Ecological Preserve

white-tailed deer doe and fawn. Red fox. The EcoPreserve again participated in SNAPSHOT USA. Snapshot is a huge collaborative effort to sample mammal populations with camera traps. The study is designed to sample sites stratified across habitats and development zones (suburban/rural/wild/urban) across the US.  The EcoPreserve is New Jersey’s only SNAPSHOT site. For more information go to https://app.wildlifeinsights.org/initiatives/2000156/Snapshot-USA Under the direction of EcoPreserve Director, Rick Lathrop, graduate student Kendall Edredge and several undergraduate students set up the cameras, reviewed the…

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The Spotted Lanternfly (SLF) (Lycorma delicatula) is an introduced insect that has been spreading across New Jersey. SLF feeds on sap from a myriad of plants   including grapevines, maples, black walnut, birch and willow. SLF’s feeding damage stresses plants which can decrease their health and in some cases cause death. Starting in April of 2022, Dr. George Hamilton, a member of the entomology department at Rutgers University, began a project at the preserve examining the phenology of SLF on a variety…

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Since the pandemic, Professor James White of the Rutgers Plant Biology Department has been using the Rutgers Ecological Preserve each Fall semester as a lab for two mycology courses: 1) Fungi in the Environment (3 credits; 11:776:400) and Poisonous and Edible Mushrooms (1 credit; 11:776:257).  Prof. White suggests that the field component has really improved the quality of the course experience for students. He notes that “I think that the students get a better experience of fungi when they are…

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The Blue Trail where it crosses the Buell Brook Ravine has become heavily eroded over the past several years. The Land Steward crew worked hard in this past summer’s heat to put in a series of switchbacks to make the climb easier up the steep ravine slope. On the eastern side, they refurbished the water and side bars to help stabilize the trailbed and stem erosion. Some side trails have been closed off to prevent erosion and protect the dry…

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