|
|
| |
|
View All News Stories by List |
|
Year: |
|
Title: |
|
• PERKIE'S WATERSHED CONTAINS HIGH VALUE NATURAL RESOURCES |
|
Thursday, August 07, 2008 |
|
|
|
|
The Natural Lands Trust of Media, PA recently completed a study of natural resource locations across southeastern Pennsylvania. The Smart Conservation project process for identifying and assessing ecological sites for protection. It provides a standardized, replicable process that can be used to prioritize where financial and staff resources can be focused to have maximum impact on sustaining ecologically valuable landscapes.
Smart Conservation includes a compilation of data about 22 factors by 85 conservation scientists and practitioners. The science-based method prioritized natural features according to habitat health and vitality and created a 1 - 10 ranking.
The Perkiomen Creek watershed was found to be one of the riches resource areas in southeastern PA. The map shows the resource values of all lands in SE PA. The outline in the middle of the map is of the Perkiomen Creek watershed.
The dark blue areas have the highest resource values. Much of the central portion of the watershed contains these highest value areas due to the amount of intact forest area, steep slopes and the unusual geology that comprises much of the watershed.
This information is useful for municipalities working to conserve important natural areas or for land owners who want to better understand the ecological value of their land.
Natural features included in the evaluation were classified as Aquatic Resources, Terrestrial Resources and Rarity Resources.
Aquatic Resources include riparian buffer quality, water quality, headwaters protections, impervious cover, recent changes in impervious cover, forested water quality, hydric soils, floodplains, National Wetlands Inventory, fish habitat and herpetological aquatic habitats.
Terrestrial Resources include interior forest habitat, steep slopes, grasslands, scrub/shrub areas, natural vegetation habitats, mammal and bird habitats, herpetological terrestrial habitats, important bird areas and important mammal areas.
The Rarety Resources are based on the PA Natural Diversity Inventory and the County Natural Areas Inventories.
For more information about the Smart Conservation Project contact Natural Lands Trust at 610.353.5587 or www.natlands.org |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|