![]() ![]() Photos by Bernadette Rigley Returning What Was Lost As we lose diversity of species, we lose resiliency - making our ecosystems less adaptable to change.īobolink nesting, from egg to fledgling. The ecological impacts of these losses could be devastating. While some grassland bird species have adapted to these nonnative grasslands, the intensity with which they have been managed, combined with the loss of important native grasses and forbs, have contributed to the significant bird population declines we see today.įor example, Northern Bobwhites, Eastern Meadowlarks, and Grasshopper Sparrows have greatly declined in the northern Piedmont Bobolinks and Savannah Sparrows have become rare breeders south of Pennsylvania and some, like the Henslow's Sparrow and the Loggerhead Shrike, a predatory songbird, are now only rare visitors. Meanwhile, those utilized for grazing were mostly converted to nonnative grasses, robust introduced plants that provided forage for cattle, sheep, and horses. Over the decades, properties not maintained in agriculture grew to tall, dark woodlands. Today, few people living where they once stood have any idea they existed. Then, when agriculture began to shift to the Great Plains in the late 1800s and early 1900s, many farms were abandoned in the Piedmont.īut the prairies did not return. By the early 1900s, only small patches of this habitat remained. ![]() But they were also breeding and wintering areas for many bird species, including some now mostly gone from the area.Įuropean settlers in the 1600s and early 1700s plowed the grasslands and suppressed fires that had maintained the region's prairies. The Virginia Piedmont grasslands, like other prairies, were home to a great many native plants, including endemic species, and even to large animals such as Elk and American Bison. Many of these were maintained by frequent burning, either by Native Americans or natural, lightning-started fires, but they also occurred on shallow soils, balds, and barrens. ![]() Grass of the Pastįrom pre-European times up to the mid-1700s, lands between the Atlantic Ocean and Appalachian Mountains included some extensive and important grasslands and savannas. Efforts are now underway to help study, protect, and restore some of the grasslands within the new BirdScape, which is only the second one east of the Appalachians and the first to focus on the Virginia Piedmont's working grasslands. ![]() Throughout the year, Virginia's Piedmont grasslands are frequented by more than 100 bird species, including breeding and wintering grassland specialists that are in steep decline. It's called the Northern Virginia Piedmont and Shenandoah Valley BirdScape.Ī BirdScape defines a focal area for conservation efforts, where partners can work together to address the issues affecting declining bird populations. These properties now also form an integral part of a newly declared conservation zone, or BirdScape, established this year by ABC, VWL, and partners at the Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC). With much of this region under private ownership, it is an ideal landscape to gain a better understanding of how the actions of landowners influence the wildlife with which we share our grasslands. Together, these properties cover more than 80,000 acres, from hilly Loudoun County to the mountains bordering Augusta County. Since 2010, the VWL team has surveyed more than 150 properties across 16 counties in Northern Virginia's Piedmont and Shenandoah Valley. Virginia Working Landscapes (VWL), a program of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, collaborates with landowners, community scientists, universities, and other local partners to study the region's biodiversity on private lands. The new Northern Virginia Piedmont and Shenandoah Valley BirdScape is located just outside of Washington, D.C., and encompasses areas surrounding Shenandoah National Park (shown in dark green). ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |