All - FYI: I wasn't actually upset, I was just joking a little and giving Joe a hard time. I'm very sarcastic. Jenny
On May 1, 6:59 pm, JennyNYC <[email protected]> wrote: > What's IMHO? And the only way I'm naive (and this is changing) is that > I think people who are concerned about environmental issues know about > vegetation and ecosystems in their own region. They actually don't > know and don't really want to know unless it's about the rain forests > or Africa or pandas (yes, I know these are tragedies!) It's freaking > me out! > > Bird people care about habitats though - especially wetlands and > meadows. Gee, do you think they'll be able to lobby for habitat > diversity????? > > In NYC, the mayor has a few projects like Million Trees that are > certainly admirable, but thousands of trees are being desperately > planted and many are already dying! But it takes attention away from > the massacring of birds out at JFK airport - located beside, if not > in, the Gateway National Park Wildlife Refuge of Jamaica Bay, by the > way. > > See, you got me all upset Joe! It was an innocent discussion about > meadows, grasslands and prairies! > > Jenny > > On May 1, 3:51 pm, "Joseph Zorzin" <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Decisions are made on raw, hard core politics- whichever special interest > > group buys the most politicians- gets to have the most say- it's as simple > > as that. To think that the decisions are based on science or the long term > > good of the public are naive, IMHO. > > > I like finding meadows in a forest too- the problem, after recreating them > > from woodland, is how to maintain them. Often our public agencies instead > > clearcut forests to create "early succession habitat"- but it only last a > > few years before growing back in- so to solve that, they keep up a cycle of > > clearcutting so to always have some of that early succession habitat. > > However a clearcut ain't a meadow and all that clearcutting happens to be > > just dandy to the timber industry. Then again, maybe I'm being cynical. > > > Joe > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: JennyNYC > > To: ENTSTrees > > Sent: Friday, May 01, 2009 2:15 PM > > Subject: [ENTS] Re: Meadow Question > > > Ed, > > > Wow, thanks. I'm finding all kinds of stuff now. Jennings sounds > > great. > > > Now I am wondering about restoration projects that involve cutting > > down parts of forests to create meadow (if it is determined that > > meadow was there for a long time before the forest encroachment.) > > Since there isn't a whole lot of space for recreating natural > > ecosystems in the northeast, I wonder how decisions are made about > > priority. Should the ecosystem most threatened by species extinction > > take precedence? > > > Do you think meadows within a forest add to their aesthetic value? I > > love coming into one from a trail. Maybe you already have this in the > > paper. > > > Thanks, > > Jenny > > > On May 1, 11:11 am, "Edward Frank" <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Jenny, > > > > You might look up the word prairie on a web search. There are many > > areas of prairie across the east coast. They typically form where there is > > a soil type that is not good for tree growth. At Jennings Environmental > > Education Ceneter in western PA the site says "The Jennings prairie remains > > due to a thick layer of impermeable clay that prevents most tree species > > from becoming established. Plants and animals that do live on the prairie > > must tolerate shallow soils, fluctuating periods of drought and saturation, > > and fire. Even under these harsh conditions, this ecosystem teems with > > life." Other ones exist at places like serpentine barrens where the soil is > > poisonous to trees but grass and some herbs can establish. Another area is > > along flood plains frequently flooded. Some trees can establish there, like > > sycamore and silver maple, but often frequent harsh flooding will create an > > area that is occupied by grasses because they replenish faster than trees. > > Finally there are grass areas in environments that are frequently burned. > > Many of these are reverting to scrub oak and pine forests as people have > > messed with the fire cycle. To some degree many of these pockets of > > grasslands are on a very long term transient, but they can exists for > > thousands of years at a locality before transitioning to another ecotype, > > but they can also form in new areas as well. > > > > Ed Frank --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
