were not satisfied.  It would seem that they are back and again are an important brush stroke of the ecological picture. 

A little research into the expected Red Fox behavior makes me think that their return is entirely likely.  I take this as an incredibly good sign of the ecological health and well being of the preserve.  The red fox is a small omnivore but it is typically very shy even secretive.   It avoids humans and doesn’t wander out into the neighborhoods like raccoons and opossums which are some common in our neighborhoods and yards.    They forage in brush and overgrown areas (and we have plenty of that to offer them) and will catch birds and rabbits and small rodents and probably have a vegetable diet as well.  Since the second sighting  indicates a pair it would seem likely that it could be a male-female pair and that they may be setting up a den.  Our steep, heavily vegetated, eastern valley wall would be well-drained, a factor that might be encourage this behavior.

Within the boundaries of preserve fox would have no likely natural predators.  We are lacking the larger mammals and the largest eagles that might conceivable prey on a smaller fox.  The one thing that could upset their well-being would probably be intrusive humans and of course, with humans sometimes come ‘man’s best friend’.  Foxes are very alert and reclusive so they could avoid most humans but a dog could easily pick up their scent and track them to their den.  Even if it didn’t end in a direct confrontation this would be threatening enough that it might disturb the reproductive behavior forcing them to leave.      

The expression 'man’s best friend’ refers to our truly ancient, loving relationship with dogs, who in almost all societies, are valued for their strength, loyalty, intelligence, alertness, affection and playfulness.  Dogs are pan important part of my life and a part of human life – even in a city.  But there are plenty of places for dogs – to socialize and to run free - without harming the natural world.  In researching this short essay I came across some reports (see the two links below) that claim that the fox may also have once been a domesticated partner of humans in parts of the world.  There is some good recent evidence for an older, caring and kinder relationship between our species.  This is fascinating stuff.  

Welcome back Br'er fox.  I am truly happy to report that our old companion, the red fox, is making a comeback in our preserve.   

http://www.npr.org/2011/02/19/133898499/mans-first-best-friend-might-have-been-a-fox

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-02-anthropologists-earliest-cemetery-middle-east.html

Coneflowers, Switchgrass, Walnut trees and other friends

The field season is in high gear and we are approaching the Thanksgiving Day week-end. October and November were kind with mild weather and warm days. The surprise of the season was a damaging snowstorm which hit areas north and west of the city very hard but left Queens County and the wetland preserve relatively untouched.
On one of our major field days there was an NRG planting crew putting in maybe a thousand small potted plants and shrubs on the newly restored areas near the boardwalk. This is obviously part of the overall restoration contract and includes a selection of conservation plantings, both trees and shrubs that will add greatly to the plant diversity. With a fully outfitted work crew, a professional planting plan and a tremendous number of container shrubs and trees this day probably costs at least several thousand dollars. This is a wonderful finish to the boardwalk restoration project and should show some excellent results next spring.

In a similar but much less costly fashion my students have been accomplishing their own planting plans. In our travels we located a couple of mature Walnut trees ripe with large husk covered nuts. They varied in size from lemons to small oranges and they were so abundant that we collected a couple of bags. Along the trail, we punched planting holes at 50 to 100 foot intervals just deep enough into the trailside brush that saplings would avoid the seasonal mower. I know that not all of them will make it but I am quite sure that some of them will. As we walked and planted and walked some more I asked the group what they thought these future trees might be like 30 or 40 years from now? Someday, when these “20 somethings” turn “60 something” and they take their grandchildren for a little walk in the preserve I’m willing to bet that those yet unnamed children will discover a wealth of walnuts and families of eastern grey squirrels that love the nuts as much as I do.

On another day walking through another section of the park I came across a particularly attractive flower covered in butterflies and bees. I recognized it as a flower I had seen on the campus at St. Johns and found out that it was the Purple Coneflower. Although it was in full flower in October (and still has late bloomers even this week) the plants on campus had already completed their full cycle and offered up their enlarged seed heads. Planted along with the coneflowers were equally attractive stands of Black-eyed Susans with their smaller, denser and tighter seed heads. It only took a couple of willing student volunteers 20 minutes or so to ‘dead-head’ (isn’t that a great word!) the stalks and to brown bag their collection. These came out to the preserve at the next opportunity and found their way into the trailsides and side brush where they will bloom next summer.

Finally, while walking through a newly restored area of a nearby park I discovered a couple of great stands of tall, wispy, seed-ladened grasses – Perennial Ryegrass and Switchgrass. These grasses are famous for their excellent wildlife and conservation values. They produce ‘free’ bird seed and produce a root system that holds and enriches soils. I was happy to collect a couple of small bags of seeds and gave them to the students to spread their wealth into the preserve.


Native grasses, flowers, trees and shrubs are all around us. Sometimes they are less common than they use to be but that makes them all the more important. They are still an important part of the landscape. This seasonal planting activity didn’t cost thousands of dollars. It didn’t cost ANY dollars! All it cost was a little bit of time and energy and attention to what is all around us.

