History, Natural History & the Arts
There are contaminated sites all across New York State which range from large, complex systems to small, self-contained parcels.
Collectively, these sites encompass thousands of acres of diverse habitats, including streams, wetlands, grasslands, and forests. [Read more…] about Wildlife Habitat Enhancements At Contaminated Sites
For all the adventures I’ve had in New Hampshire, I’ve spent few of them looking at the ground. The plants I pay the most attention to are closest to eye level, such as the gorgeous draping branches of spruce trees and the pale bark of white birches.
However, when I started a job as a fishways operator at Amoskeag Fishways, I did a deep dive into the flora and fauna of the state and learned about a fascinating little plant: smooth slender crabgrass (Digitaria laeviglumis). [Read more…] about Smooth Slender Crabgrass: A Quiet Engineer
The fisher, once all but extinct in the Adirondacks, has now firmly re-established itself here. According to John Davis, an Essex County writer and activist affiliated with the New Mexico-based Rewilding Institute, the fisher is “a rewilding success story.” [Read more…] about Rewilding: Wildways Create Wild Connections
This summer the Ausable Freshwater Center (AFC) finished a stream restoration at the Moss Road crossing of the North Branch Boquet River in the Town of Lewis, in Essex County, NY, by removing two old, undersized culverts to restore a natural river channel.
The culverts that had constricted the river and blocked fish for decades are now gone, and a natural channel carries the river through the road crossing. The project reconnected some 50 miles of Adirondack river and coldwater tributary habitat. [Read more…] about Adk Stream Crossing Restored After Boquet Barrier Removed
The purely economic decision by Finch Paper in Glens Falls, now part of a global company, to stop purchasing Adirondack regional trees for its pulp to paper operation and to instead acquire its pulp from far beyond New York’s borders is serious – and deserves the attention it’s getting at New York Almanack, and the worries from forest product industries, harvesters, truckers, suppliers, and landowners elsewhere. [Read more…] about Environmentalists Have Big Stake in Finch Pulp Mill Closure
In the deepening twilight, the pines edging my backyard merge into a wall of shadow. I hold my breath, staring hard into the darkness. Will they come? No matter how many times I repeat this ritual, I’m never sure… but then the magic happens.
A little greenish pulse of light, floating somewhere in the middle distance. Then another. And another. Those memories are decades old, but the magic of encountering fireflies remains undimmed. [Read more…] about The Hidden Diversity of Fireflies: Glow-Worms, Blinkers, and Ghosts
If you live near a large meadow, hayfield, or grassland, you may have recently noticed some bubbly robotic noises emanating from those areas. It might sound like an overexcited android, but the real source is a medium-sized songbird, the bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus).
One of the few avian grassland specialists in the Northeast, bobolinks have recently returned from their wintering grounds in southern South America and are now fully engaged in breeding activity. [Read more…] about Bobolink: The Grassland Bird in a Reverse Tuxedo
One of the great joys of early May in the Northeast is the dawn-break aubade of songbirds returning to summer habitats or passing through to their nesting grounds in higher latitudes.
Mornings that only a month ago were silent – save the croaking crows and shrieking blue jays – are now filled with a polyphonic chorus of trills, chirrs, and fluted arias that quicken both body and soul. [Read more…] about Songbirds Struggle With Noise Pollution
Amphibian Week occurs during the first full week in May and was created to raise awareness about these creatures which are severely threatened and are currently the most threatened vertebrate class globally.
A 2023 global assessment found that 40.7% of all amphibian species are threatened with extinction. The crisis is driven by habitat loss, pollution, and increasing impacts from climate change, with roughly two in five species at risk. [Read more…] about Celebrate Amphibian Week With Knowledge, Action
In spring, when temperatures rise above 40 degrees Fahrenheit and usher in gentle rains, a plethora of life emerges from the forest. Last year, I went out on such a night to catch the spring migration of amphibians. I could feel the rain coming before it hit the ground.
Cold damp air sank through my rain gear as I donned my reflective vest and walked the length of North Lincoln Street in Keene, New Hampshire. My headlamp was the only source of light on the dark, empty street. [Read more…] about Why Do Frogs Cross the Road?
Most people in New York when asked to picture a duck, they’re thinking of an eastern mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos) – the green head, the quack, the pond. But just 90-100 years ago, mallards were not known to breed in New York State. Since the ban of live decoys in the 1930s, mallards have been released and taken over as the preeminent duck of the northern Atlantic Flyway.
