The LIISMA team island hops to monitor for invasive species!
To most Long Islanders, the seven mile-long Fishers Island may seem like a remote, untouched location. It sits at the entrance to the Long Island Sound, about two miles from Connecticut. As a hamlet of the Town of Southold, Fishers Island is the farthest land in the LIISMA region; it is not just one, but two ferry rides away! That didn’t stop the LIISMA team from visiting this June to survey and monitor for invasive species on several properties owned and maintained by the Henry L. Ferguson Museum’s Land Trust.
Fishers Island is home to many rare plant and animal species. In fact, no other area of similar size in New York State has as many documented sightings of rare species as Fishers Island! In 2021, the New York Natural Heritage Program (NYHHP) scientists were contacted by the museum to conduct a two-year biodiversity survey to evaluate the extent of the many rare plants, insects, amphibians, reptiles, bats, and other species on the museum’s properties and easements across the island. Along with their findings, NYNHP had recommended the museum reach out to LIISMA to follow up with recommendations for invasive species prioritization and management.
LIISMA Invasive Species Specialist, Haley Gladitsch, and Field Technicians Melody Penny, and Katharine Stirber met with Jack Schneider, the Land Trust Stewardship Coordinator. The Land Trust protects 350 acres of shoreline communities, coastal ponds, freshwater wetlands, vernal pools and a 40 acre maritime grassland.The two parcels that LIISMA focused on during the fieldwork visit was parcel 37 and Chocomount Cove Trail and Beach. Some of the invasives that were mapped include knotweed (Reynoutria spp), common reed (Phragmites australis), bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus), porcelain berry (Ampelopsis brevipedunculata) and mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris).
Chocomount Trail winds through a successional maritime forest of black cherry, oak, and red maple trees, and lets out to a successional old field. The LIISMA team surveyed and mapped invasive species currently invading the field in order to help develop a management and restoration plan. The field opens up to Chocomount Beach, a marine intertidal gravel/sand beach and salt marsh where there is a small stand of phragmites. Growing on the shoreline with the phragmites is a robust population of seaside sandwort (Honckenya peploides), an S3 species that NYNHP is hoping to map the extent of throughout the island. Due to the low abundance of phragmites and the high quality of the shoreline, developing a plan to eradicate the invasive reed from the site is of high priority. LIISMA is excited to continue working with the Henry L Ferguson Museum’s Land Trust to make strategic recommendations on the management of these invasive species. Learn more about their work by visiting the Henry L. Ferguson Museum’s Land Trust website.
