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BLACK ROCK FOREST NEWS Spring-Summer 2016 Black Rock Forest Consortium Volume XXVI, No.2

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BLACK ROCK FOREST NEWS Spring-Summer 2016 Black Rock Forest Consortium Volume XXVI, No.2 BLACK ROCK FOREST NEWS Spring-Summer 2016 Black Rock Forest Consortium Volume XXVI, No.2 Benefit Luncheon: Learning from Nature panel discussion on Learning Dr. Mordecai who discussed the ecology from Nature: Lessons from the model simulation which was visually A Creative Use of Technology was enacted on large screens. Dr. Mordecai the highlight of the Black Rock Forest then introduced the panelists. The panel Consortium’s benefit luncheon held on included Commissioner Liam Kavanagh, May 12 at the Metropolitan Club. The co- First Deputy Commissioner of the New chairs of the luncheon were Dr. David K. York City Department of Parks and Rec- A. Mordecai and Samantha Kappagoda, reation; Sam Keany, Dean of Students with Catherine Morrison Golden serving and Chair of Science at the Browning Forest Wins New as vice-chair, and an active committee. School, and a Consortium vice-president; A crowd of more than 230 people Dr. John H. Long, Jr., Professor of Biology IBA Designation gathered for the festivities. Many mem- and Cognitive Science and Director of the ber institutions took tables, as did board Robotics Research Laboratory at Vassar and Leadership Council members and College; and Peter Terezakis, Artist in lack Rock Forest celebrated its in- other friends of the Consortium. All pro- Residence at Tisch School of the Arts at clusion in an Audubon New York vided vital support for the Consortium’s New York University. Dr. Griffin moderat- BImportant Bird Area (IBA) on June 4 research, education, and conservation ed the panel. in a press conference. Among the attend- programs. ees were Erin Crotty, Executive Director Sibyl R. Golden, the Consortium’s The Panel of Audubon New York, Dr. Terryanne chair, welcomed everyone, and then Dr. Mr. Keany spoke first and described the Maenza-Gmelch of Barnard College, who Kevin Griffin, the Consortium’s president, biomimicry course he created for last spearheaded the effort, Jim Delaune, added to the welcome and introduced (continued on page 3) Executive Director of the Orange Coun- ty Land Trust, and many members of the Edgar A. Mearns Bird Club. The IBA is officially called the Hudson Highlands West Important Bird Area: Harriman and Sterling to Black Rock and Storm King. Important Bird Areas are an interna- tional bird conservation effort of Audu- bon, but they are designated locally. In November 2014, Dr. William Schuster, executive director of Black Rock Forest Consortium, Dr. Maenza-Gmelch, and Chris Kenyon of the Orange County Land Trust applied to Audubon New York for the Black Rock Forest – Schunemunk Mountain area to become an IBA. Audubon considers three character- istics of sites in making its decision: spe- cies at risk, specific species assemblages, and congregations of birds. At least one characteristic is needed for designation as an IBA; this area met all three. Even though the Forest is already protected and Schunemunk Mountain is a state park, designation as an IBA increases The panel. (L-R) Sam Keany, Dr. John Long, Peter Terezakis, Commissioner Liam Kavanagh, Dr. Kevin Griffin (continued on page 5) (moderator) Black Rock Forest News Report from the Executive Director Ecological resilience is the ability of an ecosystem to resist resilience ratings for 90-meter-square pixels. In general, the damage and recover rapidly from disturbance. It is an im- more interior southern and western portions of Black Rock portant ecological concept but often challenging to measure Forest are rated highly above average for resilience. A swath and study. We do not always know why some ecosystems are of the eastern portion of the Forest is rated only average for resilient while others take a long time or never recover after resilience mainly due to lower connectedness (this may be due disturbance. But more biodiverse systems often prove more to the barrier represented by Route 9W) and the northwest- resistant to disturbance or recover more quickly. Disturbance ern part of the Forest (around Canterbury Brook) is rated be- is nearly ubiquitous and thus resilience, and the ability of our low average for resilience primarily because of low scores for ecosystems to keep providing valuable services despite dis- landscape complexity. turbances, is of great practical importance. We are now completing our own resilience analyses on 18 Much current research is focused on ecological resilience. parcels of land adjoining the western border of Black Rock For- The Nature Conservancy’s Mark Anderson and colleagues est as part of our Highlands Connectivity project. Our studies have recently developed an analytical framework that has allowed us to field check some of the Nature Conservancy allowed