Late summer/early fall are peak times for visiting sandplain grassland habitats. The little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) is flowering and blowing in the breeze, the late summer asters are holding on while the fall goldenrods and late fall asters are beginning to bloom. It can be a sea of yellows, purple, and white wildflowers. It was the perfect time for the Sandplain Grassland Network (SGN) team to tour the unique sandplain grassland habitats of Nantucket Island, MA.
This past September, members from the Sandplain Grassland Network steering committee visited Nantucket to tour some of the island’s local conservation properties. Starting at the Nantucket Conservation Foundation’s Tupancy Links and working their way through the Linda Loring Nature Foundation, Head of the Plains, Ram Pasture, Sanford Farm, Smooth Hummocks, and an area of the Middle Moors affectionately known as the Nantucket Serengeti, the group got to see many of the areas around the island owned by NCF, the Nantucket Land Bank, and LLNF which host this rare and important habitat.
The properties visited were chosen to showcase the range of grassland types as well as the varying stages of succession, types of management being employed, and research being done to understand and inform these efforts.
The Tupancy Links property is a former golf course with a unique history. This 73-acre site was established as a 9-hole course in 1921 and was initially maintained by grazing sheep and goats. Golf was abandoned in 1953, and the property was subsequently donated to NCF in 1976, who initially maintained the rolling grasslands with periodic mowing during the growing season. About 15 years ago, the mowing schedule was changed to first annual mowing, and now biennial mowing undertaken only during the winter dormant season to promote flowering and seed set of the grassland associated species. The result of this change has produced a diverse sandplain grassland habitat with multiple rare species. Tupancy Links illustrates the importance of maintaining a regular management schedule at sites that already contain high quality habitat – before more expensive and drastic restoration actions are needed. “It was amazing to learn from the questions posed by the SPG Network steering committee and to listen to their observations on how Tupancy Links is both similar and different from other SPG sites. It gave us a renewed appreciation of the importance and diversity of our grasslands and insights into different management techniques being employed across the region,” said Karen Beattie, Vice President of Science and Stewardship at NCF and member of the SGN steering committee.
From there the group traveled to the Linda Loring Nature Foundation where participants viewed different stages of restoration efforts to transition Japanese Black Pine (Pinus thunbergii) stands back to sandplain grasslands and heathlands habitat. The LLNF has been removing the non-native invasive pine trees from the property since 2018. The most recent stand was removed in late 2024. “It was great to have the SGN steering committee on site. With so many botanists and management professionals, it was good to have people see what we have been able to accomplish on the property in the last 6 or so years. We had good feedback and great questions related to continued reclamation and restoration efforts in the grassland and heathland communities after cutting of the invasive Japanese Black Pines. I have learned so much from this group which has helped guide our management practices at LLNF,” Dr. Sarah Bois, Director of Research and Education at the Linda Loring
The group then traveled along dirt roads in the southwestern portion of the island from Head of the Plains to Ram Pasture through Sanford Farm discussing the various management regimes across the landscape along the way. All these sites were historically utilized for sheep grazing and dairy farming and are now managed by NCF or NLB with periodic mowing and occasionally prescribed fire.
At the West Gate of Ram Pasture, we stopped to inspect the Pitch Pine (Pinus rigida) stand that was the site of the first Southern Pine Beetle (Dendroctonus frontali) infestation detected on the island in 2023. The Nantucket Conservation Foundation first worked on a suppression plan for the infestation and is now working on forest management strategies to promote the regeneration of both pitch pine and native understory habitat while maintaining vigilance for non-native species establishment. The emergency cutting done to reduce the impact of the infestation created new, open habitat, cleared the understory and created a great deal of soil disturbance. The group was able to see evidence of the infestation as well as discuss the next steps for habitat management. There are many lessons to be learned from how the forest responds to the dramatic and disruptive management needed to suppress this outbreak.
At Smooth Hummocks, owned and managed by the NLB, we stopped to view the state endangered eastern silvery aster (Symphiotrichum concolor) population, which was in full bloom. This species is disturbance dependent and extirpated throughout much of its northern range. Nantucket has some of the few remaining intact populations, thus making it a highlight of the trip. This site, located along the south shoreline of the island, has been managed for many years by the Nantucket Land Bank utilizing both mowing and prescribed burning.
We rounded out the trip by heading east to the Middle Moors, an area owned by the Nantucket Conservation Foundation and sometimes called the Nantucket Serengeti. We toured the site of several research management projects examining the effects of using heavy soil disturbance via disk harrowing to break up roots and reduce woody shrub cover. These projects have demonstrated that grassland species present in the soil seed bank will respond and establish after soil disturbance and persist after woody shrub cover is reduced (more info on that project available here). However, a key point at this site is that there are no nearby populations of non-native species, which could be problematic invaders if this management practice were utilized at sites with non-native seed sources closeby. The legacy of the project is still visible on the landscape where, over 15 years post-management, we could still see a clear distinction between treated and untreated plots.
“The open space conservation and management by Sandplain Grassland Network partners on Nantucket was truly impressive!” said Neil Gifford, Conservation Director for the Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission in Albany, NY. He added, “Effectively conserving the globally-rare biodiversity of grasslands and barrens in complicated urban environments is incredibly challenging but essential, exactly because of its location. The successful conservation I witnessed at these sites highlights how the positive energy of a great team using science and ingenuity can overcome many of these challenges. This was my first trip to Nantucket, so I am particularly grateful for their work and the unique privilege to spend a day in the field with this amazing team.”
—Sarah Bois and Karen Beattie