Start Date
08/04/2022
End Date
08/04/2022
Description
In this session we will study the plant communities of the Eastern Coastal Plain, the
successional changes that affect them, and techniques for guiding those changes. At
the Preserve we will observe succession in its mature stages by examining a Chestnut
Oak Forest, Mesic Mixed Hardwood Forest, Floodplain Forest, Tidal Hardwood Swamp,
and the region’s most intact Freshwater Tidal Marsh.
The adjacent 132-acre site tells an entirely different story. Here, an upland forest was
cleared for a development that was never built, leaving much of the land treeless
and in an early successional stage with a mix of native and exotic species. The site is
now home to the non-profit Crow’s Nest Research Center, who enlisted Larry Weaner
Landscape Associates to develop a stewardship plan to guide the emerging process of
succession. We will observe the results of that plan’s implementation as we traverse
the panoramic native grasslands, wooded ravines, and coastal shrub thickets that
exist there today
Location
Stafford, VA
Distance Learning
No
Course Equivalency
No
Subjects
Horticulture / Plants
Health, Safety and Welfare
Yes
Hours
6.0
Learning Outcomes
1. Learn to assess the various open field and woodland plant communities of the coastal plain.
2. Learn how understanding the compositional patterns and ecological processes of the coastal plain woodlands can lead to effective planting and management strategies.
3. Learn how understanding the compositional patterns and ecological processes of the coastal plain meadows, shrublands and old fields can lead to effective planting and management strategies.
Instructors
Michael Lott, Sophie Lynn, Larry Weaner, & Jenna Webster
Course Codes
Provider
New Directions in the American Landscape