November 2011 - The Galena Territory

14 November 2011 ASSOCIATIONNEWS
Territory Times
From the Greenspace Committee
More Activity at the Owners’ Club
By EMILY LUBCKE
GTA Natural Resources Manager
In 2010, the Greenspace
C o m m i t t e e
commissioned
the Jo Daviess
Conservation
Fo u n d a t i o n
(JDCF) to
write a woodlandmanagement
plan for
Emily Lubcke
the 13 acres
o f wo o d s
above the Owners’ Club facility.
It has long been a goal of the
Greenspace Committee to start
woodland management efforts
within the Greenspace, and the
committee felt the woodland
behind the Owners’ Club would
be a great demonstration site for
this work. Our goals included:
identifying the types of habitats
found on the property, defining a
management strategy to enhance
the habitats and features, and enhancing
wildlife resources.
JDCF PERFORMED THE SITE
INVENTORY
Chris Kirkpatrick, Natural
Resources Coordinator for JDCF,
performed the site inventory, cataloging
herbaceous and woody
plants within the woodland. He
found three habitat types within
the larger woodland tract: Mesic
Upland Forest, Dry Mesic
Savanna, and Dry Mesic Upland
Forest (please refer to the 2005
aerial image). Within these three
habitats Kirkpatrick sampled
the density of woody species in
three locations representative of
the habitat. He used this data to
determine the stocking rate (density
of trees per acre) of each
habitat.
Kirkpatrick also compared
1940’s aerial photography to
aerial images from 2005, the
most current aerial photography
at the time the plan was written.
He estimated how land use patterns
of the farmers during that
part of the timeline affected the
conditions we see on the ground
today, such as exposed shale on
the slopes due to its use as cattle
pasture. By comparing the two
images here, one can see the
difference in woodland density
between the 1940s and 2000s.
Also included in the report were
soil maps and a topography map.
All this data combined with the
Greenspace Committee’s goals
allowed Kirkpatrick to make
recommendations on how to restore
the woodland to a healthier
habitat.
FEW NON-NATIVE, INVASIVE
SPECIES OBSERVED, BUT TREE
SEEDLINGS TOO NUMEROUS
The presence of non-native,
invasive species is relatively
low. The abundance of garlic
mustard currently on site will
allow us to control its spread
within this tract. Invasive, nonnative
understory woody species
are also not abundant, but
include honeysuckle, Japanese
barberry, common buckthorn
and mulberry.
However, the stocking rates
of seedlings, saplings, and
young native trees are extremely
high – too high. For
example, in the Mesic Upland
Forest, the density of trees
with a diameter of one inch or
greater is 911 trees per acre; the
woody stems that are less than
one-inch diameter are 4,416
trees per acre. Kirkpatrick
compared this to data from the
Illinois Department of Natural
Resources, which defines a
properly stocked forest to be no
more than 155 trees per acre.
The tree species observed
include ash, elm, maple, and
basswood (linden), which are
all softwood trees that grow
quickly in reduced sunlight
conditions. These trees shade
out our once-dominant hardwood
trees, such as oak and
hickory, and further reduce the
amount of sunlight that reaches
the ground. The absence of
light does not allow the herbaceous
vegetation to grow well,
leaving bare soil exposed to
wind and water erosion.
In summary, the management
recommendations include reducing
the stocking rate for all
softwood species and leaving
more desirable species, including
black walnut, oaks,
cherry and bitternut hickory.
Other management activities
will include removing invasive
herbaceous and woody species
and reintroducing prescribed
fire to the area. The Greenspace
Committee and volunteers are
starting the process within the
Mesic Upland Forest.
It is a goal of the Greenspace
Committee to improve the
health of our woodlands by
slowing down the succession
process, removing invasive species,
reintroducing prescribed
fire, and enhancing the native
plant community. We hope
that you will enjoy watching
www.thegalenaterritory.com
Resource Library Established
The Greenspace Committee
and the Community Wildlife
Habitat Team are excited to
announce that a resource library
has been established!
This “library” contains
great books about the natural
world, including field
guides for plants, insects
and birds. You can find the
beautiful bookshelf in the
Owners’ Club, under the
stairs that lead to the Social
Hall, and just outside the
Administrative Office.
Many thanks to the generous
people who donated
books or magazines from
their collections so that more
of our property owners can
be engaged and excited by
the natural beauty around
us: Diane Beemster, Tom
Cunningham and Susan Lipnick, Randy Downing, Pam
Johnson, Beth Pomaro, Ruthann Winkin, and Dick Peterson.
If you have books that you would like to donate, we are
happy to consider them for the Resource Library. We are
looking for books about native or invasive plants, birds,
mammals, amphibians, reptiles, or other wildlife. Books
about water bodies, soils, geology, geography, and more!
Please keep us in mind if you are thinning out your personal
library.
These books are for reference only, so please put them back
for others to enjoy. The office staff will be happy to make
copies of certain pages for you.
this process take place in the
Owners’ Club woodlands and
will be pleased by the results.