Actually handling plants, collecting seeds, putting them into the ground is such a human activity. It is delicate, creative, peaceful and thoughtful. Next growing season is going to be exciting seeing if these no-cost collecting efforts begin to pay real dividends

Field Work Season Fall 2011

The field work season is in full swing and I haven’t taken enough time to get all of this recorded. No excuses. I should be doing this regularly but so much is happening that it is sometimes hard to take time to record it completely. Last post was near the start of the term on Sept. 5 so maybe I should try to put this in some sort of chronological order.

Since the last post my colleagues and I organized and completed a major orientation day on Sept. 24 in conjunction with National Estuary Day at the center. We had almost 70 of the first year students attending and getting their first taste of the site. I had the assistance of three other STJ professors and we had a great turnout on a fabulous weather day.

One week later October 2 the board hosted a ribbon cutting on the new boardwalk –“Brunch on the Boardwalk” and we had a wonderful turnout of political leaders, friends, family and the general public. I led a short walk along the boardwalk heading to Alley Creek and when we made it to the end, on a wind-swept and crystal clear day, there were the egrets to greet us as if to say good-bye before they make their long journey to the south. It seems so natural that this board walk is so popular with both families and with wildlife.

(Pictures of the event are in another location and may be posted later)

That set the stage for a follow-up orientation at the University the next week where I turned some of our field photos and “before and after” photos into a classroom orientation to the field site. I don’t know if it is possible to post the entire product here because it is a large file but I’ll give it a try and see if it works. (File also located in another location and may be posted at later date).


Then there are the senior students. I have a wonderful group of senior leaders who wanted to implement some of their own projects and plans in the preserve. I organized them into a small “band of 5”. They all work on their own schedule but when they are at the site they provide the on-site supervision to beginning student as well as work on some of their own activities. I’d like to write more about each of them and what they are doing, but as a group they are GREAT; I couldn’t be more pleased with their work.



This brings us to today.-November 1. This is an official school holiday -All Saints Day- and since there are no classes it became the day that most of the AS-L students this year selected to do some of their field work. These students are from my own classes and from other classes all with the common interest of working in the outdoors on natural resource and park projects. We had two sessions across the day, one from 9 to 12 and another from 1 to 4, dividing the work accordingly. In the morning we worked close in and accomplished a great deal of planting and seeding near the boardwalk and in the afternoon we took the long trail (wet, muddy and messy to say the least) and did two tasks that had been neglected for far too long. Pictures from today may be a better way to show what we did but I am very please with the results.

This has been a wonderful field season and it is not even close to being finished. We have some momentum right now and I’ll see what we can make of this in the remaining time before winter sets in.

A NEW SEASON

Today is Monday, September 5, 2011, Labor Day. It is the unofficial end of the summer season although nature’s calendar doesn’t bring the equinox for another 16 days. There is plenty of summer season left but schools and colleges all around the country started up last week and this week and there is that distinct psychic shift from summer pastimes to a full schedule of school and work.

I returned to full work schedule several weeks ago and with the first classes this last week I met dozens of new students in my classes and around the college. I also did a great deal of planning and organizing for the coming field work season so I will have much more to write about in the coming months.

Two key meetings took place this last week - one with the faculty members who want to share in the work this term and the other with a special set of students who will become my field supervisors this semester. The faculty are organized into a group called a departmental learning community and we will run at least four events over the course of Sept. to Dec. The first event is our orientation event to introduce all of our students to the field site and the kind of work that they can engage in for their Academic Service- Learning requirements. We plan to host this event in conjunction with National Estuary Day which is the large public event on Saturday Sept. 24 at the center. As we get closer to the date I will try to post all of our plans and activities.

The other meeting at the start of the field season was with a set of students who have come through the field season in previous years and who came to me asking what else could they do. They are organized into a leadership team and will be at the field site on their own schedule and will become my site supervisors on a daily basis. If they can keep the work flowing smoothly and make sure that everyone works safely and productively they will be a tremendous asset to the field work. Besides working with the new students each member of the team is going to select and design something of their own creation. Then each of them will take the lead in getting that element of the project accomplished between now and the end of the term. I can also write much more about their activities after this coming Friday when we are planning a group trip to the preserve to reacclimatize them to the project and to look at some of the possibilities.

CAN WE RESTORE THE WETLAND NATURE PRESERVE???

I think one of the most exciting aspects of the science of ecology today is the growing ability of scientists to restore ecological systems. For centuries we have damaged and even destroyed ecosystems. Sometimes this was deliberate; oftentimes it was unintentional. But the growth of our towns and suburbs and cities, our roads and rails, our infrastructure gobbled up forests and wetlands, turning them into every conceivable human artifact.

The ecological awakening that began in the 1960’s and 70’s has reached the point where at least the most indiscriminant and blatant losses of natural areas must be publicly reviewed and often mitigated. Loss of ecosystems (and their almost incalculable values) to nearly every human action still occur everyday but the environmental laws and regulations and public opinion now serve as a substantial counter weight to unquestioned destruction. Projects that provide the whole range of human welfare - housing, transportation, commerce and even environmental protection - must move forward. This is what most people see as progress. But today, when land is changed, when resources are extracted, or when profit is made at the expense of nature, it is reasonable and proper to require the parties to restore some or all of what they have destroyed. They can do it and we must require that they do it.

