By Clare Francis, President, Friends of Marshlands
Marshland’s Ecosystems
About Clare Francis, President, Friends of Marshlands
Friends of Marshlands President Clare Francis began her nature education in 1995 as a volunteer through the Environmental Educator Training Program held at Marshlands Conservancy and Cranberry Lake, through the Westchester County Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation.
“I wanted to know enough to interpret the nature I was looking at, whether it be a tree, a field, or a bird. The description of the Flora and Fauna in Marshlands Conservancy is a culmination of teaching children in the classroom and in the field for over 8 years. I also took my own small children on field trips to the Conservancy, and then their boy and girl scout troops. Now, in 2025, the friends of my adult children and their small children come to Marshlands Conservancy. Being an environmental education volunteer is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. It is a wonderful way to introduce others in an ever-expanding circle to the ecology of the natural world, which so vitally sustains each and every one of us!”
“In the end we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught.”
– Baba Dioum, Senegalese Forest Ecologist
The following descriptions of these habitats and introduction to some of their inhabitants may give you the curiosity to delve further into knowing more about what you see when you walk through Marshlands Conservancy. May you feel the wonder of these natural and diverse spaces. Slow down and consciously take the time to pause and feel the air on your skin; watch the wind move the trees and meadow grasses; hear the sounds of birds and animals chattering to each other. Attachment to nature becomes deeper, fuller, and so much more exciting when there is some knowledge and understanding of this biological community of interacting organisms and their environment. It is like glancing at the cover of a book, and then actually reading the pages inside and all they reveal for the very first time!
The Forest
Primarily Second-Growth Forest with Old Growth Forest in the Southeast Part of the Conservancy
Most of the walking trails at the Conservancy wind through this woodland area, allowing visitors to see several different stages of forest succession. The American Sweetgum (Liquidambar styracifluar) grove, a relatively young forested area, is one of the most northern naturally occurring stands of these typically southern trees in the country. In the southeast section of the Conservancy, a significant portion of the old growth forest remains, consisting primarily of oak and hickory. However, the rest is predominately second-growth forest, full of Red (Quercus rubra), White (Quercus alba) and Chestnut Oak (Quercus montana), which often hybridize in the wild. There are also native Wild Black Cherry (Prunus serotina), tulip trees (Liriodendron tulipifera), North American Beech (Fagus grandifolia), and others.
The trees in the forest grow closely together, with most branches at the top to catch the vital rays of sunlight. A large size, with a wide trunk that has branches on all sides all the way up the tree, indicates a tree that grew up in open fields. Until several hundred years ago, sunlight surrounded a few remaining trees on all sides after most of the old trees were cut and cleared. The land was then plowed and turned into fields for growing crops or raising.
The American Sweetgum (Liquidambar styracifluar) grove.
Virginia White-tailed Fawn (Odocoileus virginianus).
These trees, like all green plants, make their own food through photosynthesis. In the presence of sunlight, green leaves synthesize carbon dioxide absorbed through pores (stomata), mixing it with water drawn up to the leaves from the roots. The water and carbon dioxide combine to form carbohydrates (sugars) used for energy and give off oxygen which is released into the atmosphere 1. Throughout daylight hours, when photosynthesis occurs, plants make more oxygen than they use. This oxygen is released through the stomata on the underside of the leaf. The process of photosynthesis is largely responsible for producing and maintaining the oxygen content of the Earth’s atmosphere, which supplies most of the energy necessary for life on Earth 2.
Many different creatures make their homes in this forest.
The familiar Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) lives in the trees, foraging during the day on the ground and in the trees for buds, nuts and sometimes fungi. Its relative, the chipmunk (Tamias striatus) or Ground Squirrel, lives in hollow logs, among stones, and in networks of underground tunnels. The very familiar, mostly nocturnal omnivore, the raccoon (Procyon lotor) also lives in the woods under rocks and in hollow logs as well as resting high up in trees. Its distinctive, extremely dexterous front paws, facial mask, and ringed tail, are featured in the mythologies of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Its name is a corruption of North American Indian and French languages. Unlike the other amphibians which visit Parsons Pond, the Northern Redback Salamander (Plethodon cinereus) resides in the forest. Here it eats a wide variety of small invertebrates, including spiders, worms, snails, larvae and insects. This secretive nighttime forager breeds in the fall and lays eggs in the spring in moist, terrestrial areas, under logs, stones, or moss along the edges of wetland pools and ponds.
Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo).
Female opossum with young (Didelphis virginiana).
But among the most unique mammals in the forest is the solitary, nocturnal, omnivorous Virginia Opossum, (Didelphis virginiana), America’s only marsupial. The word “opossum” is taken from the Powhatan language. Females usually have about 13 babies but can have as many as 20. These tiny creatures are about the size of a dime when born, and have to climb up their mother’s fur to reach the safety of her pouch. Inside, they latch themselves to a nutrient-rich teat. After two months, they climb out and up onto her back, and from that vantage point they learn survival skills. At about four to five months they are on their own. They live in abandoned burrows and hollow logs and are adept tree climbers. In response to a threat from a predator, they imitate the appearance and smell of a sick or dead animal. “Playing possum” is an involuntary response; some time later they will “wake up” and walk away.
The Eastern Skunk Cabbage, a Plant That Creates Its Own Heat
An extraordinary plant grows in the damper, swampier, shadier parts of the forest. In early spring, the mottled purple dark green cover (spathe) cloaking the purple flower stalk (spadix) of the Eastern Skunk Cabbage appears above the earth. It grows through the snow and ice, literally melting the snow around it. One of the very few plants in the world that creates its own heat (60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit), it does so by breaking down starch stored in its roots underground in a process called thermogenisis. The heat helps spread the odor that gives the Eastern Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) its name.
Its smell attracts early pollinators, such as gnats (dipterid), Carrion Flies (Calliphoridae), and Flesh Flies (Sarcophagidae), which pollinate the flowers, along with opportunistic spiders (Araneae) looking for a meal. After being pollinated, the flowers produce purple or black fruit (about four inches tall and one-third of an inch wide), which ripen after the plant has gone dormant. It is an ephemeral plant, as its foliage dies by the end of June. The large central root of the plant contracts yearly to pull the plant deeper into the ground. In spring, the familiar large, bright green leaves of the Skunk Cabbage are food for snails (a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk), slugs (a shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusk), Ruby Tiger Moths (Phragmatobia fuliginosa rubricosa) and Cattail Borer Moths (Bellura obliqua). The leaves are toxic to most animals. However, North American tribes, knowing how to avoid the toxicity of the plant, used parts of it to treat conditions ranging from headaches and earaches to external bleeding and mouth sores.
Eastern Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus), showing its purple mottled cover (spathe) cloaking its flower stalk (spadix), emerging from the ground in early spring.
Eastern Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) showing its bright green leaves in early summer.
Notes:
1. National Geographic Website
2. USDA Website
Adapted in part from Joel Springsteen, “Native Plant: Eastern Skunk Cabbage” Urban Ecology Center, March 22, 2013,
Website
Sources and Further Reading:
Davis, Mary B., comp. VIP (Volunteers in the Parks) Environmental Educator Course Outline. Mary B. Davis was Director of Environmental Education, Westchester County Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation. 1984-2003.
Hilty, John. “Home.” Illinois Wildflowers. 2020.
Website
McCormick, Jack. The Life of the Forest: Our Living World of Nature. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1966.
Neal, Ernest. Woodland Ecology. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1958.
Opossum Society of the United States. “Reproduction–Life Cycle.” Accessed February 8, 2021.
Website
Stephenson, Heather. “Outdoors Wild Wisdom: Eastern Skunk Cabbage.” Appalachian Mountain Club.
Website
Swinebroad, Jeff. Audubon Aids: The Forest Community.
Wikipedia
The Meadow
An Expanse Defined by Native Grasses and Wildflowers
This meadow is the oldest known continuously-managed meadow in New York State, an open area of 16 acres, exposed to warm, bright, direct sunlight from every direction. It is defined by tall grasses, wildflowers, and a few small trees and bushes. From the trail along the edge of the field, you can see the many paths through the grasses made by creatures of all sizes, from the largest deer to the smallest mouse. Many different animals crisscross the field and flatten the grasses under their feet, searching for food. This meadow has to be mowed every year to prevent the trees from seeding and the seedlings growing back into forest. Mowing is done in spring, before the Eastern Cottontail Rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus) give birth to their young and the protected Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) is on the move.
