Virginia Natural Heritage Program

DNH Field Botanist Jenny Stanley traveled to Maine July 22-26 to participate in a week-long bryophyte identification seminar at the Eagle Hill Institute. Bryology is the study of mosses, liverworts, and hornworts. The course was taught by Fred Olday, who studies bryophytes and lichens in New England. Students learned various field collection methods and techniques for identifying bryophytes. The class was an excellent introduction to the identification of this challenging group of plants.

On July 31 on a bright sunny day in Harrisonburg, Virginia, DCR along with other Pollinator Smart agencies /organizations including the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, College of William and Mary and the Flora of Virginia presented a Pollinator Smart Sign and certificate for the James Madison University’s East Campus Hillside Solar Facility. The recognition of this accomplishment in meeting the Pollinator Smart certification for the design of the project is important in supporting an ecological approach to the development of renewable energy. The use of native plant species with pollinator benefits provides ecological, economic and aesthetic benefits beyond clean energy production. JMU is the first university in the Commonwealth to achieve the Virginia Pollinator-Smart designation.

Read more about the Pollinator Smart program: www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/pollinator-smart

Chesapeake Bay regional steward Zach Bradford took things into his own hands to help a globally rare plant. Read more about the effort to help the lovely Pondspice.

On June 22, DCR’s Project Review Assistant, Nicki Gustafson represented Natural Heritage at the Pollinator Palooza sponsored by the James City County Williamsburg Master Gardeners. The event, held at Veterans Park in James City County Virginia, included exhibits from the Butterfly Society, Monarch Watch, Williamsburg Area Beekeepers, Colonial Soil and Water Conservation District, Plant Virginia Natives and several others. Despite the heat, attendees were excited to learn about native plants and pollinators. It was a great opportunity to introduce the Natural Heritage Program and our resources to new audiences. The insect display cases designed by Zoology Lab Manager A.J. Bordell, attracted visitors eager to learn about Virginia’s diversity of bees and other native insects.

On June 6th and 13th, DCR-Natural Heritage Northern Region Stewardship staff welcomed students in the Fredericksburg Regional Governor’s School Wetlands Class to Crow’s Nest Natural Area Preserve. The students are rising 7th graders attending many different schools in the Fredericksburg area. While at Crow’s Nest, students learned about the human history of the Crow’s Nest Peninsula, the conservation efforts that led to the dedication of the preserve and the ecological importance of, and the ecosystem services provided by, the freshwater tidal wetlands along Accokeek Creek. After this introduction, students enjoyed a two-hour paddle that was co-led by DCR staff. Teachers and staff with the City of Fredericksburg’s Walker Grant Middle School organized and taught the weeklong class. Kayaks and boating guidance were provided by the Virginia Outdoors Center. Approximately 35 students participated in each session. This was the seventh year the class has visited Crow’s Nest.

www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/natural-area-preserves/crowsnest

On June 20th, the DCR-Natural Heritage Northern Region Stewardship staff assisted scientists with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) with sediment cores taken from Potomac Creek near the mouth of Accokeek Creek adjacent to Crow’s Nest. The sediment cores are part of a study intended to establish the long-term history of algal blooms in Accokeek and Potomac Creeks based on analysis of pigments, pollen, charcoal, physical properties, lithology, and radiometric dating. It is also anticipated that analysis of sediment cores will provide a record of changes in vegetation, sedimentation, and fire regimes in the area.

www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/natural-area-preserves/crowsnest

With funds from the Virginia Department of Forestry and support from DCR procurement staff, DCR’s Natural Areas Coastal Region established a contract with a qualified company to conduct invasive species management activities at Mutton Hunk Fen Natural Area Preserve (NAP). On May 28th and 29th, DCR-Natural Heritage staff met contractor staff on site to cut invasive Ravenna-grass Tripidium ravennae, to prevent seed development/spread this season and to enable effective chemical treatment in the early fall. Ravenna-grass is increasingly appearing in places well away from ornamental plantings, grows to over three meters in height and, at Mutton Hunk Fen NAP, has both formed a dense one-acre colony that is spreading throughout an area of over six acres of the preserve. During the May and the June site visits, the contractor also treated other invasive plant species - Autumn olive, Chinese privet, multiflora rose, Callery pear, and English ivy - using basal bark and cut stump methods of herbicide application. The contractors will return in the fall and winter to complete their contractual obligations of a full year of seasonally appropriate management activities. Mutton Hunk Fen NAP is the only land accessible (and public access facility) NAP in Accomack County, about an hour drive from the nearest land accessible preserve. Having a competent contractor complete invasive species management activities on this preserve allows Coastal Region Stewardship staff to efficiently focus their efforts on the other four land accessible preserves in Northampton County.

www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/natural-area-preserves/muttonhunk

