Within New York City, a place surrounded by tall buildings and filled with traffic, there is a strip of vegetation along 10th avenue from 13th to 34th street. A railroad abandoned for 46 years was observed to have gone through something similar to primary succession on bare rocks or on islands. The railroad that was used to deliver commercial goods was abandoned from 1934 to 1980. During this time, “lichens, byrophytes, forbs, grasses and woody vegetation” formed along the rail line untouched by humans. (Stalter) For vegetation to grow by itself in a place filled with skyscrapers and little plants produced with human hands is a good example of Marris’ rambunctious garden.
The High Line was once known as the “Death Ave,” because of the “dangerous mix of rail/motor traffic and pedestrians along its path.” (Stalter) After the rail line was abandoned vegeation began to form on its own, providing evidence that it is possible for nature to grow in cities. Marris believes that nature should be adapted to the city environment instead of just protected and preserved. From her observation, nature is able to adapt to the changing environment created by humans, and even if humans went out to protect the environment in its pristine form from human hands, it will still be affected by humans. So with the success of the High Line building nature on its own, Marris is able to show that nature can adapt to urban areas.
After the High Line was abandoned, there was much discussion as to what to do with it. Some wanted the rail line teared down, while others wished to preserve it and transform it to a walkway. The Friends of the High Line wanted to save the rail line and claimed that its transformation would “enhance economic development of the area.” (Stalter) When it was decided that the High Line would be preserved, many species were discovered . The specie richness was observed to be “greater than the specie richness of four nearby New York City sites” and might just have “one of the highest level of specie richness in any temperate region.” (Stalter) This was clear during my visit to the High Line on September 20. During my visit, there were a variety of plants though most of them seemed similar.
Besides the plants looking similar, the pollinators were as well. I spotted many bees there, a small flying insect, a few moths, and a sparrow. From all the bees I observed, it was visible that they were all different species. Some bees were fat, others were thin, and the shape of their wings were different too. Some bees appeared to have a larger stinger than others as well. Given the different appearances, it was clear that there were different species of bees. These different breeds of bees coexisted well with one another as some even gathered at the same plants to gather pollen. It seems that some plants attracted bees more than others and some plants attracted only one specific type of bee. From my visit, I. noticed that most of the plants that looked alike were spread out along highline more than others plants that I had only viewed in certain spots.
