By Cara Fernandes
LIISMA has approved five 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. This month, we are highlighting the invasive species removal at the globally rare Hempstead Plains grassland community by the Friends of Hempstead Plains.
Urban development, litter and now invasive species threaten the remaining 1% of the critically endangered Hempstead Plains. Luckily, it has some very important Friends on its side to stop invasives from overtaking the plains.
Can you imagine what the Hempstead Plains looked like hundreds of years ago? Once covering almost 40,000 acres, the Hempstead Plains was the largest grassland community on Long Island (LI) and the only naturally occurring prairie east of the Allegheny mountains. Stretching across the rolling outwash plains of west-central LI, the Hempstead Plains were dominated by species that are characteristic of the midwest tallgrass prairies, like big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans), and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum). The Hempstead Plains Preserve is still home to rare state-ranked, federally endangered, and globally rare plants. It is recognized by the NY Natural Heritage Program as a globally rare native prairie community.1
Although development has severely encroached upon the remaining 65 acres, the Hempstead Plains has some very important allies on its side. The Friends of Hempstead Plains (FHP) at Nassau Community College is a not-for-profit organization that is dedicated to the preservation, restoration and education of this special ecological habitat. The FHP manages the 17 acres of the Hempstead Plains Preserve, surveying for non-native and invasive plants, cleaning up littered trash, and restoring habitats with native plants. It is also a “living laboratory” for students thanks to its close proximity to the Nassau Community College campus.
In 2017, 34 species of invasive plants were documented in varying levels of abundance during the NY Natural Heritage Program survey. Through their subcontract with LIISMA, the FHP are building on the 30 years of invasive species removal at the Hempstead Plains Preserve. The eight species of non-native plants with the most abundance at the preserve include mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris), oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus), autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata), hard fescue (Festuca ovina), Chinese bush clover (Lespedeza cuneata), Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), Siebold’s crabapple (Malus sieboldii), and bentgrass (Agrostis spp). FHP is making significant headway in their persistent elimination of invasive species by employing diverse methods of removal; such as hand pulling, mowing, and application of environmentally safe herbicide. FHP also works to collect native seeds from the dominant tallgrasses for broadcasting in the areas that have been newly cleared of invasives.
After a long winter season, Douglas Schmid, Program Director of FHP, shares that the non-profit is “gearing up for what is looking like a very busy spring. Invasive species work has gone well and we’ll be sharing the Plains with a lot of school kids doing small field science projects soon.” LIISMA is proud to support our partners at the Friends of Hempstead Plains as they manage invasive species at the Hempstead Plains Preserve, which LIISMA ranks as a high priority site.
Photo credits: Haley Gladitsch
1Edinger, G.J. and S.M. Young. 2018. Hempstead Plains Grassland Ecological Community Mapping and Rare Plant Survey. New York Natural Heritage Program, Albany, NY.