The Meadow in late fall when all the grasses and flowers have gone to seed, providing food for small mammals and overwintering birds.
In early spring evenings, American Woodcocks (Scolopax minor) return here, as they have done for hundreds of years, to perform their wonderfully spectacular courtship dance. For all their flamboyantly noisy display, they are small and unobtrusive. Nesting on the ground, they are very vulnerable to predation, so both males and females are well camouflaged, their feathers blending into the leaf litter and field grasses. Spring also brings back migratory warblers, swallows, and other birds to feed on insects and nest among the meadow grasses.
Numerous native wildflowers grow in the field: different species of goldenrod (Solidago), Aster Daisy (Asteraceae), Field Thistle (Cirsium discolor), Indian Hemp (Apocynum cannabinum), Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), and Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum muticum). Native grasses include Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), Orchard Grass (Dactylis), Indian Grass (Sorghastrum nutans), Switch Grass (Panicum virgatum) and a variety of true sedges (Carex). Some small native Sweet Crabapple Trees (Malus coronaria) also grow in the fields, producing fruit eaten by wildlife.
In among a species of goldenrod (Solidago), are the tiny, dried, red seeds of Pennsylvania Smartweed (Polgonum pensylvanicum) and the wispy tan dried seed heads of Sweet Vernal Grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum)
The Meadow Food Web
This meadow is a perfect example of a living food web. The many native grasses and flowers attract pollinators: insects such as caterpillars as well as the Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens) and Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa virginica), a couple of the over 4,000 native bee species. Other meadow visitors are wasps, such as the Eastern Yellowjacket (Vespula maculifrons), and butterflies, including the Monarch (Danaus plexippus) and the Isabella Tiger Moth (Pyrrharctia isabella) Different bird species, such as the Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor), Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapilla), Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura), Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata), American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos), and Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) all come to eat the seeds, berries, and insects found here. In turn, these creatures attract predators, including falcons (genus Falco), hawks (family Accipitridae) and owls (order Strigiformes) which prey on small birds and mammals.
Some birds come to nest here, such as the Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla), Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus), and Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia). Some mammals, the Eastern Cottontail Rabbits, woodchucks (Marmota monax), and Field Mice, or Meadow Voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) also nest here. In summer Virginia White Tail Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) visit the meadow to eat leaves, plants and seeds. In winter, they generally keep to the forest, eating nuts, twigs, lichens, and fungi. Raccoons (Procyon lotor), mostly nocturnal and solitary, come down from their resting places high up in the trees or from hollows on the ground in the forest, to eat berries, field mice, bird’s eggs, and birds. Harmless to humans, Common Garter Snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis) live in the grasses, eating earthworms, insects, and other snakes.
In Spring Many Birds Return from their Winter Homes in the South
In spring, Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica) and other swallows (Hirundinidae), highly adapted aerial feeders, fly above the meadow with their beaks open to scoop up a myriad of flying insects, hatched from the plants below. Above the meadow during the day, raptors like Red Tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis), Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus), and Sharp-shinned Hawks (Accipter striatus) fly over watching for the movement of small prey. Small Eastern Red Bats (Lasiurus borealis), which roost well camouflaged in trees during the day, come out at dusk to feed on moths and other night time flying insects. Mostly asleep during the day, Barred Owls (Strix varia) and Barn Owls (Tyto alba) fly over at night, listening for the rustle of small mammals.
Yellow Warblers (Setophaga petechia) breed across most of North America from the tundra southwards, (except for the far Southwest and the Gulf of Mexico coast). From this meadow, during fall nights, they migrate south to the Amazon region, Bolivia, and Peru.
The Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) breeds in Canada and the U.S., including here in Marshlands Conservancy. It winters along southern U.S. coasts, the Gulf Coast, Panama, parts of South America, and the West Indies.
Important Atlantic Migratory Flyway
This meadow, with its abundant seeds and insects, is an essential source of food for many different species of bird in autumn. Migratory warblers (Parulidae), like the American Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia), swallows (Hirundinidae) like the Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor), and vireos (Vireonidae), like the Yellow-Throated Vireo (Vireo flavifrons), fly thousands of miles south to avoid the cold winter.
