BOTANICAL EVALUATION OF THE GOAT ISLAND COMPLEX, NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK
P. M. Eckel
Buffalo Museum of Science
1020 Humboldt Pkwy
Buffalo, NY 14211 U.S.A.
www.buffalomuseumofscience.org

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7. FLATS JUST UPRIVER OF THE HORSESHOE FALLS
Along the southern shoreline of Goat Island, west of, or downriver from, the Three Sisters Islands in the channel of the Horseshoe Falls, are a series of relatively recent bedrock exposures which have become vegetated. The survey made by Thomas Evershed in 1883 of land proposed for the Niagara Reservation showed no islands on the south side of Goat Island except the Three Sisters and Terrapin Rocks. Lowered water levels have created these "islands" and several bedrock exposures are still without vegetation except for the occasional colonizing moss, such as Ceratodon purpureus or Barbula unguiculata. These flats are biologically distinct from the island system once existing at Terrapin Point which is now (apparently) part of the mainland. The flora is depauperate in species compared to similar habitats on the Three Sisters and this is probably due to the fact that it is still in succession, or that ice-scour or other periodic natural disturbances which favor diversity do not occur (see discussion on the Second Sister Island).

The flats vegetation is dominated by willow species (mostly Heart-leaved Willow - Salix rigida), with native species colonizing the land furthest from shore. Flats closer to shore are dominated by Red-Osier Dogwood (Cornus stolonifera) and support more exotic species of Goat Island lawns, such as Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) and Ox-eyed Daisy (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum), and exotic planted trees such as Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia).

The native thickets form a rich, highly textured area with dense grassy margins of, for example, Bluejoint Grass (Calamagrostis canadensis).

Weedy emergent vegetation, such as Flowering Rush (Butomus umbellatus) and Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), is an element in this flora.

This is a relatively intact ecosystem, although young, so far an human disturbance is concerned, and deserves protection - this may become an important refuge for plant species of the Goat Island and Three Sisters Island margins. Ducks may possibly be nesting here, and this area could become an important source of habitat if a wildlife program were to be initiated to deal with the problem of duck and pigeon feeding at the First Sister Island.

This area, with its rocky surfaces washed by the river, may be seen as an alternative habitat for species presently growing on Terrapin Point, if that area is to be dynamited for structural reasons, primarily for the Smaller Fringed Gentian (Gentiana procera), one of the last habitats in New York State in which that species occurs.

Problems may arise with the present destruction of the wet thickets fringing the southern margins of Goat Island. These thickets prevented visitors and weedy plant species from invading the flats areas and disrupting community integrity. Wet thicket communities on the south shore of Goat Island should be maintained where they face onto the flats-vegetated area.

VASCULAR PLANTS

* Agropyron repens QUACK-GRASS. Flats above the Horseshoe Falls, 1988.

* Agrostis stolonifera var. compacta CREEPING BENT. Flats above the Horseshoe Falls, 1988.

* Agrostis stolonifera * var. major REDTOP. Flats above the Horseshoe Falls, 1988.

Butomus umbellatus FLOWERING RUSH.

Calamagrostis canadensis BLUEJOINT GRASS. Flats above the Horseshoe Falls, 1988.

Carex aquatilis NORTHERN WATER SEDGE. Johnson specimen, Zenkert, 1934. Flats above Horseshoe Falls, 1988.

Carex hystricina PORCUPINE SEDGE. Goat Island, 1986. Flats above Horseshoe Falls, 1988.

Carex normalis LARGER STRAW SEDGE. Flats above Horseshoe Falls, 1988.

Carex stipata [obs. 1988.].

* Cirsium arvense CANADA THISTLE. Flats above the Horseshoe Falls, 1988.

* Cirsium vulgare BULLTHISTLE. 1988.

Convolvulus sepium HEDGE BINDWEED. 1988.

Cornus stolonifera RED-OSIER DOGWOOD. Thickets, 1988.

* Epilobium hirsutum HAIRY WILLOW-HERB.

* Epipactis helleborine HELLEBORINE ORCHID. Abundant, 1988.

Equisetum SCOURING RUSH.

Erigeron strigosus DAISY FLEABANE.

Eupatorium maculatum JOE-PYE-WEED.

Eupatorium rugosum WHITE SNAKE-ROOT.

Fragaria sp. STRAWBERRY.

Geum canadense WHITE AVENS.

Impatiens biflora SPOTTED TOUCH-ME-NOT.

Juncus articulatus JOINTED RUSH. 1988. Flats above the Horseshoe Falls, 1988.

Lindera benzoin SPICE BUSH. Single shrub seen, 1988.

Lycopus sp. HOREHOUND.

* Lythrum salicaria PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE. Throughout, 1988.

Myosotis laxa SMALLER FORGET-ME-NOT. Flats above the Horseshoe Falls, 1988.

Myriophyllum spicatum var. exalbescens SPIKED WATER-MILFOIL. 1988.

Physocarpus opulifolius NINEBARK. Not very abundant, 1988.

Populus deltoides COTTONWOOD. Flats above the Horseshoe Falls, 1986.

Populus tremuloides QUAKING ASPEN. Flats above the Horseshoe Falls [obs. 1988].

Pycnanthemum virginianum VIRGINIA MOUNTAIN MINT. Flats above the Horseshoe Falls, 1988.

* Salix alba WHITE WILLOW. Flats above the Horseshoe Falls, 1988.

* Salix [fragilis-nigra]. Large tree by Goat Island margin, 1988.

Salix lucida SHINING WILLOW. Flats above the Horseshoe Falls, 1987.

Salix nigra BLACK WILLOW. 1988.

Salix rigida HEART-LEAVED WILLOW. Flats above the Horseshoe

Falls, 1988.

Scirpus atrovirens DARK-GREEN BULRUSH. Flats above the Horseshoe Falls, 1988.

Scirpus validus GREAT BULLRUSH. Flats above the Horseshoe Falls, 1988.

Sisyrinchium montanum MOUNTAIN BLUE-EYED GRASS. Flats above the Horseshoe Falls, 1986.

* Sonchus oleraceus SOW THISTLE. Flats above the Horseshoe Falls, 1988.

Sphenopholis intermedia INTERMEDIATE BUNCH-GRASS. Flats above the Horseshoe Falls, 1988.

Typha angustifolia NARROW-LEAVED CATTAIL.

* Veronica anagallis-aquatica WATER SPEEDWELL. "Dolomite flats, SW side of the island," 1986.

Vitis riparia FROST GRAPE.

BRYOPHYTES

Amblystegium fluviatile. Just west of Three Sisters, island margin of Cornus stolonifera.

Amblystegium tenax. Just west of Three Sisters, island margin of Cornus stolonifera.

Amblystegium varium. Just west of Three Sisters, island margin of Cornus stolonifera.

Brachythecium rivulare. Just west of Three Sisters, island margin of Cornus stolonifera.

Brachythecium salebrosum.

Cratoneuron filicinum. Just west of Three Sisters, island margin of Cornus stolonifera.

Mnium affine var. ciliare.

Mnium cuspidatum. Wet hummock, roots of Cornus.

Philonotis muhlenbergia. Wet hummock, roots of Cornus.

Pohlia wahlenbergii. Just west of Three Sisters, island margin of Cornus stolonifera.