Linda Loring Nature Foundation Receives National Award for Excellence in Phenology Research

The Linda Loring Nature Foundation is pleased to announce that we are the recipients of a national award for excellence in phenological research and outreach.

The National Phenology Network has named LLNF as PhenoChampions for our work in observing, recording, and educating the public about phenology.

Dr. Sarah Bois with a group of New School students on a field trip to LLNF to learn about phenology.

For ten years, LLNF has studied the phenology of a diversity of plant species including common, native shrubs that are signature species of the landscape. Phenology is the study of the timing and cyclical patterns of events in the natural world, particularly those related to the annual life cycles of plants, animals, and other living things. These events include the budding of leaves in spring, the arrival of migratory birds, insect hatch, and the flowering of plants.

Phenology is a vital field of ecological research that helps us understand how organisms respond to environmental cues such as temperature, day length, and rainfall, and how climate change can impact these seasonal changes.

Phenology is a key part of the research program at Linda Loring Nature Foundation. Across our 275-acre property, eight sites are monitored for changes in native shrubs like Black Cherry, Bayberry, and Scrub Oak. These sites also have sensors to capture temperature data. LLNF also collaborates on an island-wide phenology project with Northern Kentucky University researcher, Dr. Yingying Xi, investigating native versus invasive shrub phenology on Nantucket.

The National Phenology Network selected LLNF for the PhenoChampion Award to recognize our work developing long-term phenology data collection, our dedication to teaching students about phenology, and our engagement of the public in learning about climate change impacts. Each year, interns, volunteers, students, and staff collect data and contribute to the success of this program. Thank you to the dozens of people who have supported our phenology program over the last ten years.

The phenology research at LLNF is a cornerstone of our climate change and phenology educational programming which often includes hands-on field experiences. This outreach opportunity perfectly encompasses our goals in education and research; to share real-world research with the community, and for our education programs to incorporate projects happening here at LLNF. For example, since 2015, LLNF has partnered with the Nantucket New School for a unit on phenology in their upper school science classes. Thank you to Matt Liddle of the Nantucket New School for your partnership and passion for bringing real-world science to your students!

LLNF also recently received a grant from the Nantucket Garden Club which will be used to help create additional interpretive signage and other materials to highlight phenology and encourage others to join in the data collection.

If you are interested in participating in phenology data collection with LLNF or in your own backyard, contact Director of Research and Education, Dr. Sarah Bois, to learn more about how you can participate (stbois@llnf.org).

“The USA National Phenology Network exists to collect, store, and share phenology data and information to aid in scientific discovery, decision-making, and understanding by the public. The USA-NPN would not be able to accomplish this goal without the support of Local Phenology Programs like Linda Loring Nature Foundation and Local Phenology Leaders like Dr. Sarah Bois. These Programs are essential in teaching their local volunteers, students, and members of the public about phenology and supporting them in collecting high-quality data.”

- Erin Posthumus, Partnerships & Projects Manager, USA National Phenology Network

Congratulations to Dr. Sarah Bois and the LLNF team, whose efforts in research and education on this topic have been nationally recognized by the leading authority on phenology!

New Research on Deer Genetics Highlights the Origin of Nantucket Deer Herd

Researchers from Framingham State University, the Linda Loring Nature Foundation, and Eastern Connecticut State University announced that they have published an article investigating the origins of the Nantucket deer population. This research supports the hypothesis that only a handful of deer are responsible for the large population now on island.

The article will appear in the journal Northeastern Naturalist later this year but is

currently available early online.

Nantucket is currently home to more than 3,000 white tailed deer. However, deer were

absent from the island at the beginning of the 20th century. Local Nantucket lore held that

the current deer population originated from just three deer; one male that was found

swimming in Nantucket Sound and two females brought over from Michigan in the early

1920’s. New research published in the journal Northeastern Naturalist supports this

general idea, with a few additions.

Led by Dr. Rick Beckwitt from Framingham State University, the research used genetic

material from deer fecal samples and muscle tissue focusing on the mitochondrial DNA.

Mitochondrial DNA sequences are inherited from mother to daughter in the female lineage

without combination with the paternal genetics. Therefore, for the old Nantucket story to

be true, the deer population should only have two major mitochondrial types all inherited

from the two original female deer imported from Michigan. For this study, deer from

Nantucket, mainland New England, and Michigan were sampled.

Analysis from the Nantucket samples resulted in three distinct sequences, two of which

were the most common. Those common haplotypes (or sequences) were identical or nearly

identical to those from Michigan. Results indicate that most deer on Nantucket did

originate from 2 founding females from Michigan, and a small percentage are descended

from later introductions from mainland New England.

