Land and Biodiversity Management

An Overview

The Delaware Nature Society (DNS) manages over 2,000 acres of land in Delaware and southeast Pennsylvania. Management goals include the protection and enhancement of natural biodiversity, utilization of the land for environmental education and promotion of responsible environmental stewardship. Surveys of flora and fauna are conducted on all properties and the conservation of rare and/or uncommon fauna and flora and their habitats is a high management priority. Yearly management plans are developed for each site and are used by staff to guide land management operations.

Of the total acreage managed, 617.50 acres are owned by DNS. The largest tract is the Burrows Run Preserve (352.33 acres). The site includes one of Delaware's healthiest streams, a scenic stream valley, open meadows and fields, pockets of mature woodlands, and a small pond. The Coverdale Farm Preserve which is located on the preserve is operated as an agricultural education facility. Here, corn, soybean and hay are grown and livestock raised to support the educational operation. The Flint Woods Preserve (37.60 acres) is located within the Flint Woods Natural Area (state and privately owned) and includes one of Delaware's finest examples of a mature forest ecosystem. Additional DNS lands include: Auburn Heights (74.74 acres), Red Clay Flood Plain Tract (12.77 acres), and the Mortenson site (7.00 acres). The society also owns three properties in Sussex County, Delaware at or near Abbotts Mill Nature Center. The Marvel Tract is a 108.91 acre saltmarsh located along the Delaware Bay at the town of Slaughter Beach, Delaware. This excellent example of an Atlantic saltmarsh is an important component of the society's educational programs. The Isaac Tract (18 acres) and the Cedar Bog Preserve (5.78 acres) are located adjacent to Abbotts Mill Nature Center and are comprised of dense cedar/maple swamp forest that provides important habitat for a large variety of plants and animals.

The remaining 1200 acres are not owned by DNS, however, the society does maintain management responsibilities for the land. The Ashland Nature Center is the headquarters of the society and through a long term lease has complete management responsibility of the 81.2 acres. Nearby an additional 350 acres are utilized for environmental programs and managed to some extent by the society. Although owned by the state of Delaware, the 106.63 acres at Abbotts Mill Nature Center is managed by DNS. The area is utilized extensively for nature education and is comprised of a coastal plain stream, associated woodlands and wetlands and a 23-acre mill pond.

The Middle Run Valley Natural Area Park is an 860 acre New Castle County park located in Northern, Delaware. In 1991, the Delaware Nature Society's began to a forest reforestation project on the site. This has resulted in over 33,000 trees and shrubs being planted by volunteers. This effort creates forest habitat and increases biodiversity along the Middle Run stream corridor. The Society has developed a comprehensive management plan for the park to guide future land and biodiversity management projects.

Land and Biodiversity Management Goals:

Biodiversity:

Protect and preserve natural biodiversity with special emphasis on rare or uncommon species of flora and fauna.
Manage defined areas to protect and improve the quality of naturally occurring habitats.
Control (eliminate where possible) invasive alien vegetation (with as little disruption to natural communities as possible).
Re-establish extirpated native plant and animal species and communities where appropriate.
Encourage natural succession of field to woodlands in selected areas.

Historical Preservation:

Preserve the integrity of designated scenic viewscapes, historic structures and artifacts.

Stewardship

Demonstrate sound and ethical land management through progressive techniques and policies.
Conduct on site land management educational programs.
Offer land management consultation to all surrounding land owners.

Develop Lands for Use by Environmental Education Programs:

Manage areas to complement the Delaware Nature Society's environmental education program and the needs of students, instructors and general membership.
Provide access to a variety of natural habitats by creating and maintaining well-defined trails and teaching areas.

Invasive Alien Vegetation Control Program

Many alien (non-native) plants have been introduced to the Delmarva Peninsula and nearby Pennsylvania and New Jersey in the last 350 years, several of these plants have become serious pests. Alien plants were introduced to the area for various reasons: agricultural, horticultural, and wildlife management to name a few. Others were accidentally introduced into the native landscape. A few of these plants have responded to our climate and general growing conditions with great vigor, spreading aggressively into many natural habitats crowding out native plant species. Alien plants can be especially aggressive in areas that have been disturbed by humans (forest clearing, non-native insect outbreaks, agricultural practices, wetland draining or modification etc.) or more natural events (storms, fire, natural insect outbreaks).

Many ecologists believe that the relatively recent spread of particularly aggressive alien plant species is a major factor in the reduction and sometimes extinction of many native plant populations. The exclusion and possible eradication of native plants can lead to a reduction in plant biodiversity and in turn to a reduction in the diversity of animal species as well.

The Delaware Nature Society, in order to reduce the negative effects of invasive alien plants on natural communities has undertaken a major effort to control alien plant pest species. While ideally eradication of invasive alien plants would be the goal of any control project, in practice it is practically impossible to completely eliminate most species. The primary goal of this control project is to reduce populations of invasive alien vegetation to levels that do not or that have minimum impact on natural plant communities and natural plant succession.