After all-time highs in the early 2000s however, we have seen significant declines in eastern mallards. [Read more…] about Mallard Ducks: An Environmental History Leading to Decline
At its January meeting, Adirondack Park Agency (APA) staff recommended approval of a seven-lot residential subdivision in a Rural Use zone off Route 73 in Keene, NY (the Aylward project). Staff noted that after several years of work with the applicant the subdivision had been modified from previous layouts to reduce ecological impacts to the area’s natural resources. They pointed out that the impacts of each new home and driveway extended beyond their actual footprint by approximately 660 feet, or 200 meters on all sides of the actual footprint.
This figure comes from field work by Adirondack ecologists Drs. Michale Glennon and Heidi Kretser who, in journals such as Landscape and Urban Planning (January, 2013), described how bird species and small mammals sensitive to human development were displaced up to 200 meters from exurban homes in the Adirondack Park, and that the overall ecological impact of a single exurban home in the Adirondacks extends well beyond the building footprints out to 31 acres. “Understanding these impacts can help inform ecologically sensitive subdivision designs,” wrote Drs. Glennon and Kretser. [Read more…] about Adirondack Fragmentation and the Illusion of Green
The brook trout is New York’s state fish and an iconic symbol of the Adirondacks, but about 90% of brook trout pond habitat has been lost due to poor management.
Now, for the first time in 46 years, New York State has a new plan that identifies the current risks for lacustrine (lake and pond living) brook trout and it hopes will guide the State’s management actions at Adirondack brook trout ponds for the next 15 years. [Read more…] about After A 90% Habitat Loss, A New Plan for Adirondack Brook Trout Ponds
Lichens, the remarkable symbiotic partnerships between fungi and algae, are helping scientists unlock a new understanding of biodiversity in some of North America’s most sensitive forest ecosystems.
An ecological study spearheaded in part by the New York State Museum, spanning the southern Appalachian Mountains, has found that the diversity of native tree species is the strongest predictor of how many lichen species a forest can support. [Read more…] about New Lichen Research Reveals How Habitat Loss Impacts Biodiversity
The arrival of autumn has aquatic critters preparing to huddle down as water temperatures drop, and New Yorks’ 44 species of native freshwater mussels are no different.
In the colder months, freshwater mussels burrow deep into the substrate. [Read more…] about Freshwater Mussels Awaiting Winter
Most people have heard about insect declines, with recent headlines like “Insect Declines: The Great and Merciless Thinning.”
Bumble bees and butterflies are the best-known examples of declining groups, but there is a growing body of evidence documenting downward trends in other insects. Fireflies, famous for their impressive light-shows in the eastern US, are one such group. [Read more…] about A Firefly Atlas: Research Hopes to Help Declining Species
A few summers ago, I was walking my dog in a pasture near my house when a butterfly landed on my bare leg. It was a medium-sized black butterfly with orange crescents along the margins of its wings and rows of white dots adjacent to the border. Its antennae were tipped with orange clubs. On the underside, the butterfly displayed a striking checkerboard pattern of orange, black, and white.
It was a Baltimore checkerspot (Euphydryas phaeton) – the first time I’d ever seen one. [Read more…] about Baltimore Checkerspot Butterflies: Audacity on the Wing
As a budding naturalist growing up in the concrete-heavy environs of Boston, I would regularly thumb through my family’s collection of nature books and daydream about the creatures within. One species I was particularly drawn to was the eastern box turtle.
These charismatic terrestrial turtles have high-domed shells festooned with colorful yellow or orange markings, and stout legs built for walking. Notwithstanding their similarities to tortoises, box turtles are part of the “water turtle” family Emydidae, which includes species like the eastern painted turtle and spotted turtle [Read more…] about Eastern Box Turtles: Life in a Shell
Fireplace Neck Tidal Wetland Area is a 108-acre salt marsh located on Long Island‘s south shore, adjacent to Bellport Bay. Historical marsh development and vegetation degradation in the early 20th Century altered the natural flow of water and sediments in the wetland.
Habitat loss and the conversion of dry high-marsh habitat into low-marsh mudflats contributed to a less resilient coastline that faces growing threats from extreme weather events and sea level rise. [Read more…] about Fireplace Neck Tidal Wetland Area Restoration Project Update
For the first time since 1999, New York State’s List of Endangered, Threatened, and Special Concern has been updated. Additions include a recently discovered species of frog (Atlantic coast leopard frog) and species recently classified under the federal Endangered Species Act. The status of all native fish species in New York has been assessed as well. [Read more…] about Endangered, Threatened, and Special Concern Species List Updated
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