Nutz4Nature

Stuyvesant Park – Lower East Side, NYC

Though it is a small and humble park in comparison with ones like Central Park, Stuyvesant Park is home to a bevy of ecosystem services.  As depicted here, it sets the stage for both recreational cultural services and regulating services like air purification and carbon sequestration (when the trees intake and make use of the carbon in the environment).  Without the trees’ performance as “resuscitators” of life, so to speak, all oxygen-breathing life would suffocate.

Central Park – near 66th street transverse

Central Park is budding with flowers, though this ecosystem’s MVP is much more difficult to spy this time of year.  In the summer, bees would be buzzing around this flowery domain, moving from bud to bud in a quest for pollen and nectar.  In the process, they partake in a service called pollination.  If we didn’t have their help, New York City would much a much less vibrant, barren place.

Marine Park Nature Center Building

One might have thought that Prospect park would hold the title of Brooklyn’s largest park. However, Marine Park is surprisingly Brooklyn’s largest park as it features 530 acres of salt marsh precious grassland, home to a multitude of birds and native flora and fauna.

Salt marshes play a critical role in the support of human life, acting as natural filtration systems by trapping pollutants that would otherwise contaminate our bays and oceans. Salt marshes have the ability to absorb fertilizers, improve water quality, and reduce erosion. They are also among the richest wildlife habitats.

One Goose can be seen bathing in the left, far away from it’s flock, which can be seen in the distance of the same photo. Another flock of geese can be seen in the bottom right photo.

“The role of the salt marsh is even more crucial because more than 75 percent of the original salt marsh in Jamaica Bay has been destroyed. Most of that destruction was due to filling of marshes to create more land area for homes and industry. Marine Park’s salt marsh, formerly a wasteland filled with trash and abandoned cars, has been restored to its natural condition — proof that a rare and fragile ecosystem can safely exist even when it borders a heavily urban area like Brooklyn.”

Above, Algae can be seen growing on the edge of the lake. Healthy lakes need algae. Algae are important to the productivity of a lake or water body. Algae are primary producers. They use sunlight (through photosynthesis) to produce carbohydrates and are eaten by grazers such as protozoa and zooplankton (little animals like water fleas and rotifers). The zooplankton are, in turn, grazed upon by fish, which are eaten by bigger fish, and on up the food chain.

The Marine Park Nature Center is also home to a wide array of flowers, trees and bush. These paths and walking areas can beneficial to humans for it’s beauty and health benefits, while they also are home to insects, and small creatures.

The Nature Center Labels its plants for easy identification of its species!

Parks provides us with a simple way to improve emotional health – flowers. “The presence of flowers triggers happy emotions, heightens feelings of life satisfaction and affects social behavior in a positive manner.” – aboutflowers.com

As you may know, flowers are essential for the survival of bees and other insects who find home within the flowers and shrubs which otherwise wouldn’t be available without the parks in NYC! The pictures above portray species of flowers and shrubs such as “Black Chokeberry”, “Witch Alder” and “Blue Star”.

Sources: 

http://www.saltmarshalliance.org/smnc.html

http://www.aboutflowers.com/health-benefits-a-research.html

The different types of flowers in this park on the Upper East Side not only provide an aesthetically pleasing landscape, but also a home, meal, and pollen for themselves and other plants. During the warmer months some insects, birds, and other creatures use them as a main source of food, while others find shade and shelter in their canopies. Most importantly, though, flowers spread their DNA and continue the growth of other greenery through pollination, a vital process in any environment.

Rocks line walkways and create a beautiful terrain in any environment, but also create their own ecosystem!

Under and around rocks, you can find anything from beetles and worms to tiny colonies of fungus and lichens living together in a damp, cool habitat. Humans benefit from rocks in many ways, too; We use them for resting, shaping our terrains, and even fertilizing soil.

Trees are to animals as building are to humans – sources for almost anything! They provide sturdy and strong shelter throughout the year to a plethora of animals, from small birds to deer, and shade the ground to make cool patches in the summer months. Trees are also the main supplier of oxygen, which keeps the whole earth alive and healthy – especially important as our world becomes more polluted.

Union Square Park, Manhattan, NYC

Bryant Park, Manhattan, NYC

Bryant Park,Manhattan, NYC

Flowers:

Flowers are often an ecosystem service people take for granted. People generally only see the importance of flowers on holidays and birthdays. But really, flowers are everywhere and can be found in a variety of ecosystems. They have an aesthetic purpose and generally uplift people’s mood. Flowers are an important part of the green spaces in NYC and serve an intrinsic purpose.

Union Square Park, Manhattan, NYC

Bryant Park, Manhattan,  NYC

Union Square Park, Manhattan, NYC

Madison Square Park

Madison Square Park, Manhattan,NYC

Trees:

Trees are one of the most important ecosystem services. Urban trees provide a multitude of environmental, economic and social benefits. Trees help counteract global climate change and improve air quality by absorbing and storing pollutants such as carbon dioxide and dust. Studies have found a correlation between the number of trees planted in an urban area and reported health. Furthermore, proximity to green spaces and large street trees is linked to lower crime rates, greater community appeal and increased property values, contributing to the high economic return of planting trees. Million trees NYC, which hopes to increase the city’s canopy cover from the current 21% to 30% by 2030, has quantified the value of these quality-of-life benefits. For more info go to:   http://milliontreesnyc.org/html/home/home.shtml

Union Square Park, Manhattan, NYC

Union Square Park, Manhattan, NYC

Union Square Park,  Manhattan, NYC

Madison Square Park, Manhattan,NYC

Plants and Shrubs:

Plants are an important ecosystem service in NYC parks. An integral role they play is as oxygen creators. This oxygen in turn is necessary for animal life, including human beings! It is quite easy to miss plants and shrubs when they are quite abundant. However, they are integral to human life. Plants provide food for omnivores and herbivores alike. Furthermore, plants add to the scenery of a park or garden.