This work was part of a “Research Experience in Biology” class at Framingham State. Dr.

Beckwitt used the Nantucket deer origin story as motivation for his undergraduate

students to learn genetic techniques to investigate real questions. Combining history and

Nantucket lore with scientific research has shown that there is truth in the local lore.

“This has been a great project to be a part of. Combining history, wildlife ecology, and

genetics to tell the story of our Nantucket deer is interesting enough. Supporting

undergraduate students in research and learning new skills in a real-world situation is a

big motivator for this type of work,” Dr. Sarah Bois of the Linda Loring Nature Foundation.

The research ultimately shows evidence for the founder effect on island; reduced genetic

diversity resulting when a population is descended from a small number of colonizing

ancestors. This information can be useful for wildlife management.

To read the abstract check out Northeastern Naturalist. For more information or a copy of

the full paper contact Dr. Sarah Bois: stbois@llnf.org or Dr. Rick Beckwitt: rbeckwitt@framingham.edu

Spotted Knapweed: Tackling an Invasive Plant Takes a Village

by George Jabren, LLNF Volunteer

Over the past few weeks I’ve been working with conservation programs across the island to remove invasive plants from fields and roadsides. Every Thursday morning at 8:30, we’d meet at a selected location, spade in hand, to pull or dig out the plant of the week. Specifically, these last two weeks focused on eliminating Centaurea stoebe, commonly the spotted knapweed:

Photo: Rob Routledge, Sault College, Bugwood.org.

The island’s years-long effort to reduce spotted knapweed certainly cleared up the weed’s presence near Cisco. The roadsides had been nearly licked clean of spotted knapweed, both a success and a fright, for the fear of having missed patches of the plant or having misidentified it was slightly concerning.

Nonetheless, meandering across the roadsides with other members of the LLNF, Nantucket Land Bank, the Nantucket Land Council, and Nantucket Conservation Foundation made for interesting conversations, scattering small seeds of ecological knowledge as prolific as those of the knapweed itself. From debating the efficacy of the bee’s caste system to more focused dialogues on the dangers of the invasive species, such topics would lead me to say that I’ve heard it all. In that short time, though, I’m sure the other conservation members haven’t brushed the topsoil of their nature knowledge.  

                With regards to the invasive species, the spotted knapweed is an aggressive seed producer native to Europe and Asia. The species, however, made its way to North America tagging alongside transported hay and the undercarriages of vehicles. It prefers to grow in open areas with plenty of sunlight, and its highly competitive nature permits it to grow even in the densest of plant monocultures.

Two particular aspects at play give this plant a large edge over native species. First, the knapweed contains a large amount of phytotoxins which become noxious to other plants. As the toxins can cause skin irritation with direct contact is recommended that anyone treating populations of the weed wear gloves and wash hands after direct contact. Moreover, in large quantities, these phytotoxins can make neighboring species and soil appear sick and barren. Second, the knapweed forms a symbiotic relationship with a soil fungus, siphoning carbon from native grass species. While these two features alone give the species a strong competitive advantage over native plants, the knapweed’s identity as an invasive species additionally burdens the ecology by introducing nonnative fungi and bacteria. With such a problematic presence, it’s no wonder that the island has sought to eliminate it. The species, however, is far from gone on the island and there exist many patches along roadsides and open areas.

                If you encounter a patch of the species and wish to lend the island a hand, the US Department of Agriculture recommends hand pulling/digging to remove the plants from the soil. The earlier one removes the weed, the better as once the knapweed blooms and seeds, it will have begun littering its surroundings with seeds. Additionally, it is important to remove the entirety of the plant’s crown (where the stem meets the roots) because the knapweed can regrow from broken root fragments. With such removal conditions, hand removal of the plant is recommended 2 to 4 times a year for multiple years to ensure the plant’s disappearance. Likewise, the nature foundations across the island have been doing such since 2018.

To learn more about invasive plants on Nantucket or join the effort to remove them, visit the Invasive Plant Species Committee page of the Nantucket Biodiversity Initiative’s website here.

Sandplain Grassland Network Publishes Management Recommendations to Conserve and Restore Globally Rare Habitat

The Sandplain Grassland Network has published an article summarizing the state of globally rare sandplain grassland habitats in coastal areas of Massachusetts and New York that are rapidly disappearing due to a variety of causes including invasive species encroachment, climate change, and sea level rise.

The article will appear in the Journal of Restoration Ecology later this year but is currently available for early, open access by clicking here.