In this meadow these migratory birds find a place to rest and eat additional food before they make their long-distance flight. It is essential for these birds to build up their strength, so they have the endurance needed to successfully make the long and very strenuous flight to reach their winter homes in South America and other parts of the southern hemisphere. Raptors, among many other birds, also pass through here on their fall migration south.
The American Tree Sparrow (Spizelloides arborea). Nesting on the ground, their breeding habitat is tundra from the northern limits of the boreal forest in Alaska and northern Canada. They winter in Southern Canada, and here in this meadow and other parts of the U.S.
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas), a New World warbler. Breeding in North America, including here in this meadow, in winter they fly to the southern parts of Central America and the West Indies.
Monarch Butterflies Fly from this Meadow to the Oyamel Firs in the Mountains of Central Mexico
This is where many Monarch Butterflies (Danus plexippus) gather to prepare for their fall migration. They fly over two months and cover about three thousand miles to reach the Oyamel Firs (Abies religiosa) in the mountains of central Mexico, where they will hibernate for four months. While they make this journey in one generation, it takes some four generations to return. As adults, Monarch Butterflies feed in the meadow on the nectar of an abundant, and nutritious, variety of native wildflowers during the day. As the sun goes down they roost in the trees, wings closed and camouflaged. But, the only plant they lay their eggs on is milkweed, which is the only food their larvae can eat. The milkweed plant contains toxins (cardenolides) that harm many animals, but monarch caterpillars have coevolved with milkweed over thousands, maybe even millions of years, and have developed an immunity to these toxins. Carrying these toxins in their bodies deter predators from eating the larvae. The milkweed leaf produces a white sticky sap which when bitten into will adhere to the insect and drown it in sap. But the monarch larvae prevent this from happening by automatically biting into the veins of the leaf to cut off the supply of sap.
Monarch Butterfly (Danus plexippus) resting on a field thistle (Cirsium discolor)
Historically, since 1681, this had been kept a meadow through annual burning, until replaced by mowing after the passage of the Clean Air Act of 1970. Archaeological evidence from this site shows that before 1681, the Siwanoy, a tribe of Eastern Woodland Indians, lived here. The Siwanoy preserved the land for hunting and agriculture, by seasonal burns it to keep it a meadow and prevent the trees from growing back into a forest. They made fishing lines out of the outer fibrous layer of Indian Hemp (Apocynum cannabinum), which still grows here today. This meadow is part of a very long living history.
Sources and Further Reading:
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. All About Birds. Cornell University, 2021.
Website
Davis, Mary B., comp. VIP (volunteers in the Parks) Environmental Educator Course Outline.
National Geographic Society. National Geographic Partners. 2021.
Website
Wikipedia
Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. 2020.
Website
The Salt Marsh
Freshwater from the Land Meets Saltwater from the Sea
The Conservancy is a watershed, where a combination of freshwater streams, rivulets, and rivers form estuaries, which all drain into Milton Harbor, and mix with the saltwater from Long Island Sound. This is the largest remaining salt marsh of its kind in Westchester County. It is a vital, essential, and unique habitat and resource for many plants and animals that have adapted to live only here and nowhere else. Other salt marshes have all too often been filled in for parking lots and housing and office developments.
Spartina, the Dominant Plant of the Salt Marsh, Has Adapted to Living in Saltwater
Spartina (formerly Spartina patens, now re-classified as Sporobolus alterniflorus), is a low marsh cordgrass, which has adapted to the harsh environments of high salt concentrations, low oxygen levels, and consistently damp or water-covered soil. Frequently inundated by the tide, spartina is a highly specialized plant, adapted to grow in salt water. It is able to secrete salts that accumulate through special glands in its leaves. Although its roots are embedded in thick mud that contains no oxygen, it is able to obtain oxygen through hollow tubes that reach all the way down from its leaves to its roots. It is native to the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean and forms dense colonies. Spartina (Sporobolus alterniflorus) has been planted to reclaim estuarine areas for farming, to supply fodder for livestock, and to prevent erosion. These grasses provide rich habitat for crustaceans, mollusks, and birds, and serve as a major source of organic nutrients for the entire estuary. Mats of this salt hay grass are inhabited by many small animals and are an important food source for ducks and seaside sparrows. Spartina marshes serve as pollution filters and buffers against flooding and shoreline erosion.
The salt marsh at high tide in spring.
