sustaining the future preserving the past - Cleveland Museum of ...

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Conservation:
Natural Areas
Preserving rare plants and animals
today ensures that future generations
can appreciate these wonders of
nature. The Botany Department and
Natural Areas Division staff works to
conserve regional biodiversity across more
than 5,000 acres in northern Ohio and
northwestern Pennsylvania.
During 2010-2011, several exciting
new rare plant and animal species were
discovered on Museum nature preserves.
At Singer Lake bog, the first Summit
County occurrence of bushy aster was
uncovered. The first Ashtabula County
record of lance-leaved violet was found at
West Geneva Swamp. In addition, two antlike
litter beetles—new to science—were
discovered within East Geneva Swamp.
Stewardship efforts restored rare Oak
Savannah habitats at Singer Lake. Many
new species to the basin emerged in
response to restoration of the openings
and controlled burns on the sandy
uplands. Stewardship at the North
Kingsville Sand Barrens enlarged the
population of the state-endangered
Common’s panic grass within the preserve.
This species has not been observed in
Ohio during the last 20 years.
Successfully advocating to protect fragile
habitats, staff secured a Joint Ventures
grant of $62,000 from the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service toward the purchase of
the 50-acre Campbell tract in East Geneva
Swamp. For its next round of funding,
District 8 Clean Ohio scored two Museum
projects—purchase of the 30-acre Shrake
Bog in Summit County and purchase of
a 10-acre parcel within Singer Lake—
higher than any other project submitted.
In addition, the Museum was awarded
a Sustain Our Great Lakes grant of
$85,000 for stewardship at West and East
Geneva swamps.
The Museum received a gift of land
within the Singer Lake basin that holds
the largest leatherleaf bog known in
Ohio. In addition, an estate gift granted
the Museum a 20-acre parcel within the
northern edge of the Singer Lake basin.
In September, more than 200 people
attended the seventh-annual Conservation
Symposium, themed Urban Ecology:
Nature in the City. The symposium
featured a screening of the documentary
“Tapped” at the Capitol Theatre that was
attended by 250 moviegoers.