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Winter 2001 Newsletter Articles The Huyck Preserve Turns 70 The Huyck Preserve Turns 70
This year the Huyck Preserve is celebrating its 70th birthday. The
first meeting of incorporators was held on September 5th, 1931.
Winthrop Stevens announced that the Certificate of Incorporation had been filed
with the office of the Secretary of State. The incorporators then adopted the
by-laws of the Huyck Preserve. Fifteen minutes later, in the reading room of the
Rensselaerville Library, the first meeting of the board of directors was held.
Mrs. Jessie V. A. Huyck was elected president and 29 other associate members
were elected. Colonel Green urged that all members be given the
"opportunity of making contribution to give every member a feeling of
deeper interest and kinship." Now 70 years later it is even more important
for our members to have the opportunity to help support our efforts in
conservation, research, and education. In recent years we have been upgrading our facilities as well. We are in the process of refurbishing the Bullfrog Camp complex, with the help of a National Science Foundation grant, which will increase our ability to house visiting researchers and other groups. Beginning in 1938 the Huyck Preserve began to support the work of scientists who wished to conduct research here. Each summer from one to three scientists would work on various projects on the Preserve. Dr. Eugene Odum began his career here as the first year-round resident biologist and in 1965 the Preserve hired its first full-time year-round scientist to live here and oversee conservation, education, and research activities as Executive Director. I am the second person to hold the position of executive director. When I arrived in 1986, there were four scientists with research grants and perhaps six others who were conducting long-term studies. Today we award eight to ten grants per year and have on the average about 30 scientists working here. We now have over 300 peer-reviewed scientific papers published on research conducted here and in the last ten years have supported the research of 12 doctoral and 7 seven master students. In addition our education programs have grown to include over 1000 students per year who experience the Huyck Preserve first hand. We will celebrate our birthday throughout the year, and we would like to draw your attention to two special events. First at our annual meeting on June 16 we will have a special speaker provided by the "Speakers in the Humanities" series sponsored by the New York Council for the Humanities. Dr. Patricia Murphy of SUNY-Geneseo will discuss "unknown" women who have played significant roles in New York history. She will also talk about Jessie Van Antwerp Huyck and her role in establishing and supporting the Preserve. I hope you plan to attend our 70th birthday celebration at our annual membership meeting in June. Secondly Dr. Donald Griffin, the man who discovered on the Huyck Preserve in 1939 that bats use echolocation, will return to present a talk during our annual science symposium scheduled for July 14, 2001. Dr. Griffin has become well known for his work in animal behavior and is the author of recent books on animal perception. The symposium will also include presentations by staff and visiting researchers. I am always very thankful to have found the Huyck Preserve. It is a unique and important place and it is also a very beautiful place to live. Back to Top Looking to the Future: Data Management Initiatives
The
Huyck Preserve is one of the oldest biological research stations in the United
States. It has served as a site for
long-term environmental research and monitoring for over 60 years.
Its ecological data represent irreplaceable resources that are essential
for understanding, monitoring, and managing the environment. This past summer the Preserve sponsored a graduate student research project, which focused on inventory and assessment of historical data and records, the development of a scalable data management system, procedural documentation and future recommendations. Considerable effort was placed on providing the necessary tools and guidelines to aid researchers in the entry and analysis of research data in efforts to improve the overall quality of research conducted at the Huyck Preserve. As development progresses data and information will be posted to the “research corner” of the Huyck Preserve Web site < www.huyckpreserve.org >. Professional data management practices will facilitate the implementation of long-term research goals while preparing the Preserve for future participation in data sharing initiatives among the biological field stations. By Joan Thomson The family Orchidaceae is the largest family of flowering plants in number of species. There are at least 30,000 species of orchids, which occur naturally on all continents. It is surprising to some who think of an orchid as a lavender flower from some tropical paradise, that we have native species of orchids in North America. According to Paul Martin Brown’s field guide, Wild Orchids of the Northeastern United States, New York and New England combined boast 64 species. New York State holds the regional record, with 60 species and 7 varieties historically and 56 countable current species. The habitats where they may be found include boreal mixed hardwood forests, coastal plains, damp open fields, and wetlands including swamps and bogs. Brown’s book, nicely illustrated with color photographs and black and white line drawings by Stan Folsom, lists the species found in Central New York. Included among these are four species that are now listed as "historical": Amerorchis rotundifolia (small round-leaved orchid), Calypso bulbosa var. Americana (Eastern fairy-slipper), Platanthera ciliaris (a yellow or sometimes orange fringed orchid), Platanthera leucophaea (Eastern prairie fringed orchid) and one introduced species brought from Europe in the 1800’s Epipactus helliborine (broad-leaved helleborine). The latter is very common and I found it growing abundantly on the trails of the preserve, particularly on the woodland trail around Lake Myosotis. It has a delicate flower varying from pale green to greenish purple, the central petal (lip) lined in a regal brownish purple belying the plant’s weed-like habits. The most important identifying characteristics of the Orchidaceae, for the novice orchid stalker, are its three similar sepals and three petals. The lateral two petals are alike while the third (the lip) is unlike the other two, often markedly so and usually larger, often spurred. All are perennial with corms, bulbs, tuberous or coral-like roots and leaves that sheathe the stem. Flowers may occur as a solitary blossom or in a group on one stem. Plant sizes and blossom colors and types vary widely. Plant types include epiphytes, which send their roots through the atmosphere, absorbing water directly from moisture-laden air; lithophytes, plants that grow on rocks; and terrestrial, growing in soil. In the Southeastern semi-tropical United States, many orchids are epiphytes, and I have seen these in Florida growing in the crotches and branches of trees. On a recent trip to Costa Rica I had the privilege of taking an aerial tram ride through a rainforest. One of my most beautiful memories is of a clump of small white orchids growing in a tree branch being visited by an iridescent green fly. Perhaps I would not have remembered this so vividly had I not just run out of film and made a mental note to myself to hold the memory. The reproductive characteristics of orchids are complex. In spite of the abundance of seeds, seed propagation of wild orchids has proved challenging. George Aiken, a Vermont horticulturist and later governor and senator, who founded one of the country’s first wildflower nurseries in 1929 in Putney, Vermont, and Dartmouth biology professor William Ballard both devoted a good portion of their lives to this problem with somewhat limited success. Ballard, concentrating on the group known as the slipper orchids (genus Cypripedium – literally “sock of Venus”) of which there are half a dozen species surviving in New England, once seeded an entire and usually larger, often spurred. All are perennial with corms, bulbs, tuberous or coral-like roots and leaves that sheathe the stem. Flowers may occur as a solitary blossom or in a group on one stem. Plant sizes and blossom colors and types vary widely. Plant types include epiphytes, which send their roots through the atmosphere, absorbing water directly from moisture-laden air; lithophytes, plants that grow on rocks; and terrestrial, growing in soil. In the Southeastern semi-tropical United States, many orchids are epiphytes, and I have seen these in Florida growing in the crotches and branches of trees. On a recent trip to Costa Rica I had the privilege of taking an aerial tram ride through a rainforest. One of my most beautiful memories is of a clump of small white orchids growing in a tree branch being visited by an iridescent green fly. Perhaps I would not have remembered this so vividly had I not just run out of film and made a mental note to myself to hold the memory. The reproductive characteristics of orchids are complex. In spite of the abundance of seeds, seed propagation of wild orchids has proved challenging. George Aiken, a Vermont horticulturist and later governor and senator, who founded one of the country’s first wildflower nurseries in 1929 in Putney, Vermont, and Dartmouth biology professor William Ballard both devoted a good portion of their lives to this problem with somewhat limited success. Ballard, concentrating on the group known as the slipper orchids (genus Cypripedium – literally “sock of Venus”) of which there are half a dozen species surviving in New England, once seeded an entire swamp belonging to Dartmouth college with lady’s slipper seeds without a single plant coming up. After years of experimenting, he learned that lady’s slipper seeds grow underground for the first three years before putting up any green shoots. During this time the seeds survive through a symbiotic relationship with a fungus that helps them take mineral nutrients from the soil. Ballard eventually devised a technique of cultivating the fungus and nurturing the embryos and seedlings in sterile test tubes through their early years. Another difficulty of cultivating orchids is their sensitivity to transplantation. Each has its own particular balance of soil conditions that it needs to survive; soil that is too dry, too wet, or too rich simply will not work. After much trial and error, Ballard discovered a few successful techniques, such as creating artificial bogs in his garden and providing shade for the plants. With his hand pollination techniques, using a magnifying lens and a toothpick, he said, before his death in the late 1990’s, that he was able to boost the normal rate of fertilization of lady’s slippers which is 10% to an all-time high of 90%! There are now orchid houses, where propagation of the North American terrestrial orchids for sale takes place. They are located in various parts of the country and probably most can be found on the Internet. Of the North American terrestrial orchids, perhaps the most glorious to behold are the Cypripediums, of which New York State boasts five species including two varieties of Cypripedium parviflorum (yellow lady’s slipper), and the rare Cypripedium candidum, a small white lady’s slipper not found in New England at all. In addition