them to map predicted ecological resilience across data and to see how well their results mirror our own. Our much of eastern North America (https://www.conservation- fieldwork has identified some important resilient features, gateway.org/ConservationByGeography/NorthAmerica/ such as ephemeral wetlands, deposits of calcareous material, UnitedStates/edc/reportsdata/terrestrial/resilience/ne/ and animal denning sites that could not be identified at the Pages/default.aspx). In these analyses, they focused espe- large scale of the Nature Conservancy analyses. However, cially on identifying areas that will remain resilient to climate there was a significant, positive correlation between their re- change and will support high levels of biological diversity in sults and our own. In particular, the flow analyses presented the future. They focused on “landscape complexity” in terms in their downloadable data sets identified areas that we know of landform variety and numbers of microhabitats, and “lo- are heavily used animal movement corridors. cal connectedness” which they evaluated in terms of habitat It is beneficial to have new tools to use in understanding fragmentation and barriers to animal movement. Complex where biodiversity is likely to persist in the future and to physiography is expected to always provide more niches for know more about the underlying features that promote diver- organisms to occupy, even through changes in climate, and sity, both now and in the future. Knowledge about resilience barrier-free, connected landscapes allow organisms to shift can help guide more informed conservation decision making, ranges and reorganize their communities in response to envi- although some lands with low resilience still remain import- ronmental changes. ant to conserve for other reasons. Environmental changes So how does Black Rock Forest look in terms of its modeled and disturbances will always occur. Promoting ecological con- resilience? The initial map outputs of the team were 1000- nectivity, taking resilience into account, and using rigorous acre hexagons, each rated for resilience. These indicated science principles and data to direct conservation actions can above average resilience across most of Black Rock Forest and help assure that we will retain healthy, diverse, and produc- surrounding forested areas. The more recently released data tive ecosystems for the future. (available through the link above) give much more detailed — Dr. William Schuster Board of Directors of the Consortium The Black Rock Forest Consortium Institutional Members Teachers College Sibyl R. Golden, Cochair advances scientific understanding through American Museum of Natural History Trevor Day School David N. Redden, Cochair research, education and conservation Avenues: The World School Urban Assembly for Applied Math Dr. Kevin Griffin,President programs. It is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) Barnard College and Science Terri Carta organization supported by membership The Browning School Valerie Colas-Ohrstrom dues, grants, and gifts. The Calhoun School Editor: Sibyl R. Golden Dominic Cordisco Central Park Conservancy Design: Jenkins & Page (NYC) William T. Golden (1909-2007) Vivian Donnelley Columbia University © 2016 Black Rock Forest Consortium Gail Duffy Founding Chairman Cornwall Central School District Francesco Filiaci The Dalton School Deborah Gardner Consortium Staff Hunter College William Glaser, Treasurer William Schuster, Ph.D., Executive Director Metropolitan Montessori School Liam Kavangh John Brady, Forest Manager Newburgh Enlarged City School District Sam Keany, Vice President Emily Cunningham, Director of External New York City Department of Parks Dr. Ryan Kelsey Affairs and Recreation Dr. Mary Leou, Vice President Jack Caldwell, Operations Manager New York – New Jersey Trail Conference Anne Sidamon-Eristoff Barbara Brady, Office Manager New York University Beatrice Stern Matthew Munson, Data/Network Manager Queens College Linda Stiiman Kate Terlizzi, Research Associate/ The School at Columbia University Lisbeth Uribe Environmental Educator The Spence School 65 Reservoir Road, Cornwall NY 12518 Christie Van Kehrberg, Secretary Brienne Cliadakis, Annual Fund and Storm King School Phone: (845) 534-4517 Communication Manager E-Mail: brfoffice @ blackrockforest.org Web: www.blackrockforest.org 2 Spring-Summer 2016 • Volume XXVI, No.2 Benefit Luncheon teaued at good enough. Selection evolved ment uses traditional scientific methods (continued from page 1) good-enough behavior by simplifying and technology to learn from nature, year’s Summer Science Camp and will rather than complicating the brain. The using Lidar, which is basically lasers and continue this year (see “Summer Sci- evolution of robots helps us understand radar, to create digital elevation models ence Camp,” Fall 2015). In the course of the evolution of animals.
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