Start Date
10/10/2023
End Date
10/10/2023
Description
The Plant Communities and Ecological Processes of The Atlantic Coastal Plain (1+¾ hrs)
Daniela Shebitz
Understanding the patterns and processes that affect spontaneous plant communities is the foundation of ecology-based design. In this presentation, ecologist and ethnobotanist Daniela Shebitz will provide an analysis of the key forest, meadow, and wetland communities of the Atlantic Coastal Plain. She will discuss their physical environments and plant compositions, as well as the ecological processes that affect them, including successional dynamics and disturbance. She will place particular emphasis on an often neglected, yet crucial aspect of ecological analysis; how historic human activity has influenced, and continues to influence, today’s wild plant assemblages.
Designing Wildlife Habitat: Behind the Scenes (1+¾ hrs)
Pat Sutton
From the perspective of a life-long naturalist intimate with the workings of the natural world, Pat will showcase the most important native trees, shrubs, vines, wildflowers, and even weeds, to birds and pollinators. Beyond simply naming species, she will discuss their specific faunal relationships, the layered spatial patterns that particularly enhance their habitat value for birds, and the landscape practices that accommodate the life cycle needs of butterflies, moths, bees, wasps and other pollinators. In concert with Doug Tallamy’s Homegrown National Park movement, Pat will illustrate how to foster a natural refuge everywhere - no matter how small or urban - to enrich the experiences of both people and wildlife.
Interactive Landscape Design: Plants, Wildlife, and People (1+¾ hrs)
Larry Weaner
Landscape designers and restoration ecologists both manipulate environments to influence vegetation, yet cross communication is all too rare. In this presentation Larry Weaner will show how the compositions, patterns, and processes of Coastal Plain plant communities can be incorporated into the designed landscape. He will demonstrate how an understanding of specific ecological concepts like disturbance, competition, conservatism, ecotype, senescence, and succession can lead to specific protocols that enhance the habitat value and experiential quality of landscapes designed to interact with people.
Comparing Notes: A Wrap-up Conversation (45 min.)
Larry Weaner, Daniela Shebitz, Pat Sutton
Here our presenters and session participants will participate in a freewheeling discussion on their real world experiences and lingering questions regarding ecology-based landscape practice in the Atlantic Coastal Plain, and anything else ‘landscape’ that is on their minds.
Location
Cape May Point, NJ
Distance Learning
No
Course Equivalency
No
Subjects
Horticulture / Plants
Residential Design
Health, Safety and Welfare
Yes
Hours
6.0
Learning Outcomes
1. Examine the ecological patterns of native plant communities in the Atlantic Coastal Plain and their applicability to the landscape development and enhancement.
2. Understand the ecological processes that are relevant to landscape development and enhancement including but not limited to disturbance, succession, competition, and plant proliferation strategies.
3. Learn about landscape design techniques to maximize habitat for birds, insects, and other wildlife.
Instructors
Daniela Shebitz, PhD, Pat Sutton, & Larry Weaner, FAPLD
Course Codes
Provider
New Directions in the American Landscape