to the slippers, New York State is the home of five Corallorhizas (coral roots), two species of Goodyera (rattlesnake orchid), two of Listera (the twayblades), two of Malaxis (adder’s mouth), thirteen of the Platanthera (formerly known as Habenaria – the fringed orchids), and six of Spiranthes (lady’s tresses). In addition there are several solo species of other genera. Though the disappearance of large populations has been noted over the last hundred years, it is also noteworthy that the current number of species of native orchids in New York State, 56, is a marked increase over the 33 documented in Wildflowers of New York in 1918. I invite you to draw your own conclusions from this fact. It is easy to be confused by the nomenclature of the orchids. Not only is there more than one common name for some, but some of the Latin names have also changed over the years. For example the Platanthera all used to be known as Habenaria and Fissipes is now Cypripedium. Another tricky problem arises when a variety has the same name as a species such as with Cypripedium parviflorum, var. parviflorum (small yellow lady’s slipper). This is to be distinguished from Cypripedium parviflorum var. makasin and Cypripediium parviflorum, var. pubescens, making it confusing to use only the genus and species names. Once you have seen a few of these lovely flowers and become attuned to their habits and their beauty, you will be captivated. For me it happened in the spring of 1993 when I was introduced to a community of the pink and white showy lady’s slipper in a Vermont bog where a botanist friend took me. It was then that I realized that the more common pink lady’s slipper was not the only seductress in the woods, and my life was forever changed. Since then I have been stalking these wild beauties, photographing them whenever I find them and using the photographs to help me paint them in transparent watercolors. Since many of our native orchids bloom in bogs in the late spring, this quest has included precarious trips through wetlands teeming with so many mosquitoes and black flies that exposing a square inch of skin to the little bloodsuckers would result in certain torture. Proper boots and protective clothing, not to mention a good insect repellent are musts for the serious orchid stalker. Orchid awareness has turned into orchid mania for some, and there are many stories of thefts and heists of valuable orchids and collections of orchids from various parts of the world. The rare and/or endangered status held by many of the orchids seems to be little deterrent to many who would exploit their value for personal gain. This, along with careless and uninformed picking, may account for the declines in population size around the world. An even greater threat to this royalty of the plant kingdom, however, is loss of habitat. What’s to be done? As George Aiken wrote, “Passing laws (against picking flowers) does not do any good…it seems to me that the only satisfactory answer to this problem is to tell folks how to grow them.” In Lincoln, New Hampshire a high school biology teacher, Peter Faletra and his students have done some exciting work in the restoration of locally endangered plants, specifically the yellow lady’s slipper and the showy lady’s slipper. With the help of tissue culture equipment brought by Faletra from a previous job as an animal tissue-culture bio-tech researcher and a grant from the Toyota Company, he and his students set about implementing a plan to raise thousands of plants in culture, creating a kit containing seedlings and delivering the kits to New Hampshire schools, along with detailed instructions on what to do with them. The procedure includes creating a sterile medium in which seeds can germinate, then exposing the cultures to light and transplanting them to soil. Refrigeration for 3 or 4 months, to simulate the New England winter, may be used. Careful control of light and temperature conditions is necessary. Faletra and his students took their project on tour to other parts of the country. Their intent was to continue their research with a variety of orchid species in order to expand restoration attempts so that more of us could enjoy these beautiful flowers in the wild and in our gardens. As of the writing of this article, however, I understand that the project has been discontinued. If you would be interested in a spring orchid walk on the Huyck Preserve, please contact the preserve office (518) 797-3440. Joan Thomson is a scientific illustrator and native of New York State, living and working in Lebanon, New Hampshire. She was a COM.EN.ART artist at the Huyck Preserve for two weeks in the summer of 2000 where she sketched, painted and pursued her interest in orchids. Bibliography Wild
Flowers of New York, The University of the State of New York, 1918. Nature provides
Classroom for Inner-City Students Last fall the Huyck Preserve
entered into a dynamic partnership with the sixth grade classes of the Arbor
Hill Community School in Albany. The
partnership focused on connecting and exposing the students and teachers of
Arbor Hill to our facilities, programs and research conducted here. This opportunity was the result of the generous funding
support provided by the Bender Foundation, which is a local family organization
that supports educational activities. Combined
Efforts Bring Rewards for Local Children This
past summer, the E.N. Huyck Preserve played a major role in the coordinated
summer recreation program for local youth.
The program combined the existing summer recreation program offered in
the hamlet in conjunction with programs offered by the preserve and the Town of
Rensselaerville Library. |
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Copyright © 2002 E.N. Huyck Preserve |
