More development in Yaphank, they want to build a power plant on pine barrens not too far from "Levy city".
Here's a link to some photos of the sitehttp://www.yaphank.org/component/option,com_zoom/Itemid,95/catid,9/PageNo,1/
And a statement on the importance of these woods....
The Status of the Rare
Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Woodland
Ecological Community
at the Caithness Long Island Site,
Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York
Prepared For: Michael E. White, Esq.
Jaspan Schlesinger Hoffman LLP
Environmental Law Firm - 300 Garden City Plaza
Garden City, New York 11530
Prepared By: Eric Lamont, Ph.D.- Botanist
717 Sound Shore Road - Riverhead, New York 11901
April 2006
The 96 acre proposed Caithness Long Island Energy Center site in the Township of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York, supports a mosaic of “Pine Barrens” communities including the rare Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Woodland. This rare ecological community is restricted in New York to Long Island and is currently only known from Suffolk County. Probably 99% of the original range of this rare ecosystem has been irreversibly destroyed by development (Lamont & Welch, unpublished). New York Natural Heritage Program (NYNHP) ranks this rare ecological community G3G4, S2S3 (Reschke 1990, Edinger et al. 2002).
Several stands of Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Woodland occur on site. One stand, dominated by a very dense thicket of scrub oak (Quercus ilicifolia) with a few widely scattered individuals of pitch pine (Pinus rigida) and white oak (Quercus alba), occurs near the center of the 15 acre proposed project site. The boundary between this stand of Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Woodland and the surrounding Pitch Pine-Oak Forest is irregular, and the two ecological communities grade into each other. Other smaller stands of “scrub oak-dominated” Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Woodland occur at the 96 acre site.
A second significant stand of Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Woodland also occurs on site, and is composed of a less dense shrublayer of Quercus ilicifolia, with Pinus rigida and tree oaks (white oak and scarlet oak, Q. coccinea) forming a canopy with approximately 40 to 50% cover. The boundary between this second stand of Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Woodland and the surrounding Pitch Pine-Oak Forest is even more irregular than the first stand.
These two stands of Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Woodland on site are at opposite ends of the community spectrum as described by Reschke (1990) and Edinger et al. (2002): “The density of the shrublayer is inversely related to the tree canopy cover; where the trees are sparse, the shrubs form a dense thicket, and where the trees form a more closed canopy, the shrublayer may be relatively sparse.” Examples of both extremes occur on site, along with various intermediate stages, forming a complex mosaic with the surrounding and intergrading Pitch Pine-Oak Forest.
The dominant shrub of the Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Woodland on site is scrub oak, which in some areas forms dense thickets. In other areas, a low shrublayer occurs beneath the scrub oak; heath shrubs, including lowbush blueberries (Vaccinium pallidum and V. angustifolium) and huckleberry (Gaylussacia baccata) comprise this lower shrublayer, along with a few scattered individuals of staggerbush (Lyonia mariana) and sweet-fern (Comptonia peregrina). The groundcover (in the stand with approximately 40 to 50% canopy cover) includes bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum var. latiusculum), Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica), pinweed (Leechea villosa), panic grass (Panicum depauperatum), and poverty grass (Danthonia spicata). A few scattered individuals of gray goldenrod (Solidago nemoralis) and bushclover (Lespedeza sp.) also occur in openings.
The occurrence of past fires in the Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Woodland on site is evidenced by charred tree trunks and burned needle and twig litter. Differences in past fire intensities may account for the differences in the composition and structure of the Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Woodland on site. For example, the stand dominated by a dense shrublayer of scrub oak and few trees may have been burned by an intensely hot ground fire, whereas the stand with 40 to 50% canopy cover may have been burned by a fire with different attributes.
The technical difference between a “forest” community (Pitch Pine-Oak Forest) and a “woodland” community (Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Woodland) has been clarified by Reschke (1990); basically, a forest community consists of more than 60% canopy cover of trees, whereas woodlands are communities with a sparse canopy of trees (25 to 60% cover). The structure of the Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Woodland community is “intermediate between a shrub-savanna and a woodland” (Reschke 1990, Edinger et al. 2002).