New England Blazing Star, Liatris novae-angliae

Sandplain grasslands of the northeastern U.S. are iconic hotspots for biodiversity and important conservation priorities because of their relative rarity, limited geographical range, and the diversity of uncommon plant and animal species that they support. These habitats, which mainly occur on Cape Cod, Long Island, and the coastal islands of both states, have been managed by conservation groups and agencies for decades.

The Network performed a literature review and manager interviews and determined that our management efforts need to expand to reduce woody plant cover that is impacting rare species and driving succession.

“We have been managing and creating grasslands in globally rare sandplain habitats for nearly 40 years,” said Dr. Sarah Bois, Director of Research and Education at the Linda Loring Nature Foundation on Nantucket. “Our review of the state of management of sandplain habitats demonstrates that while we have made good progress in the short-term and have learned a great deal about these habitats, our management is currently not adequate to maintain this system over the long-term considering both current conditions and the implications of climate change.”

Recommendations for moving forward include experimenting with different combinations of management techniques including prescribed fire, mowing, and direct removal of woody plants to reduce the amount of woody cover which is limiting grasses and wildflowers.

“We need to manage these habitats more intensively than we have done in the past,” said Dr. Chris Neill, an Ecosystem Ecologist with the Woodwell Climate Research Center. “Climate change will also be a challenge as managers will have to consider species movement, changes in precipitation, and impacts on management techniques such as prescribed fire.”

“We are fortunate to have the opportunity to build off the research of past and current grassland managers to ensure adaptive sandplain grassland management at an ecoregional landscape scale within the Atlantic Pine Barrens Ecoregion,” said Polly Weigand, Science and Stewardship Program Manager of the Central Pine Barrens Commission. “This leadership is key to advancing effective sandplain grassland protection and conservation and the Network extends our appreciation to those that helped develop this critical review.”

The Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius ) depends on sandplain grasslands for hunting and nesting.

The Sandplain Grassland Network is a regional partnership among researchers and managers that formed in 2016 to advance understanding and effectiveness of the management of sandplain grasslands. The Sandplain Grassland Network shares methods and understanding gained from experiences with managing grasslands across the region to better protect and foster the unique and rare species that sandplain grasslands support. The Sandplain Grassland Network contains representatives from Central Pine Barrens Joint Planning and Policy Commission, Linda Loring Nature Foundation, Nantucket Conservation Foundation, the Massachusetts Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program, The Nature Conservancy, The Trustees of Reservations, and Woodwell Climate Research Center. Contributors range from Kennebunk, Maine to Long Island, New York.

Seth Engelbourg Elected to Board of Directors for the Massachusetts Environmental Education Society

We have some news to celebrate!

We are proud to announce that Seth Engelbourg, our Naturalist Educator and Program Manager, has joined the Board of Directors for the Massachusetts Environmental Education Society.

With ten years of experience in ecology and education, Seth brings a wealth of knowledge and skills to the MEES Board. MEES is led by the volunteer Board of Directors and a part-time staff and offers resources, support, and professional development opportunities for environmental educators.

Seth is co-chair of the Strategic Action Team, which is tasked with re-envisioning the role that MEES plays in advancing better environmental education outcomes and working towards building a robust and inclusive network that is representative of the demographics of educators across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Kitty Pochman, Executive Director of LLNF, is excited to see Seth serve in a leadership role in our region’s environmental education community. Kitty said, “A sustainable future depends on an educated public. Seth’s commitment to learning and environmental literacy is at the heart of everything he commits to in his daily role as Naturalist Educator and Program Manager at the LLNF or in the volunteer positions he holds in our community. As a strategic and analytical thinker, he will represent Nantucket and bring these skills to the MEES boardroom to help advance their mission and build capacity to improve environmental education within the Commonwealth."

When asked what he’s looking forward to working on with the Board, Seth said, “Although MEES has existed for over 40 years, there is renewed energy in evaluating the needs of our changing community and ensuring we effectively plan to meet these needs. I am excited to be part of the organization at such an energetic moment and look forward to the catalytic change that the other board members and I will bring to MEES through our planning efforts.”

Congratulations, Seth, and thank you to the Massachusetts Environmental Education Society for your work in supporting educators and environmental literacy across the state!

Linda Loring Nature Foundation Awarded $75,000 State Wildlife Habitat Management Grant

Funds provided through the grant program will support wildlife habitat improvement projects at LLNF including grassland habitat restoration and invasive species removal.

Nantucket, MA: The Linda Loring Nature Foundation (LLNF) is pleased to announce it has been awarded a grant from the MassWildlife Habitat Management Grant Program to create and improve grassland habitats by removing non-native invasive tree species and restoring natural ecosystem processes. The $75,000 awarded is one of the largest amounts given to any one organization in 2022.

