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Niagara
Issues - Cayuga Island http://www.mobot.org/plantscience/ResBot/niag/ |
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Niagara
Issues - Cayuga Island by Patricia M. Eckel Missouri Botanical Garden
At Jayne Park on the
Little Niagara River are baseball diamonds and lovely lawns on which to stroll
with one's baby under the open sky in an area that was once most likely a
wooded wetland with Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa) that still may be seen, and
Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) - large trees with big canopies. On the
shrubby margin of the Little Niagara River, a narrow side channel of the main
stem of the Niagara river along the southern shore of Cayuga Island and a
stream into which Cayuga Creek empties, one may step on a metaphore and not
realize it. Biologists talk about a web of life, a great interconnected chain
of being reminiscent of this spider's web, visible in the droplets that
ornament it after a summer shower. The spider catches its food like a
fisherman his fish, an occupation invisible except after hard times.
Conspicuous during
August are the bright orange twining stems of the Dodder (Cuscuta gronovii)
belonging to a family all of the members of which are parasitic on other
plants. This species grows in open, wet marshes like the one here at Jayne
Park, twining and obtaining its nourishment from host plants of marshes, like
the Jewelweed and Smartweed (Polygonum punctatum) and may be observed at
Dufferin Islands and Buckhorn Island State Park.
Blue Vervain (Verbena
hastate) is another species typical of river and streamside habitats.
Jewelweed (Impatiens
capensis) likes wet soils and grows in dense swathes in open or shady
streamsides and marshes and is one of the few species that bloom with orange
flowers. There is another species with larger flowers that are a pale yellow
(Impatiens pallida) that may be seen at Devil's Hole and other stations along
the Niagara River gorge. This species is often seen entangled in Dodder
stems.
Swamp milkweed (Asclepias
incarnata) is closely related to the common Milkweed of vacant lots in the
City of Buffalo. It is a more delicate plant of marshes, with narrower leaves
and deep lavender flowers. Its pods and wind-borne fruit with their silky
plumes are just like those of Milweed. Its brilliant color mixes brilliantly
at the fishing platform at Wood's Creek at Buckhorn with the blues of
Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata) and the orange flowers of Jewelweed. Many
of the species growing at the Jayne Park marsh also grow in public lands
downstream.
The Niagara River is a
vital corridor for the migration of plants and animals along its shores and
within its waters. This specimen of Blue Vervain also grows on Navy Island in
Ontario, above the falls of Niagara in the little marshes that are developing
along its edges with the lowering of water levels. Lowered water levels in
the upper Niagara River at the present are responsible for the development of
streamside marshes up and down the river, as well as emergent islands of
Cattails (Typha latifolia) and various cyperaceous species, such as Scirpus
americanus (Chair-maker's Rush) off shore. Such conditions promote species
diversity and create habitat for fish spawning, nesting birds, insects and
other wildlife.
One of the most
conspicuous species that must be familiar to the residents along the mainland
of Little Niagara River and the banks of the Cayuga Creek is Arrowhead
(Sagittaria latifolia) - aptly named from the shape of its large leaves. It grows on the wet embankments, in
shallow water on out into the middle of the stream if the channel is shallow
enough. Such conditions may foul the propellers of boats docked by residences
and may result in periodic attempts to destroy both this species and its associates,
such as Cattail. Arrowhead has the peculiar tendency to develop narrower
leaves as it approaches deeper water. It is conspicuous in the new emergent
islands in the shallows of the Niagara River.
Looking north from Jayne
Park marsh to residences across the Little Niagara River.
A noxious weed, the
Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), has established itself here as
elsewhere along the emerging Niagara River streamsides. Just as native species
migrate up and downstream, so do these weeds, dominating and effectively
destroying the character and productivity of plant communities of historic
and cultural value. The stream channel between Goat Island and the first of
the Three Sisters Islands on the south side of Goat Island is thoroughly
choked with this species and is quick to seize the opportunity to establish
itself on new substrates exposed with fluctuating river volume. This species
not only needs to be pulled, but also carefully carted away in sacks to
prevent seed development. Another weed that needs to be carefully culled here
at Jayne Park marsh is Winter Cress (Barbarea vulgaris), its vivid yellow
flowers visible in spring and long into summer. |
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