Ecosystem restoration is applied science. It is applied ecology with a specific goal in mind. The term should be understood for its functional and not its literal meaning. It is probably impossible to restore a damaged ecosystem to its original pre-existing condition. The actors (i.e. plants and animals) and the stage (i.e. the soils and ecosystem flows) and even the theater (i.e. our global climate) are no longer the same. We simply cannot recreate exactly what existed before we arrived. Never could, never will.

But that is not really the goal of ecological restoration. The term Ecological Restoration (I love to call it by the initials E.R.) as defined by the Society for Ecological Restoration International is a much more useful and attainable goal.

“Ecological Restoration ER is the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged or destroyed.”

This is a topic that goes far beyond this short piece but the interested reader is referred to which will give any willing learner a wonderful overview of this new aspect of ecology.

In the Wetland Preserve there are several efforts underway right now to restore sites within or just outside the preserve border. If you like to use Google Earth use the following lat/long coordinates to view these from above.

1. On the west bank of Alley Creek, very close to the center, (40⁰ 45’ 44.95”N and 73⁰ 45’ 07.23”) there is a two acre upland and marsh restoration.
   

March 2011 and June 2011

And even before the work is complete the egrets are voting their approval

2. Just north of the preserve, on the north side of Northern Blvd., (40⁰ 45’ 49.80”N and 73⁰ 45’ 16.89”W) there is a much larger wetland and upland restoration as part of the Alley Creek CSO abatement project.

3. Closer to the shores of Little Neck Bay is a slightly older and very successful marsh restoration completed in the 1990’s (40⁰ 46’ 03.34” N and 73⁰ 45’ 12.64” W) as part of a Port Authority mitigation for runway extensions at LaGuardia airport.

4. Oakland Lake and Ravine erosion control and replanting is a small restoration involving forest, slope and riparian systems and is nearing completion, ( 40⁰ 45’ 13.11” N and 73⁰ 45’ 31.97 W)

I’ve always said just give Nature a fighting chance and it can repair much of what we have done. That may be true but E.R. promises to do even more. It aims to give Nature just a wee bit of an advantage, a good starting boost if you will. When that happens Nature can do amazing things.

THE WATERS WE SHARE - PUBLIC MEETING

Just a couple of days ago (July 1) I posed the idea that I would like to write about things that extend beyond the border of the preserve into the larger “watershed”. Well, as they say ‘timing is everything’. On the evening of July 7 I had the opportunity to attend a public hearing hosted at APEC about the Harbor Estuary Restoration plan. The meeting was delivered by the US Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) but with co-sponsorship by the NY/NJ Harbor Estuary Program and the Port Authority of NY/NJ. Don’t let the term New York Harbor deceive you because the way the harbor is defined it includes a huge area of New York and New Jersey (see brochure website listed below).

The plan is ambitious in scale, scope and timetable. It lays out how this region might ‘restore’ the health and vitality of the estuary through water quality improvements and by restoring key ecological habitats over the next 40 years! The harbor region is divided into 8 restoration regions and Little Neck Bay and the Alley Wetland Preserve are included in the “Harlem River, East River and Western Long Island Sound” unit. This may sound like a strange association of different places but actually it is a unified watershed with all of the lands draining into the tidal channel of the East River. I’ve written on other occasions about the special nature of the East River and would like to revisit those ideas someday soon but for now I can say that because of its connection to both Long Island Sound (to the east) and New York Harbor (to the west) the Upper East River is a very special connecting water body. You really can’t understand the nature of the water flows in this region without coming to grips with the tidal nature of this channel.

As for the meeting itself, Lisa Baron of the USACE presented the comprehensive view of restoration opportunities. Five specific habitats are the targets for restoration. On the maps that were presented I noticed that Little Neck Bay stood out prominently in at least three of the major restoration categories –coastal wetlands, oyster reefs and eelgrass beds. Wouldn’t it be fabulous to have oyster reefs and eelgrass beds in the bay once again! The bay has plenty of room and plenty of opportunity for all of these ecological improvements. I would also add that this valley also has an undetermined potential for the other two target systems -islands for water birds and maritime forests although these were not shown in the current plan.

Large scale, regional restoration needs to be done in a coordinated way but it also needs to be done on a case-by-case project-by-project basis. This plan is trying to do both- maximizing the site specific projects while coordinating the big picture for the region. There is much for all of us to learn from this. The following three web sites will take the interested reader to a good starting point.

The Waters We Share website
http://www.harborestuary.org/watersweshare/

The Waters We Share brochure
http://www.harborestuary.org/watersweshare/pdfs/HEP-Brochure.pdf

Comprehensive Restoration Plan
http://www.harborestuary.org/watersweshare/resources.htm#crp

Next time I think I need to write specifically about some of the restorations that are already underway in and around the preserve. We certainly do live in exciting times.