Post on 31-Dec-2015
description
04/19/23 1
The Silver Maple Forest (Belmont Uplands) & The Impact of Development
Charles J. Katuska, MFS,PWS Consulting Ecologist
“The aesthetic, wildlife, watershed protection, and wood production values of these (suburban) woods will increase in every future decade” - Lloyd Irland
04/19/23 2
What Is It ?
The Belmont Silver Maple forest is a mixed association of various wetland and upland plant communities on about 15 acres.
Silver maple (Acer saccharinum) dominates the central core of the site.
Unusual, relict forest community in this context
04/19/23 3
The Belmont Silver Maple Forest
Little Pond
Little River
ARLINGTON
BELMONT CAMBRIDGE
Route 2
Acer saccharinum
04/19/23 4
Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum)
A native floodplain tree species with specific autecological values - Provides an important wildlife food resource (newly broken buds) at a critical time of the late winter
High value food source for beaver, second only to alders
High value for cavity-nesting wildlife
Shallow fibrous root system well adapted to reducing erosion and stabilizing soils
04/19/23 5
This well-grown, diverse, and regionally uncommon forest stand exists in a unique context
04/19/23 6
Locally Unique Forest Context (USGS GAP Analysis for Biodiversity)
Spy Pond
Menotomy Rocks Park
Fresh Pond
BELMONT UPLANDS
LITTLE POND
City Infirmary
ARLINGTON
BELMONT CAMBRIDGE
Cambridgepark
04/19/23 7
The Belmont Silver Maple Forest
Forested land always provides value to the urban environment Maintains and improves air quality
Maintains and improveswater quality
Reduces volumes of stormwater runoff
Provides important wildlife habitat
Recreation
Aesthetics
Educational Value
04/19/23 8
The Belmont Silver Maple Forest
Provides additional site-specific functions and values here - Serves as an important “core habitat” adjacent to Little Pond and the Alewife Reservation
Size and Shape
Land Cover Type
Relative Seclusion in Context
Provides a significant reserve within a network of other habitat patches for the continued preservation of area-sensitive species
04/19/23 9
Now, the Belmont Silver maple Forest is the site of a substantial development proposal -
04/19/23 10
How would the Development (commercial or residential) of the Silver Maple Stand affect Forest values ?
Add pollutants and additional stormwater volume to an already stressed receiving water system
Directly eliminate core wildlife habitat and reduce the quality of remaining habitats
Reduce air quality in the immediate area and contribute to local/regional air quality problems
Eliminate the opportunity for recreation in the development area itself and reduce the quality of the recreation experience in undeveloped portions of he site
Eliminate the locally unique and regionally significant floodplain forest aesthetic experience
04/19/23 11
Final Considerations The environmental values of the Belmont
Silver Maple Stand are not solely related to wildlife habitat or the protection of its surrounding wetlands.
The development of the Belmont Silver Maple Stand will substantially eliminate its forest values and will degrade the forest & forested wetland values of the remaining land and the adjacent public open space.
Potentially significant forest values do not flow to the community under current private ownership.