The tall reed phragmites (Phragmites Australis), grows in the foreground, closer to the land in mostly fresh water. The low growing spartina (Sporobolus alterniflorus) in the background grows in the salty seawater.
Spartina, Constantly Cut by the Force of Tides and Storms, Accumulates Layer Upon Layer of Spongy Decomposing Grass
Spartina is cut by the force of incoming tides, wind, and rain. Its roots are continuously growing horizontal underground stems, which put out lateral shoots and roots at intervals, building up an ever more dense mat of organic material. Accumulating year after year, layer upon layer, this fibrous organic matter, creates deep spongy beds filled with water. In the spartina beds live scud (Amphipoda), tiny crustaceans that thrive in the salt marsh and number in the millions. They are detrivores, which contribute to decomposition and the nutrient cycles of the salt marsh. A salt marsh is one of the most productive ecosystems on earth. The tides constantly mix the waters. Harmful accumulations of waste products are diluted and removed. Nutrients are brought in constantly from sea and land. As a result, a salt marsh produces nearly ten tons of organic matter per acre every year. In comparison, the best hay only produces about four tons per acre. A salt marsh is an ever-growing organic buffer against storm surges and rising sea levels.
Wedged Between the Spartina and the Land, is a Common Reed, Phragmites
Plants grow in different tidal zones depending on their salt tolerance. Seacoast Marsh Elder (Iva imbricata) and Groundsel Bush (Baccharis halimifolia) are shrubs that grow in the intermediate zone. The common Reed Grass Phragmites (Phragmites Australis) grows around the edges of the marsh. Introduced from Europe about 300 years ago, it outcompetes native vegetation, like the perennial marsh reed, the Broadleaf Cattail (Typha latifolia), and lessens the local plant diversity. 1 Like the Native Cattail (Typha latifolia), phragmites prefers growing in fresh water, but does tolerate small amounts of saltwater. Despite being an invasive species, the tall dense reeds and roots of phragmites do provide good nesting and roosting habitats for many different species, including seabirds. It has also been found highly beneficial in reducing coastal erosion.
Atlantic Marsh Fiddler Crabs Have Adapted to the Harsh Living Conditions
The very tough environment of the salt marsh, subject to high and low tides twice a day, limits the number of creatures and organisms that can adapt. Atlantic Marsh Fiddler Crabs (Minuca pugnax) avoid being swept out to sea every high tide by digging holes to hide in and covering the openings with mud. They trap enough oxygen inside their holes to breathe underground while the high tide engulfs the land above them. They emerge only as the tide goes out to sea, when they can safely forage in the sand. A variety of other crabs, snails, and worms find a home here. It is an important breeding ground for saltwater fish. With plenty to eat, fish lay their eggs here, and their fry are sheltered from waves in the narrow channels between the mounds of spartina. During the warmer months, the mudflats provide an excellent foraging habitat for egrets and numerous species of herons, sandpipers, and plovers. Ducks and geese paddle through the channels year-round. Land animals, like raccoons, visit the salt marsh to feast on Blue Mussels, crab, shrimp, and fish.
Atlantic Marsh Fiddler Crabs (uca pugnax) live in the mudflats of the salt marsh.
North American Osprey Nest Above the Salt Marsh
Osprey are a single species found worldwide, but within that group there are four subspecies, one of which is the North American Osprey (Pandion haliaetus carolinensis). Every spring, these osprey return to their treetop nests above the salt marsh. Each time they return, they rebuild their nests with a new pile of sturdy sticks, skillfully placed above the sticks laid the previous year. A nest is improved every year and grows taller for each new successive brood. You can see the osprey fly fast and low across the harbor, spreading their great wings as they extend their talons, skimming over the water to grab fish out of the sea. They then rise up high above the water, circling with with their catch, its head aligned forward in their talons, before returning to the nest to feed their fledglings.
The Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) looking for food in the salt marsh.
Soaring high above the salt marsh, the North American Osprey (Pandion haliaetus carolinensis) has a wingspan of about five feet. With a fish in its talons, it is facing forward to give the least wind resistance.
