LIISMA recently approved six invasive species subcontracts with funding from the New York State Environmental Protection Fund (EPF). EPF is administered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The projects involve invasive species management and outreach across the LIISMA region, from Staten Island to Montauk. One of the projects is… West Brook, a tributary of the Connetquot River between Connetquot River State Park Preserve and Bayard Cutting Arboretum.
By Haley Gladitsch, LIISMA Invasive Species Specialist
Earlier this month, as we walked through Long Island’s newest flood plain with staff from Seatuck Environmental Association and GEI Consultants, and New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation (NYS OPRHP), we marveled at the diversity of species that now exist adjacent to Sunrise Highway. Various goldenrods swayed between the fluffy seed heads of native grasses and rushes; birds and frogs dove in and out of our lines of vision. We bounced along the soft mossy ground that sprung up into cattails along the stream. It’s hard to believe that just two years ago these 15 acres we stood on was a pond that was dammed for nearly 120 years. When this dam failed in early June of 2019, the former West Brook Pond drained and awoke the sleeping stream, allowing it to recarve its historic channel. Simultaneously, out of the mud and sediment of the old pond basin, a number of native and even some rare plant species began popping up from the seedbank. These species have begun to reclaim the now rare ecological communities that lived here long before us: tidal creek, brackish intertidal mudflats, and brackish tidal marsh. These communities are categorized in New York State as S2 and S1, meaning they are either imperiled or critically imperiled respectively, and are vulnerable to disappearance due to rarity or other factors.
However, any disturbance welcomes the opportunity for invasive species to get a foothold; as we walked down along the trail into West Brook, we were immediately greeted by phragmites (Phragmites australis). Here, the tall invasive grasses line the berm that runs parallel to Sunrise Highway, around the far edges of the old pond, and small individuals mix in between the sedges and asters. As we walked through we saw other familiar foes: princess tree (Paulownia tomentosa) and Japanese knotweed (Reynoutria spp). While we didn’t come across it on our site visit, bog bulrush (Schoenoplectiella mucronata) has also been documented by the Long Island Botanical Society on this unique site.
For these reasons, LIISMA has awarded the Seatuck Environmental Association with a subcontract to begin the removal of the invasive plant species threatening the integrity of this recovering site. Since the dam failure, Seatuck has been working with the NYS OPRHP, The New York Natural Heritage Program (NYNHP), and the Long Island Botanical Society (LIBS) to monitor and remove invasive plants, and champion the site’s return to a healthy, functioning, free-flowing stream and riparian ecosystem.
Seatuck has a long history in wildlife and environmental conservation that is deeply rooted in academic, state, and local stakeholder collaboration. From their initial research on declining tern populations on Long Island with Cornell University, to most recently their restoration of Penataquit Creek through the NYSDEC funded Trees for Tribs Program, they are leaders in safeguarding the ecosystems of Long Island. For the past 15 years, they have been working to reconnect numerous dammed and degraded rivers across the island in order to rebuild our populations of migratory fish. In Seatuck’s River Revival Project ArcGIS story map, you can read about these diadromous fish, such as alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and the American eel (Anguilla rostrata), that rely on the marine and freshwater interfaces these rivers provide in order to spawn. In turn they serve as important food sources for economically and culturally important species such as tunas, whales, osprey, and otters. While tools like fish ladders and fishways provide passage for these fish, it is only a small remedy for the larger impediment: the dams themselves. In their proposal, Seatuck’s Executive Director, Enrico Nardone, veritably states, “There are literally hundreds of obsolete dams across the island that impede wildlife movement, hold back important sediments and generally have a detrimental impact on the health of the region’s coastal ecosystem.”
Dams have been used across the United States since the nation’s founding for a variety of reasons, from flood control to ice and cranberry production, to harnessing the power of a river. Dams greatly alter the natural ecosystem surrounding a river, regardless of the reason they were built. On top of that, these old dams may no longer be serving the purpose they once did; they might be outdated in design, and/or poorly maintained. In light of this, many dams across the United States have been undergoing removal, often at great expense and debate. Many people feel attached to the iconic ponds they grew up fishing in, and they might not fully understand the long term ecological and economic benefits these dam removals can have.
Nardone goes on to say, “Too often people envision muddy, unsightly conditions or water views lost to dense monocultures of invasive species. The situation at West Brook is an opportunity to demonstrate that when dams are removed, they can result in healthy, free-flowing streams surrounded by beautiful, native riparian habitat – a result that supports native wildlife and improves overall ecological health.” With ecological health can come a strengthening of resilience to disturbance such as extreme weather and flooding, which is becoming more and more common. While we may no longer interact with West Brook as a pond, we can find new opportunities for recreation and research as diverse populations of wildlife take refuge there. Surveys of the site have documented semipalmated plovers (Charadrius semipalmatus) least sandpipers (Calidris minutilla), spotted sandpipers (Actitis macularius), solitary sandpipers (Tringa solitaria) and insects such as the twelve-spotted skimmer (Libellula pulchella), black saddlebags skimmer (Tramea lacerata), ebony jewelwing damselfly (Calopteryx maculata), and red-spotted purple butterfly (Limenitis arthemis). With Seatuck spearheading this initiative, we are giving West Brook a chance to be restored while the threat of invasive species on this site is still manageable.
Seatuck will continue to host volunteer days to help in the effort to pull phragmites within the site. They will also be working in coordination with a certified aquatic invasive species pesticide applicator at GEI Consultants to ensure proper removal of the phragmites and the other invasive plants invading this recovering ecosystem, with approval from NYS OPRHP as well as other state and local agencies.
Stay tuned for future articles about each of the six awesome projects!
This project was contracted by the Long Island Invasive Species Management Area (LIISMA) using funds from the Environmental Protection Fund as administered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
