Natural Lands Trust is a pioneer in the region in applying science-based ecosystem restoration and management.
As one of the region’s largest private owners of preserved lands, Natural Lands Trust has both a breadth and depth of experience in caring for a variety of landscapes. Guided by both staff scientists and consultants, we are continually exploring new and better approaches to problems like invasive plant control, reforestation, grassland restoration, wildlife management, native plant promotion, and much more.
Science-based land management is, by its very nature, adaptive. Management methods are tested, the results measured, and we use what we learned to adjust and improve our approach to land stewardship.
Examples of ongoing science at our preserves include:
- A large-scale analysis of key soil characteristics on the Unionville Serpentine Barrens at ChesLen Preserve will guide our restoration of the barrens and provide a scientific basis for determining how best to invest our resources.
- An experiment at the diabase meadows at our Fulshaw Craeg Preserve in Salford Township, Montgomery County, compared burning, mowing, and mowing plus thatch removal to a control plot to determine the best long-term management of this habitat.
- A demonstration project at our Crow’s Nest Preserve in Warwick Township, Chester County, examined the effects of oak forest thinning and burning on forest structural complexity (habitat diversity).
- At our Crow’s Nest Preserve, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania are studying the bacterium that causes Lyme disease with a goal of developing a vaccine.
- Analysis of forest structural complexity using a remote sensing technique called LIDAR will help to classify habitat quality for forest interior neotropical migrant birds at our Bear Creek Preserve and in the Hopewell Big Woods.
- The Stroud Water Research Center has a permanent presence at our Stroud Preserve near West Chester. The highly regarded Center is studying the impact of different land uses on headwater streams.
- A permanent partnership between Natural Lands Trust and Dickinson College at our Reineman Preserve in Carlisle is yielding exciting new research on the impact of deer over-population on Pennsylvania landscapes.
- The National Audubon Society is conducting similar research on several NLT preserves, using exclosures to compare the growth of areas that are impacted by deer browsing with those that are not.
- The Natural Resource Conservation Service is partnering with NLT to develop best practices for establishing warm season grass meadows and creating wetlands.
In addition to our own scientific research, Natural Lands Trust’s preserves offer a wide range of research and educational opportunities through which both the Trust and local schools and universities can come to understand the region much better. Both the researchers and Natural Lands Trust benefit. Scientists gain by having access to permanently protected and relatively secure natural areas on which to conduct experiments. By hosting research and educational activities, NLT learns how to better understand and manage our preserves.