Notes:
1. Research by entomologist Douglas Tallamy found that the non-native species Phragmites australis, even after 300 years of growing in the US, is food for only five species. Whereas, in its native habitat in Europe, it has coevolved with specific creatures over the millennia to feed over 170 species. Douglas Tallamy, “Do Alien Plants Reduce Insect Biomass?” Conservation Biology 18 no.4 (2004), doi: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2004.00512.x.
Adapted in part from John and Mildred Teal, Life and Death of the Salt Marsh. New York : Ballantine Books, 1983.
Sources and Further Reading:
Audubon Aid: The Wonderful World of Salt Marshes.
Davis, Mary B., comp. VIP (Volunteers in the Parks) Environmental Educator Course Outline.
Niering, William A. The Life of the Marsh. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1969.
Olmstead, Nancy C. and Paul E. Fell. Tidal Marsh Invertebrates of Connecticut. New London: Connecticut Arboretum, 1975.
Roberts, Mervin F. and Mary Lohmann. Tidal Marshes of Connecticut. New London: Connecticut Arboretum, 1971.
Tallamy, Douglas. Nature’s Best Hope. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, 2020.
Wikipedia
The Shoreline
A Place Where Life on Land Meets Life in the Sea
Under the gravitational pull of the sun and the moon, the tides come in and out at the shoreline twice a day. When the sun and moon are in line with our planet, the gravitational pull is stronger, resulting in the highest and the lowest tides. Waves are caused by the winds; the push and pull of the wind gives the water its rolling and rising motion. When a wave breaks on the shoreline, it runs up the beach until its energy is exhausted. Waves crash against the outcrops of metamorphic rock and mica, gradually pulverizing them into smaller and smaller pieces, until they are reduced to particles of sand and are smooth to the touch. Seawater is a great reservoir of heat and profoundly affects climate.
Exposed bedrock at the water’s edge composed of metamorphic rock, peppered with bands of the shiny mineral mica, rises through the coarse sand.
The Horseshoe Crab Has Come to This Shoreline for Over 10,000 Years
Life existed in the seas for millions of years before sea creatures moved onto the seashore and slowly expanded their territory farther on to land. One of these ancient sea creatures is the American Horseshoe Crab (Limulus polphemus). The Horseshoe Crab evolved 450 million years ago, long before Long Island Sound came into existence. They have changed little since then and are considered living fossils.
These ancient sea animals congregate on the shoreline of the Conservancy every year, as they have done for about the last 2,500 years, after post-glacial rising sea levels pushed the shoreline to its present location, flooding a small stream to create what is now Milton Harbor.
They arrive at night on the first high tide of the first full moon in June to mate and lay their bright turquoise eggs. They are more closely related to spiders, ticks, and scorpions than crabs. They have a hard exoskeleton, which molts as they grow. They feed on small clams, crustaceans, worms on the ocean floor, and algae.
Every year on the first high tide of the first full moon in summer, Horseshoe Crabs (Limulus polphemus) come to the shoreline to mate and lay eggs
The intertidal zone–strewn with different mollusk shells, seaweed, pebbles and glass
Horseshoe Crabs remain at sea, coming to shore only to reproduce when they are sexually mature at ten years old. They live for about 20 years. Their blood is blue because of a protein containing copper, responsible for transporting oxygen in their blood plasma. The females release a pheromone to attract the males that fertilize their eggs, sometimes 90,000 per season. They use their tail spikes to steer and right themselves while swimming.
If you see a horseshoe crab on its back on the shore, gently pick it up (holding both sides of the shell, never the tail) and release it back into the water. Saving this species, and the many other species that depend on it, is vital to the shoreline ecosystem. Their eggs and larvae are an important source of food for many migratory birds, including gulls and terns (Laridae). 1 American Horseshoe Crabs are only found in North America along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, from Maine to Mexico. Three other species are found only in Southeast Asia and in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
The Shoreline is Visited Year Round by a Variety of Ducks and Wading Birds
This harbor has many winter visitors: Bufflehead Ducks (Bucephala albeola), Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus), and Little Bluebills or Lesser Scaups (Aythya affinis), along with terns (Laridae), and a variety of gulls (Laridae). Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) can be seen year-round. In the summer months, majestic wading birds, like the Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) and Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias), can be seen hunting along the mudflats, stirring the mud with their feet to catch crustaceans or just standing still, watching for a fish to swim by.
Washed up on the shoreline are rows of rockweed or Bladder Wrack (Fucus vesiculosis), Red Dulse (Palmaria palmata) and a red algae called Irish Moss (Chondrus crispus). Seashells, significant to the culture of the Eastern Woodlands tribes, like the Ocean Quahog Clam (Arctica islandica) are found here, as well as the Atlantic Jackknife Clam (Ensis directus) and the Blue (Mytilus edulis) and Ribbed mussels (Geukensia demissa). All are brought in on the high tide and stranded in the intertidal zone as the tide recedes.
American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus)
Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)
Great Egret (Ardea alba)
Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)
All of the islands of the Conservancy are natural, although causeways leading out to the two most prominent islands were built by the families living on this property in the 1800s. Although the islands have an elevation of ten feet at their highest, the land is high enough above the saltwater to allow trees to grow, like the Post Oak (Quercus stellata) and Pignut Hickory (Carya glabra), stunted by the harsh winds and storms that blow off Long Island Sound. As testament to its North American origins, the name “hickory” derives from Algonquian and French words.
On the beach and in rock pools, many small, dark-green Asian Shore Crabs (Hemigrapsus sanguineus) scuttle about. Thought to have been brought in on water used as ships’ ballast and then discharged when the ships were loaded with cargo, these opportunistic omnivores may out compete native species, like the Fiddler Crab.
A young Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) getting ready for flight.
Notes:
1. The milky-blue blood of the horseshoe crab is the only known natural source of limulus amebocyte lysate, a substance that detects contaminants called endotoxins. If even tiny amounts of endotoxins—types of bacterial toxins—make their way into vaccines, injectable drugs, or other sterile pharmaceuticals such as artificial knees and hips, the results can be deadly. Demand for horseshoe crab blood has grown exponentially for testing the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines. Source: Carrie Arnold, “Horseshoe Crab Blood is Key to Making COVID-19 Vaccine–But Ecosystems May Suffer,” National Geographic, July 2020.
Website
Ten studies validate the efficacy of the synthetic alternative, dispelling lingering misconceptions and highlighting the opportunity for the pharmaceutical industry to immediately embrace a new detection technology for common manufacturing materials, which will reduce the need to bleed horseshoe crabs by 90 percent. Phased adoption will build the empirical data to confirm that synthetic endotoxin detection methods can be safely implemented, ending the industry’s dependence on animal-based technologies. This transition is a critical step in turning the tide for the horseshoe crab and for the migratory birds that rely upon them. Source: Tom Maloney, Ryan Phelan, and Naira Simmons, “Saving the Horseshoe Crab: A Synthetic Alternative to Horseshoe Crab Blood for Endotoxin Detection.” PLoS Biology 16, no. 10, doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2006607.
Website
Adapted in part from Herbert S. Zim and Lester Ingle, Seashores: A Guide to Animals and Plants Along the Beaches. New York: Golden Press, 1991.
Sources and Further Reading:
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. All About Birds. Cornell University, 2021.
Website
Davis, Mary B., comp. VIP (Volunteers in the Parks) Environmental Educator Course Outline.
Nassau County Museum of Natural History. The Shore. Seaford, NY.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, “How Does the Ocean Affect Climate and Weather on Land?”
National Ocean Service accessed February 8, 2021,
Website
Wikipedia
Parsons Pond
A Pond is a Freshwater Habitat, Where Life Depends on Green Plants for Existence
The Conservancy is home to two spring-fed, freshwater ponds. One, Parsons Pond, is man-made and supports aquatic life. It is located on the eastern border of the Conservancy and was created in the 1800s as an ice pond for the Parsons family. Lying to the west of Parsons Pond is the second, unnamed pond, considered an ephemeral, or seasonal pond, prone to becoming nearly dry in times of less precipitation, and lacking the vegetation and abundance of animal life that characterizes Parsons Pond. A long boardwalk crosses the outlet from this pond.
Common Duckweed (Lemna minor) is a green plant that grows in great profusion in Parsons Pond. It converts sunlight into food and is the base of the aquatic food chain. Duckweed is an important high-protein food source for waterfowl and provides shelter for fish. It is also significant in the process of bioremediation because the plant grows rapidly, absorbing excess mineral nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphates.
Green plants such as Duckweed add oxygen to the water and provide shelter for young creatures and protection from many predators. Pond plants have special adaptations for living in freshwater, including flexible, central stems that bend with the current or waves. Aquatic plants are surrounded by water that contains dissolved nutrients. Their leaves and stems are able to absorb these nutrients directly from the water, reducing the need for the elaborate root systems that land plants have. Pond plants have specially shaped leaves to absorb the carbon dioxide needed for photosynthesis. Some submerged plants protect themselves by producing a covering of mucus to discourage animals from eating the soft tissue underneath and to shield stems when the current causes the plants to rub against each other.
Green Frogs (Lithobates clamitans) live in and around Parsons Pond.
Northern Spring Peepers, (Pseudacris crucifer crucifer) visit this freshwater pond in the spring to mate and lay eggs.
Like Other Freshwater Ponds, Parsons Pond is a Critical Habitat for Amphibians
During spring migrations, many different amphibians move from the forests to woodland pools to breed. In spring at Parsons Pond, an urgent and sometimes deafening chorus can be heard from the small Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer crucifer), Northern Green Frog (Lithobates clamitans), and the American Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus). All join in the chorus to be heard, to attract a mate, and fertilize their eggs.1 Also here live a Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra) and an elusive family of muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus). The pond contains the juvenile stages of many insect species.
Male Blue Dasher Dragonfly (Pachydiplax longipennis)
Common Whitetail Dragonfly (Plathemis lydia)
Dragonfly Naiads which Live in Parsons Pond and Fly Over it as Adults, are an Essential Part of the Pond Food Chain
Dragonflies (Ornithurae) lay as many as 1,500 eggs in a clutch, in predominantly freshwater ponds and wetlands. The eggs grow into naiads (nymphs). They are voracious predators, eating mostly Blood Worms and insect larvae. These naiads are in turn eaten by fish, frogs and newts. Depending on the species, they live in the pond anywhere from a few months to five years.
When the naiad is ready to metamorphose into an adult, it stops feeding and makes its way to the surface, generally at night. It remains stationary with its head out of the water, while its respiration system adapts to breathing air. Then, it climbs up a reed or other emergent plant and molts. Holding onto the stem with its claws, its skin begins to split behind the head. The adult dragonfly crawls out of its larval skin, allowing its exoskeleton to harden. It completes its emergence, swallowing air, which plumps out its body. Pumping blood (haemolymph) into its wings expands them, making the adult ready for flight.
As adults, dragonflies live from one month to six months, depending on the species. They eat midges, mosquitoes, butterflies, moths, damselflies, and smaller dragonflies. They in turn are eaten by various birds, lizards and bats.
Notes:
1. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Hudson Estuary and Cornell University Amphibian Migration and Road Crossings Project to learn about conserving these critical habitats and becoming a volunteer.
Website
For amphibian training programs visit the Teatown Lake Reservation’s website (Teatown is a nature preserve and educational center in Ossining, NY).
Website
Adapted in part from Jeff Swinebroad, Audubon Aids: Life in a Pond.
Adapted in part from George K. Reid, Pond Life: A Guide to Common Plants and Animals of North American Ponds and Lakes. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2001.
Sources and Further Reading:
Davis, Mary B., comp. VIP Environmental Educator Course Outline.
Morgan, Ann Haven. Field Book of Ponds and Streams. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1930.
Morgan, Ann Haven. Field Book of Animals and Streams in Winter. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1939.
Needham, James G. and Paul Needham. A Guide to the Study of Fresh-Water Biology. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1962.
Odum, Eugene P. and Gray Barrett. Fundamentals of Ecology. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2009.
Pennak, Robert W. Fresh-water Invertebrates of the United States. Hoboken: Wiley, 1978
Wikipedia
Sources and Further Reading
Davis, Mary B., comp. VIP Environmental Educator Course Outline.
Morgan, Ann Haven. Field Book of Ponds and Streams. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1930.
Morgan, Ann Haven. Field Book of Animals and Streams in Winter. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1939.
Needham, James G. and Paul Needham. A Guide to the Study of Fresh-Water Biology. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1962.
Odum, Eugene P. and Gray Barrett. Fundamentals of Ecology. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2009.
Pennak, Robert W. Fresh-water Invertebrates of the United States. Hoboken: Wiley, 1978
Wikipedia