Annual Report 06 - full size.qxd - Westchester Land Trust

Habitat Protection
When we tell people we're conducting a research
project at a calcareous fen, we tend to get blank stares in response.
A research project in a what
While biological research is not the biggest part of our portfolio,
the opportunity in Pound Ridge was too good to ignore and fit
well within the land use part of our mission.
We had special funding, willing landowners, the scientific staff
to oversee the work, and the calcareous fen.
The what A calcareous fen is an open wetland fed by groundwater
that percolates up through marble or limestone bedrock (in
Westchester Land Trust’s
conservation staff regularly
helps land owners and
our case, Inwood marble). The marble gives the water a high pH,
and the plants and animals that live in the wetland are adapted to
the harsh conditions. To say that calcareous fens are rare is an
easement donors manage
their property to protect
important habitats.
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