NR2 Adventures at the Intervale
On the cool, rainy afternoon of May 1st, our lab group explored the trails of the Intervale. The area was similar to the floodplain environment we saw at the Beeken Rivershore Preserve in Richmond; there were lots of ostrich fern fiddleheads sprouting from the muddy soils, as well as some tall eastern cottonwoods and some box elders that were just beginning to flower. I saw some goutweed growing along the floodplain floors, which I hope will be removed soon to prevent the species from invading the rest of the area. I also spotted lots of raccoon tracks in the mud. The variation in sizes most likely meant that there were a mother and her babies walking along the trails shortly before we came.
The photos I took are attached. As identified on iNaturalist, I discovered violets, bracket fungi, common raccoon tracks, mosses, and a type of dicot.
The agriculture activity of the floodplain certainly affects the biodiversity of the area. Since there are so many farms on the Intervale, a significant amount of land is devoted to agriculture. This land could have been a viable habitat for the species that live in the floodplains, but these species are now restricted to the trails since the farmland does not provide adequate habitat for them to survive in. To create this open farmland, a significant number of trees, bushes, and other plant species must have been removed, therefore pushing the animal species out of their homes and away from the agricultural land. This decrease in available habitat leaves less space for populations to grow, causing some species' numbers to decrease as a result of habitat loss. Therefore, the biodiversity of the Intervale was most likely affected by the creation of farmland.
Since the species of the floodplain are restricted to the forest we walked through, the surrounding developed landscape could lead to habitat fragmentation, leading to the edge effect. The animal species are forced into the center of their habitat block to escape the agricultural and developed land, therefore leading to a drop in population numbers.