On June 4, DCR-Natural Heritage’s Karst Program staff partnered with the Virginia Cave Board and other cavers to host an outreach event at Ogdens Natural Area Preserve in Middletown. Fifty-eight citizens of all ages attended the event, where they learned about karst and caves, and had an opportunity to enter the cave with local cavers and members of the Karst Program staff. An article about the event appeared in the Wi******er Star. Later that day, Karst Program coordinator Wil Orndorff spoke at the symposium “Our Karst Landscape and Water Quality”, hosted by the Shenandoah Valley Soil and Water Conservation District. Over 100 participants attended, including local government officials, DCR staff, university faculty and students, and members of the public. Orndorff spoke about cave and karst biodiversity, and contributions to DEQ’s new Stormwater Management Handbook, for which DCR and the Cave Board produced a special appendix addressing karst issues encountered during land development. Orndorff also served on a discussion panel that considered case studies of agricultural cost-share projects and land development on karst.

www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/natural-area-preserves/ogdenscave

On June 1st, partners with the Virginia Eastern Shore Land Trust, Inc. (ESLT) hosted a Clean the Bay Day – part of a larger Chesapeake Bay Foundation watershed-wide effort – along the shoreline of Savage Neck. The efforts began on an ESLT eased property to the south of Savage Neck Dunes Natural Area Preserve and included the preserve in their cleanup efforts. DCR’s Coastal Region Steward, Shannon Alexander, welcomed volunteers and talked to them about the Division’s mission and the significance of the shoreline for the federally listed Northeastern Beach Tiger Beetle (Cicindela dorsalis dorsalis). She also spoke about best practices while removing debris along the shoreline to reduce the risk of negatively impacting the species. This partnership not only cleans up the preserve but allows us to encourage care of our sensitive bay shorelines and its inhabitants to a group of people we may not otherwise reach.

www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/natural-area-preserves/savage

Each spring, volunteers from the Eastern Shore Master Naturalists work alongside Natural Heritage Stewardship staff to trim back vegetation encroaching on the trail through an area of the Magothy Bay Natural Area Preserve that was restored by planting thousands of native shrubs in 2009 and 2010. This year, on June 4th, four Natural Heritage staff and seven volunteers were able to ensure safe traverse of the trail by carefully trimming over five truckloads of vegetation and removing climbing invasive Japanese honeysuckle. Staff replaced aging boards on the kiosk to improve preserve appearance and in preparation for new signage. These events instill an increased sense of ownership and responsibility of the preserves, helping volunteers to continue to improve their stewardship skills and share them with others in the community. They also present the preserve as a place that has a significant management presence and is cared for, thus deterring potential inappropriate behavior on the preserves.

Read more
www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/natural-area-preserves/magothy

On May 28th and 29th, Coastal Region Stewardship staff aided in field work expeditions to the Northwest River Natural Area Preserve and the North Landing River Natural Area Preserve respectively. The Northwest River NAP trip was highlighted by ecological observations and discoveries from Vegetation Ecologist, Joey Thompson, and Chesapeake Bay Region Supervisor, Zach Bradford. Bradford’s efforts were focused on locating and documenting the taxonomically debated Woodland Ladies’ Tresses Orchid (Spiranthes sylvatica); while Thompson revisited vegetation plots and documented natural community occurrences, some of which had not been observed in over 20 years. Thompson also joined a boat expedition to North Landing River NAP with Stewardship Biologist, Kevin Heffernan, Invasive Species Technician, A.G. Sweany, Coastal Region Stewardship Technician, Jack Saladino, and Coastal Region Public Access Technician, Will Mears. Heffernan and Sweany piloted a camera-mounted drone to fly over tracts of the preserve in which aerial herbicide application for Phragmites australis was performed in October 2023. The purpose of these drone flights is to investigate the efficacy of the aerial herbicide in allowing native plants to replace the phragmites in herbicide treated marsh understory.

left photo below: Joey Thompson and Zach Bradford discover Woodland Ladies' Tresses orchid at Northwest River NAP

Right photo: A.G. Sweany, Kevin Heffernan and Will Mears prepare for a drone flight at North Landing River NAP

www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/natural-area-preserves/northlanding

www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/natural-area-preserves/northwest

On May 16th, DCR’s Chesapeake Bay Region Supervisor, Zach Bradford, assisted leaders from the Northern Neck Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society with a field trip at Hickory Hollow Natural Area Preserve in Lancaster County. The 20 participants learned about the history of the site and the community effort that led to its protection, explored the intersection of geology and botany as it relates to the unique calcium-rich swamps on the site, and viewed numerous wetland plants including several species that are disjunctions from Virginia’s mountains. Hickory Hollow Natural Area Preserve is owned by the Northern Neck Audubon Society and managed in partnership with DCR’s Division of Natural Heritage.