Here's a link to some photos of the sitehttp://www.yaphank.org/component/option,com_zoom/Itemid,95/catid,9/PageNo,1/
And a statement on the importance of these woods....
The Status of the Rare
Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Woodland
Ecological Community
at the Caithness Long Island Site,
Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York
Prepared For: Michael E. White, Esq.
Jaspan Schlesinger Hoffman LLP
Environmental Law Firm - 300 Garden City Plaza
Garden City, New York 11530
Prepared By: Eric Lamont, Ph.D.- Botanist
717 Sound Shore Road - Riverhead, New York 11901
April 2006
The 96 acre proposed Caithness Long Island Energy Center site in the Township of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York, supports a mosaic of “Pine Barrens” communities including the rare Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Woodland. This rare ecological community is restricted in New York to Long Island and is currently only known from Suffolk County. Probably 99% of the original range of this rare ecosystem has been irreversibly destroyed by development (Lamont & Welch, unpublished). New York Natural Heritage Program (NYNHP) ranks this rare ecological community G3G4, S2S3 (Reschke 1990, Edinger et al. 2002).
Several stands of Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Woodland occur on site. One stand, dominated by a very dense thicket of scrub oak (Quercus ilicifolia) with a few widely scattered individuals of pitch pine (Pinus rigida) and white oak (Quercus alba), occurs near the center of the 15 acre proposed project site. The boundary between this stand of Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Woodland and the surrounding Pitch Pine-Oak Forest is irregular, and the two ecological communities grade into each other. Other smaller stands of “scrub oak-dominated” Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Woodland occur at the 96 acre site.
A second significant stand of Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Woodland also occurs on site, and is composed of a less dense shrublayer of Quercus ilicifolia, with Pinus rigida and tree oaks (white oak and scarlet oak, Q. coccinea) forming a canopy with approximately 40 to 50% cover. The boundary between this second stand of Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Woodland and the surrounding Pitch Pine-Oak Forest is even more irregular than the first stand.
These two stands of Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Woodland on site are at opposite ends of the community spectrum as described by Reschke (1990) and Edinger et al. (2002): “The density of the shrublayer is inversely related to the tree canopy cover; where the trees are sparse, the shrubs form a dense thicket, and where the trees form a more closed canopy, the shrublayer may be relatively sparse.” Examples of both extremes occur on site, along with various intermediate stages, forming a complex mosaic with the surrounding and intergrading Pitch Pine-Oak Forest.
The dominant shrub of the Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Woodland on site is scrub oak, which in some areas forms dense thickets. In other areas, a low shrublayer occurs beneath the scrub oak; heath shrubs, including lowbush blueberries (Vaccinium pallidum and V. angustifolium) and huckleberry (Gaylussacia baccata) comprise this lower shrublayer, along with a few scattered individuals of staggerbush (Lyonia mariana) and sweet-fern (Comptonia peregrina). The groundcover (in the stand with approximately 40 to 50% canopy cover) includes bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum var. latiusculum), Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica), pinweed (Leechea villosa), panic grass (Panicum depauperatum), and poverty grass (Danthonia spicata). A few scattered individuals of gray goldenrod (Solidago nemoralis) and bushclover (Lespedeza sp.) also occur in openings.
The occurrence of past fires in the Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Woodland on site is evidenced by charred tree trunks and burned needle and twig litter. Differences in past fire intensities may account for the differences in the composition and structure of the Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Woodland on site. For example, the stand dominated by a dense shrublayer of scrub oak and few trees may have been burned by an intensely hot ground fire, whereas the stand with 40 to 50% canopy cover may have been burned by a fire with different attributes.
The technical difference between a “forest” community (Pitch Pine-Oak Forest) and a “woodland” community (Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Woodland) has been clarified by Reschke (1990); basically, a forest community consists of more than 60% canopy cover of trees, whereas woodlands are communities with a sparse canopy of trees (25 to 60% cover). The structure of the Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Woodland community is “intermediate between a shrub-savanna and a woodland” (Reschke 1990, Edinger et al. 2002).