&

THE RAHWAY RIVER ASSOCIATION

RESULTS & FINDINGS Lenape Park

Union County, N.J. A 24-hour intensive effort to

measure the level of biodiversity at Lenape Park

PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS:

The Rahway River Association Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders

Union County Department of Parks, Recreation & Facilities Trailside Nature & Science Center

Friends of Lenape Park Union County Rutgers Extension Service NJDEP Watershed Ambassador Program

National Bio-Diversity Parks, Inc. The Brooklyn Botanical Garden

NJ Mycological Society Kean University

Rutgers University US Department of Agriculture

NJ Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Natural & Historical Resources

NJDEP, Division of Fish Game & Wildlife

Team Leaders:

Botany: Alex Nappi Birds: Frank Budney

Entomology: Dr. Sylvio (“Chip”) Codella Herpetology: Joe Filo

Macro Invertebrates: Holly Jantz Mammals: Kristi MacDonald-Beyers

Mycology: Dorothy Smullen Fish: Shawn Krause

Thanks also to the Bio-Blitz Committee

“Without habitat, there is no wildlife. It’s that simple.” -Wildlife Habitat Canada

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MARK YOUR CALENDER!

BIO-BLITZ 2006 at

ASHBROOK RESERVATION

JUNE 23 & 24

Fish: Staff from the NJ Department of Environmental Protection, Div. of

Fish & Wildlife sampled the North Branch of the Rahway River as well as

the ponds at the Kenilworth Blvd. and Nomahegan Drive entrances to the

park. The method of sampling included electro-shocking (using mild

electrical currents to temporarily stun fish for easy capture and identifica-

tion) and fishing with rod &

reel for the deeper areas. Of the

19 fish sam- pled, the brown and

rainbow trout were a pleas-

ant surprise since they were

found down- stream of their

original stocking location,

indicating that the waters were

clean and cool enough to

support them.

Reptiles and amphibians: Assisted by three team members and three mem-

bers of the public, Joe Filo, naturalist at Trailside Nature and Science Center,

identified 10 species of herps—frogs, snakes, turtles and, most frequently,

red-backed salamanders. Surprisingly, however, they didn’t find large num-

bers of any species, not even of frogs.

Birds: Frank V. Budney and Tom Parlapiano of the Friends of Lenape Park

coordinated three teams of birders who fanned out across various sections of

the park. They saw and/or heard 90 species, including owls, warblers, wood-

peckers, turkey vultures, ducks and the ever-present Canada geese. Among

the birds they recorded were four species that are threatened or endangered

in New Jersey: Savannah sparrow, red-shouldered hawk, bobolink and black

-crowned night heron, the last being the only one of the four that nests in the

park.

Mammals: The squirrels that scuttle up trees at the approach of visitors and

the deer poised at the edge of the woods, ready to flee from humans, were

only two of the 11 mammals identified by Kristi MacDonald-Beyers, con-

servation and policy associate with the New York-New Jersey Baykeeper.

She set out five “scent stations,” circles of white sand with tuna-scented cot-

ton balls in the middle. Animals that came to investigate and left their tracks

included a coyote, who ventured surprisingly near the Bio-Blitz headquarters

with its human activity. Other animals whose sign was spotted included red

fox and woodchuck, identified by their burrows. Deer were identified by

their scat (droppings).

BIO-BLITZ 2005 Why did we do it and what does it all

mean? Nature teems with life in Lenape Park, a 450-acre Union County park

in Cranford, Westfield, Kenilworth and Springfield. That was con-

firmed by New Jersey’s first ever Bio-Blitz, held in the park May 20-

21, 2005.

A Bio-Blitz is an effort to identify the different forms of life that can

be found in a given location over a 24-hour period, with specialists

looking for whatever grows, crawls, swims, flies or walks. The one

held at Lenape, sponsored by Union County and the Rahway River

Association in cooperation with several other organizations, found a

plethora of flora and fauna—660 different species, ranging from mush-

rooms to oak trees, from ants to coyote and deer, and from bees and

butterflies to hawks.