The LLNF grant will be used to fund the removal of invasive, non-native Japanese Black Pine (Pinus thunbergii ) in an effort to restore valuable sandplain grassland habitat. This state funding will allow LLNF to hire skilled contractors to remove both standing dead and live trees.

Non-native invasive Japanese Black Pine is pictured here dominating the grassland landscape. Removing these trees will improve conditions for native and rare grassland species to thrive.

Thirteen municipalities and organizations across the state have been awarded a total of nearly $500,000 in grants for wildlife habitat improvement projects. The MassWildlife Habitat Management Grant Program was developed to establish partnerships between MassWildlife and private and municipal landowners to enhance habitat and increase recreational opportunities on properties across the state. This year, funds provided through the grant program will benefit 13 wildlife habitat improvement projects, totaling 514 acres of land within the Commonwealth.

“The MassWildlife Habitat Management Grant Program is critical to the success of ongoing habitat management projects on state-managed lands and ensures a multipronged strategy to improve a variety of Massachusetts’ habitats,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Beth Card. “Public and private investment in habitat management is critical for promoting ecological resiliency and diversity, and we are thrilled to work with this year’s grant recipients as they commit to improving wildlife habitat.”

The existing vegetation at LLNF consists of a mix of sandplain grasslands, sandplain heathlands, and coastal shrublands. In recent decades, the landscape has been invaded by Japanese Black Pine. What were just a few trees decades ago are now large stands encroaching on valuable sandplain grassland habitat which is host to a multitude of rare and threatened plants and animals. Managing these trees is a high priority for LLNF as these pines are fire hazards, human health hazards as dead snags, and an ecological issue - a threat to native biodiversity.

On Eel Point Road, this project complements earlier pine management at LLNF. By removing the invasive Japanese Black Pines, we are opening up the landscape and promoting growth and expansion of the grasslands and native heathlands beneath.

“It is very exciting to receive this grant from MassWildlife for habitat management at the Linda Loring Nature Foundation. One of our strategic goals is to mitigate threats to our native biodiversity by removing non-native, invasive species and to enhance native grassland habitat restoration. This furthers the research and conservation at the LLNF,” says Kitty Pochman, Executive Director of the Linda Loring Nature Foundation.

Dr. Sarah Bois, Director of Research and Education at LLNF, points out that this restoration work is also a climate resiliency project. “Relative to most other habitats, healthy and diverse native grasslands may be more resilient to drought and other severe weather events expected to increase with climate change. The non-native invasive pines, which we are removing, have become a fire hazard across the property. In removing this invasive, we are mitigating for potential effects of climate change and further reducing fire hazards.”

Within the treatment areas, there are also over 140 recorded individuals of the State-listed species of special concern, Sandplain blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium fuscatum). This species requires open, sandplain grassland and heathland habitat. The Japanese Black Pine trees are encroaching on these populations crowding and shading them out.

“MassWildlife restores and manages habitats to help conserve the great diversity of wildlife and plants found in the Commonwealth,” said Mark Tisa, MassWildlife Director. “In addition to MassWildlife’s habitat management activities, these funded projects will improve declining habitats that provide homes for our most vulnerable wildlife, while also enhancing everyone’s ability to connect with nature.”

The LLNF will begin management this winter when it is favorable to remove Japanese Black Pines. To see the management progress or to find out more information about land management at the Linda Loring Nature Foundation contact Director of Research and Education, Dr. Sarah Bois (stbois@llnf.org).

Seining for Long Pond Creatures

BY LUKE MACKAY, ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION INTERN

In recent months, we have begun seining in the North Head of Long Pond. Seining is a fishing method that involves two people spreading out a large net (seine) in water and slowly dragging it in to catch the fish. We are not seining for sport, but rather to learn more about the different types of fish, crabs, and other species we might find in the pond.

Seth & Hannah run the seine net through the Head of Long Pond to see who’s home!

In the first round of seining we made some exciting new discoveries about the biodiversity of Long Pond. We entered the pond from the eastern shore and waded into the pond with the seine net. After making a couple of sweeps in the shallow water, we collected a large amount of fish and some crabs. More specifically, we caught a ton of Atlantic Silversides, juvenile White Perch, Mummichogs, Atlantic Blue Crabs, Northern Pipefish and even some small American Eels. There was an ample amount of Atlantic Silversides and White Perch while we only found a few Mummichogs and Northern Pipefish. We will have to do much more seining to understand a comprehensive view of what is found in the pond, but this first sample of fish was very informative and fascinating. We can be somewhat certain there are a good amount of White Perch in the pond because the Osprey are always diving and catching these fish to eat. We look forward to seining more in the future and seeing what we can learn!

