OCTOBER 19 @ 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM Via Zoom, registration required: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEkceGprTssEtz40JcEXGCNDyFohGuLxZZr
Presenters: Jose Ramírez-Garofalo & Shannon Curley Temperate grasslands are among the most globally imperiled biomes, suffering from habitat loss, land conversion, and lack of protection. Consequently, grassland birds are among the most substantially declining guilds of North American birds. Freshkills Park in Staten Island, New York is approximately 2,000 acres of reclaimed land within the New York City Parks system. The park was established on the site of the former Fresh Kills Landfill—the largest landfill in the world at the time of its closing in 2001. Roughly 3x the size of Central Park, Freshkills Park now hosts expansive grassland habitat totaling over 1,000 acres. In recent years, Freshkills Park has been colonized by a number of grassland specialists, including Grasshopper Sparrows (NYS Special Concern), Eastern Meadowlarks, and most recently Sedge Wrens (NYS Threatened). In 2021, Freshkills Park hosted at least 82 pairs of Grasshopper Sparrows—likely the largest population in the region—and 8 pairs of Sedge Wrens. Researchers from CUNY College of Staten Island and NYC Parks have been documenting the colonization of the park by these species as they settle in this human-engineered, novel habitat. The speakers will present their on-going research and highlight some of the conservation successes in a maturing grassland habitat. Dr. Shannon Curley is an ecologist with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, and an adjunct professor at CUNY College of Staten Island. She studies the effects of climate change on birds, focusing on changes in species distributions, migration patterns, and community assemblage. She has been involved with grassland bird research at Freshkills Park since 2015. José Ramírez-Garofalo is a PhD student in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources at Rutgers University. His research interests include species distribution under climate change, grassland ecology, and the natural history of the New York City Area. He has been involved with grassland bird research at Freshkills Park since 2016. -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