To identify these species, scientists, naturalists, volunteers and park

visitors tramped through Lenape’s fields and forests and along the

banks of the Rahway River and Nomahegan Brook starting the evening

of May 20 and continuing through the following day. Their goal was

not only to identify as many living things as possible, but also to raise

awareness of the incredible variety of life that can be found even in an

urban park.

RESULTS:

Plants: Alex Nappi, export specialist with the U.S. Department of Agri-

culture, and his Plants Team found the expected large number of inva-

sives—plants not native to this area--when he surveyed Lenape. Most

significantly, he found much Japanese knotweed, which like so many

other invasive plants that crowd out native growth, had been introduced

because of its beauty. But he also found native plants that were doing

well, including the delicate trout lily, which grows in the understory in

the forested areas, and the equiseteum, a plant with so old a lineage that

he described it as “prehistoric.” A less welcome native plant that also

was flourishing was poison ivy. The total number of plants found was

181 species.

Fungi: May isn’t the best time of year for mushrooms. That’s one rea-

son why Dorothy Smullen, former president of the New Jersey Myco-

logical Society, along with a fellow member of the society and several

park visitors, found only 19 species of fungi during the Bio-Blitz. Those

that she did find were for the most part left over from previous years. A

tally taken the fall, when fungi proliferate, would have been far differ-

ent.

Insects: Judged on numbers alone, Lenape Park—like the rest of the

world—belongs to the insects and their relatives. Sylvio Codella and his

research students at Kean University counted a total of 333 species (50

percent of the Bio-Blitz total), ranging from the familiar grasshoppers,

bees and butterflies to those that have only Latin names. Among the

highlights were 32 species of beetles, 35 species of spiders, and 24 spe-

cies of parasitic ichneumonid wasps, which help keep pest populations

in check. And that’s just the start. At the height of summer, when the

populations of insects also reach their height, the numbers would have

been even greater.

Turkey Tale Fungus

Dr Chip Codella instructs the Insect Team

Jimmy Occi helps i.d. fish

&

THE RAHWAY RIVER ASSOCIATION

RESULTS & FINDINGS Lenape Park

Union County, N.J. A 24-hour intensive effort to

measure the level of biodiversity at Lenape Park

PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS:

The Rahway River Association Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders

Union County Department of Parks, Recreation & Facilities Trailside Nature & Science Center

Friends of Lenape Park Union County Rutgers Extension Service NJDEP Watershed Ambassador Program

National Bio-Diversity Parks, Inc. The Brooklyn Botanical Garden

NJ Mycological Society Kean University

Rutgers University US Department of Agriculture

NJ Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Natural & Historical Resources

NJDEP, Division of Fish Game & Wildlife

Team Leaders:

Botany: Alex Nappi Birds: Frank Budney

Entomology: Dr. Sylvio (“Chip”) Codella Herpetology: Joe Filo

Macro Invertebrates: Holly Jantz Mammals: Kristi MacDonald-Beyers

Mycology: Dorothy Smullen Fish: Shawn Krause

Thanks also to the Bio-Blitz Committee

“Without habitat, there is no wildlife. It’s that simple.” -Wildlife Habitat Canada

Un

ion

Co

un

ty D

ept.

Pa

rks

& R

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on

Ad

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, N

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101

MARK YOUR CALENDER!

BIO-BLITZ 2006 at

ASHBROOK RESERVATION

JUNE 23 & 24

&

THE R

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Union County Dept. Parks & Recreation

Administration Building Elizabethtown Plaza

Elizabeth, NJ 07207

370/0590

UNION COUNTY

BOARD OF CHOSEN FREEHOLDERS

Alexander Mirabella, Chairman Bette Jane Kowalski, Vice Chairman

Angel G. Estrada Adrian O. Mapp

Chester Holmes Rick Proctor Deborah P. Scanlon Daniel P. Sullivan

Nancy Ward

George W. Devanney, County Manager

M. Elizabeth Genievich, C.M.C., M.P.A., Deputy County Manager

Director of Administrative Services

Nicole L. Tedeschi, Clerk of the Board Charles Sigmund Jr., Director,

Department of Parks and Recreation

PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID

Elizabeth, NJ 07207

Permit No. 101

MA

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YO

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CA

LE

ND

ER

!

BIO

-BL

ITZ

2006 a

t

AS

HB

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23 &

24