The field team sorts through the fish collected in the seine net to see what species are present.

Although seining is certainly the most effective way to collect fish samples in the pond, we had some luck with another kind of capture method. During our weekly water quality monitoring, we placed minnow traps in the pond, simply thinking we may be able to get something in the net. When we checked the net, a wild surprise awaited us. What do you think we caught? We have caught snapping turtles in the traps before and a crab could easily crawl in. I don’t think anyone was ready for the almost two-foot American Eel (Anguilla rostrata) in the trap! Libby, Seth, and Hannah did a great job handling the slimy and slithering eel without getting bitten or injuring it.

The find of the summer: a large American Eel!

American Eels (and eels in general) are intriguing creatures that can reach lengths of up to four feet and live for around five years (or in rare cases even up to 20!). In Long Pond, these eels most likely feed on some of the small fish I identified above (Atlantic Silversides, White Perch, etc.) and possibly Atlantic Blue Crabs. Although American Eels are predators in their own right, Osprey have been known to prey on them. With so many Ospreys around the property, keep your eyes peeled for one of these magnificent raptors clutching a long, narrow eel in its talons.

American Eels are catadromous (like all eels), which means they live in freshwater and spawn in the ocean. They swim out of freshwater in the fall and go to the Sargasso Sea, an area just east of the Bahamas, to spawn and die (Chesapeake Bay Program, ND). Once fertilized, the larvae drift around for 9 - 12 months until they turn into 3 - 4 inch “glass eels” where currents carry them to the U.S. coast and they swim into rivers and other freshwater access points. At some point in their laborious journey, some eels have managed to make it all the way to the North Head of Long Pond, which makes sense since the pond is constantly open to the Atlantic Ocean via the Madaket Ditch.

Eels have a complicated, but fascinating life history.

Although you will not likely see these eels from above the water, late summer on Nantucket is a beautiful time of year to hit our trails!

The Seine Team! From left, Hannah, Seth, Daria, Libby & Luke

Smile! You're On Camera

BY LUKE MACKAY, ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION INTERN

It is currently the peak of egg laying season for Common Snapping Turtles (Chelydra serpentina). These omnivorous turtles’ breeding season is from April to November; they lay eggs primarily in June and July. 

Females strive to find sandy soil and will dig a hole to deposit 25-80 eggs each year. She will then cover these holes with sand for protection and will make extra empty nest holes to confuse predators. At the Linda Loring Nature Foundation property, we have a plentiful population of snapping turtles and sandy nest pits can be frequently found on our trails, especially the eastern part of the property where there are numerous wetlands.

It is important to be wary of these incubation holes so as to not disturb the safety of these eggs. This is especially true because the literature says that and other predators will look to eat snapping turtle eggs. Nantucket is very limited with small mammalian predators so the primary predators tend to be birds, rats, feral cats, or possibly snakes. When setting a turtle trap on the eastern part of the LLNF property, we discovered some broken eggs and a deposit that had been destroyed by a predator. With various predators in the area, we couldn’t determine exactly what preyed upon the snapping turtle eggs. So we decided to investigate…

To unmask the perpetrator we set up a trail camera directly adjacent to an egg incubation deposit. While we waited and debated for a couple days before checking the trail cameras, a certain predator returned to the scene of his previous crime. We speculated that it could have been a deer, especially because there are so many deer trails around the property and it would have been easy for one to inspect it through digging. Another possible perpetrator was a feral cat. There are many of these cats around the island and on the property, and although we didn’t see any cat tracks in the sand, they were certainly a suspect. One of our volunteers, George, was dead set on the predator being a crow because of how intelligent and crafty they are. That said, an Osprey most likely would have also seen the snapping turtle mother laying her eggs and could easily have swooped down and eaten them. What do you think it was?

Well, George happened to be spot on. The trail camera footage revealed what had disrupted the nest and eaten the snapping turtle eggs to be a pair of American Crows. The included photo reveals how these clever birds not only are able to locate the egg incubation site, but stick their heads into the holes to uncover eggs.

The predators caught in the act!

Crows can identify people who have previously posed a harm to them and can use gestures for communication. Once crows successfully figure out how to get their food, they will keep trying over and over because they know it worked once. From there, these birds will teach their offspring and other crows how to obtain this food. In addition, crows have such a wide variety of food in their diet and eggs are often at the top of that list. These highly intelligent birds are major predators to snapping turtle eggs. That said, in and around Long Pond there are many snapping turtles and undisturbed egg deposits are very common. 

So, if you’re on the trail on our property or anywhere near a wetland or pond this time of year, keep your eyes peeled for a snapping turtle nest!