A Natural Resource Management Guide for the County of Morris A ...

Timbering practices impacted plant
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communities by favoring shade-tolerant
species such as the sugar maple. Fire, on the
other hand, destroyed understory plants and
groundcovers, supporting the growth of sunloving
plants. Both cutting and burning
created openings enabling sunlight to reach the
forest floor. This new profusion of light
encouraged the production of oak, hickory and
tulip seedlings. An undisturbed mature forest
would tend to support shade tolerant sugar
maple, hemlock, yellow birch, sweet birch,
beech, hophornbeam, and dogwood.
Landscaping practices have involved the introduction of exotic species, often leading to the crowding out
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of native species. Examples of species which have become invasive in character include:
Amur Honeysuckle Black Swallowwort Fly Honeysuckle Norway Maple
Autumn Olive Common Buckthorn Garlic Mustard Porcelain Berry
Bachelor Buttons Common Reed Grass Japanese Barberry Purple Loosestrife
Bell’s Honeysuckle Crown Vetch Japanese Honeysuckle Russian Olive
Black Locust Curly Pondweed Japanese Knotweed Tree of Heaven
Eurasian Water Milfoil Multiflora Rose Water Chestnut
Hydrological fluctuations, resulting from natural as well as human sources, can cause profound changes
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in resident vegetation. Flooding, for example, fills soil pore spaces, hindering the necessary soil-air
exchange, and making plants vulnerable to insects and disease. A good illustration of the effects of
hydrological fluctuations is evident in the Great Swamp where the invasive phragmites and arrow arum
have crowded out sensitive natives such as wild millet, sedges, and smartweed.
Urbanization effects changes on the soil, which is compacted by construction. The necessary soil-airexchange
is prevented, stifling good root growth and threatening viability and
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longevity.
Support
Regulatory
FEDERAL
The Endangered Species Act affirms conservation of “critical habitats” to protect threatened and
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endangered species.
Executive Order 13112 serves to control invasive species and their impact on economic, ecological, and
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human health.
STATE
Natural Areas System protects ecologically significant areas. “Lands ... may not be sold, leased,
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exchanged or altered in any way without the approval of the DEPE. Although boundary revisions are
possible, only legislation may remove an area from the System.” 4
NJ Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act preserves freshwater wetlands from disturbance.
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4New Jersey Natural Areas, NJ DEPE, Office of Natural Lands Management, brochure.
A Natural Resource Management Guide
for the County of Morris 152