HABITAT: Open Field/Grassland - Boundary Creek Natural Resource Area - Moorestown, NJ
N 40° 00.670 W 074° 54.329
18T E 508066 N 4429000
This interpretive is part of a series of beautiful and informative nature markers which extend in a circuit around this new nature reserve. Established in 2009, this park is a haven for nature lovers and for nature, too!
Waymark Code: WMAHCQ
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 01/16/2011
Views: 3
This interpretive is one of the ones that are furthest away from the main building. All of the interpretive discuss flora and fauna that make this protected area unique and valuable. This one is 660 feet away from the parking lot. It is simple to get to. There is a path that cuts through the loop which runs around the park. The path starts at the parking lot at these coordinates: N 40° 0.575 W 74° 54.336. You'll pass the human sun dial at a rotary on the way to the interpretive. The dial is in a small rotary with benches. All total it is a 539 foot walk through the heart of the nature preserve. At the end make a left and walk 143 feet and you got yourself a nature interpretive.
The interpretive is quite beautiful and features colorful pictures of various indigenous flora and fauna. The Board of Chosen Freeholders for Burlington County New Jersey has their insignia at the bottom right of the sign. The sign reads:
Open Field/Grassland is one of the three major habitat types in Boundary Creek NRA.
Open Field/Grassland is the predominant habitat in the park. These fields were originally forest that was cleared or logged and eventually farmed. Most recently, the land was a peach orchard, and several peach trees still exist, although they no longer bear fruit. The fields are currently undergoing "old field succession," and are trying to return to a forest habitat. Because grassland habitat is disappearing so rabidly in the United States, but is tremendously valuable to wildlife, we are enhancing and maintaining the open fields here at Boundary Creek.
These fields contain plant species such as Switchgrass, Little Bluestem grass, Wild Onion, Yarrow, Pokeweed, Milkweed, Red Cedar and Black Cherry. Wildlife species that use open field habitat for nesting, feeding, and shelter include mammals (Eastern Cottontail Rabbit, Meadow Vole, and Red Fox), birds (Field Sparrow, Bobwhite Quail, Song Sparrow and American Goldfinch), and butterflies (Monarch and Black Swallowtail).