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Biodiversity and Ecological Potential of Plum Island, New York

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Biodiversity and Ecological Potential of Plum Island, New York Biodiversity and ecological potential of Plum Island, New York New York Natural Heritage Program i New York Natural Heritage Program The New York Natural Heritage Program The NY Natural Heritage Program is a partnership NY Natural Heritage has developed two notable between the NYS Department of Environmental online resources: Conservation Guides include the Conservation (NYS DEC) and The Nature Conservancy. biology, identification, habitat, and management of many Our mission is to facilitate conservation of rare animals, of New York’s rare species and natural community rare plants, and significant ecosystems. We accomplish this types; and NY Nature Explorer lists species and mission by combining thorough field inventories, scientific communities in a specified area of interest. analyses, expert interpretation, and the most comprehensive NY Natural Heritage also houses iMapInvasives, an database on New York's distinctive biodiversity to deliver online tool for invasive species reporting and data the highest quality information for natural resource management. planning, protection, and management. In 1990, NY Natural Heritage published Ecological NY Natural Heritage was established in 1985 and is a Communities of New York State, an all inclusive contract unit housed within NYS DEC’s Division of classification of natural and human-influenced Fish, Wildlife & Marine Resources. The program is communities. From 40,000-acre beech-maple mesic staffed by more than 25 scientists and specialists with forests to 40-acre maritime beech forests, sea-level salt expertise in ecology, zoology, botany, information marshes to alpine meadows, our classification quickly management, and geographic information systems. became the primary source for natural community NY Natural Heritage maintains New York’s most classification in New York and a fundamental reference comprehensive database on the status and location of for natural community classifications in the northeastern rare species and natural communities. We presently United States and southeastern Canada. This monitor 174 natural community types, 802 rare plant classification, which has been continually updated as we species, and 441 rare animal species across New York, gather new field data, has also been incorporated into keeping track of more than 12,500 locations where these the National Vegetation Classification that is being species and communities have been recorded. The developed and refined by NatureServe, The Nature database also includes detailed information on the Conservancy, and Natural Heritage Programs relative rareness of each species and community, the throughout the United States (including New York). quality of their occurrences, and descriptions of sites. NY Natural Heritage is an active participant in The information is used by public agencies, the NatureServe – the international network of biodiversity environmental conservation community, developers, and data centers. NatureServe’s network of independent others to aid in land-use decisions. Our data are data centers collect and analyze data about the plants, essential for prioritizing those species and communities animals, and ecological communities of the Western in need of protection and for guiding land-use and land- Hemisphere. Known as natural heritage programs or management decisions where these species and conservation data centers, these programs operate communities exist. throughout all of the United States and Canada, and in In addition to tracking recorded locations, NY many countries and territories of Latin America. These Natural Heritage has developed models of the areas programs work with NatureServe to develop biodiversity around these locations important for conserving data, maintain compatible standards for data management, biodiversity, and models of the distribution of suitable and provide information about rare species and natural habitat for rare species across New York State. communities that is consistent across many geographic scales. ii New York Natural Heritage Program Biodiversity and ecological potential of Plum Island, New York Matthew D. Schlesinger Aissa L. Feldmann Stephen M. Young New York Natural Heritage Program 625 Broadway, 5th Floor Albany, New York 12233-4757 www.nynhp.org With contributions from Eric Lamont, Richard Stalter, Paul Spitzer, Hugh McGuinness, John Sepenoski, MaryLaura Lamont, Tim Green, Robert DiGiovanni Jr., Mike Scheibel, and Mike Bottini May 2012 Please cite this report as follows: Schlesinger, M.D., A.L. Feldmann, and S.M. Young. 2012. Biodiversity and ecological potential of Plum Island, New York. New York Natural Heritage Program, Albany, New York. Cover photographs (clockwise from upper left): Crossleaf milkwort (Polygala cruciata var. aquilonia) by Stephen M. Young; American Oystercatcher (Haematopus pallidus) by Don Sias; Maritime bluff by Julie A. Lundgren; Harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) by the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation; Seabeach knotweed (Polygonum glaucum) by Stephen M. Young; preliminary natural community map of Plum Island by Aissa L. Feldmann; Hairy-necked tiger beetle (Cicindela hirticollis) by Matthew D. Schlesinger. iii New York Natural Heritage Program Table of Contents Table of Figures .................................................................................................................................... v Table of Tables .................................................................................................................................... vi Executive summary ............................................................................................................................ vii Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 1 Geography and geology .................................................................................................................. 1 Climate............................................................................................................................................... 4 History of human use ...................................................................................................................... 4 Documented and potential biodiversity ............................................................................................ 5 Natural communities ....................................................................................................................... 5 Mapping methods and preliminary natural community map ................................................ 5 Significant natural communities .............................................................................................. 13 Animals ............................................................................................................................................ 15 Terrestrial mammals ................................................................................................................. 15 Marine mammals ....................................................................................................................... 17 Birds ............................................................................................................................................ 19 Reptiles and amphibians ........................................................................................................... 25 Fish .............................................................................................................................................. 28 Invertebrates .............................................................................................................................. 30 Plants ............................................................................................................................................... 34 History of plant collection ....................................................................................................... 34 Plum Island flora ....................................................................................................................... 34 Rare, protected, and otherwise noteworthy plants ............................................................... 35 Invasive plants ........................................................................................................................... 37 Management and restoration ............................................................................................................ 39 Key inventory needs .......................................................................................................................... 41 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................... 42 Acknowledgments .............................................................................................................................. 42 Literature cited .................................................................................................................................... 43 Appendix A: Natural Heritage Subnational (S) Conservation Status Ranks ............................. 48 Appendix B: Birds of Plum Island ................................................................................................... 50 Appendix C: Conservation guides ..................................................................................................
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