Greenbelt Society of Hunter College July 2022 Brief Report

Over several weekends since the end of the semester, students and professors of the Greenbelt Society of Hunter College participated in 6 ecological restoration events led by NYC Parks! Our most recent and exciting restoration event was on July 8th at Bush Terminal Piers Park on the coastline in Sunset Park Brooklyn. This 3-hour outdoor activity consisted of three main operations. First, we conducted a shoreline clean-up by collecting waste products such as bottle caps, glass bottles, plastic bags and more. Second, we planted native grasses in a section of the intertidal zone of this marshy ecosystem. The species that was planted was Spartina alterniflora, a marsh-coastal grass adapted to salt conditions of the tidal dynamics. The main method used was clustering between 2 and 3 plants separated by around 12 inches (see below).

We transplanted over 1,000 Spartina alterniflora over an area of around 60 m2. This operation was managed by Ellen Kracauer, NYC Parks Senior Wetland Scientist. Our final activity coincided with the Billion Oyster Project field day event in the same marsh!  Brionna Leddy, Field Coordinator, explained how this organization is developing the cultivation of tens of thousands of oysters in the area. She and her team shared some of their field ecology operations with us and we look forward to future collaboration through volunteer and scientific projects with both NYC Parks and the Billion Oyster Project.

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