www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/natural-area-preserves/hickory

On May 18th, the Town of Cleveland, the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, the Russell County Sheriff’s Office, the Cleveland Fire Department, the Cleveland Rescue Squad, and the Department of Conservation and Recreation partnered to host the 30th annual Kids Fishing Day at Pinnacle Natural Area Preserve in Russell County. Despite gloomy, rainy weather, approximately 100 people showed up and enjoyed free food, prizes, and trout fishing for those under 18 years old. Special thanks goes out to staff from Clinch River State Park, who attended and assisted with this year’s event.

www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/natural-area-preserves/pinnacle

For the second consecutive spring, as part of a course organized by the Academy for Lifetime Learning (ALL), three interpretive walks were held at Preserves in the Coastal Region during the month of May. Expert guides from the Eastern Shore Virginia Master Naturalist Chapter and Natural Heritage Stewardship staff lead about 10 guests each at Savage Neck Dunes NAP, Magothy Bay NAP, and Mutton Hunk Fen NAP, on May 9th, 14th, and May 16th respectively. Participants learned about native and invasive plant species, restoration techniques, shoreline management complications, unique bird and invertebrate species, and more. These events inspire support of the Division and Agency missions, conservation actions on private properties, and participation in future volunteer activities at state preserves.

read more: www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/natural-area-preserves/

On May 16th, DCR-Natural Heritage Stewardship Staff joined partners from Virginia Department of Forestry (DOF) and Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources; The Nature Conservancy Virginia; and volunteers from the Virginia Master Naturalists (Historic Southside Chapter) to sow native grass and forb seeds into nursery flats as part of a new native groundcover restoration initiative among the Longleaf Pine Cooperators Group. Seeds were collected from natural area preserves in the Southeast region. Staff at the DOF Sussex County Nursery will tend to these seedlings for members of the partnership. Once well established, they will be planted into a native seed “orchard” to provide a native understory seed source for regional restoration projects, primarily those associated with the region’s longleaf pine reestablishment efforts.

On May 8th, DCR’s Chesapeake Bay Region Stewardship staff installed fencing and signs to restrict visitor access to a portion of Bethel Beach Natural Area Preserve in Mathews County. This area, formerly a sand spit and now separated from the rest of the shoreline by a narrow channel, is often used by rare Least Tern for nesting. Humans and unleashed dogs cause Least Tern to leave their nests for extended periods of time, leaving their eggs and chicks exposed in the hot summer sun.
This area of Bethel Beach Natural Area Preserve is closed to visitors until September 15 to allow Least Tern chicks ample time to fledge.

read more: www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/natural-area-preserves/bethel

On April 20th, DCR’s Division of Natural Heritage (DNH) Coastal Region Steward, Shannon Alexander, assisted in organizing and staffing several outreach booths during the Earth Day Return to Our Roots festival in Exmore, one of the largest-by-population towns on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. About eight volunteers from the Eastern Shore Master Naturalists (ESVMN), two Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ) staff from Richmond, and the Coastal Region Steward had four distinct stations at the event. The ESVMN station focused on pollinators and their host plants with butterfly activities for children. The DCR station focused on DNH and the Natural Area Preserve system, and was shared with VDEQ information about preventing balloon litter. VDEQ’s Plant Eastern Shore Natives booth gathered contact information from about 30 individuals interested in receiving the new regional native plant guide when it becomes available. Despite a rainy morning, the weather cleared and brought with it a couple hundred attendees of all ages. These tables educated attendees on various topics that will help them be better stewards and more aware of unique ecological resources in the region and the state.

On March 21st, Dr. Kal Ivanov, Curator of Invertebrate Zoology at the Virginia Museum of Natural History (VMNH) visited the Natural Heritage Zoology Lab to accept a donation of bee specimens collected, pinned, and identified by the Natural Heritage Zoology team. In all, he accepted 100 boxes containing an estimated 21,000 Virginia bees, as well as 17 boxes containing 3,300 miscellaneous pinned insects. This donation represented many years of work by the program studying the native bees of the Commonwealth, an ongoing effort that has allowed us to expand our bee reference collection, discover new species for the state, document locations of rare species, and improve our general knowledge of the bee fauna of Virginia. Since Natural Heritage is not a museum and does not have physical space nor curation capabilities, the collaboration with the VMNH to preserve these important collections is an important piece in the long-term study of Virginia’s bees. Natural Heritage will continue to study Virginia’s native bees and expects to continue the partnership with the museum in this work. A working list of the Bees of Virginia is available on the Heritage website here:https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/document/vainvertlist-bees.pdf

On Earth Day, April 22nd, DCR’s Southwest Region Stewardship staff, with assistance from partners at DCR Virginia State Parks, the Virginia Department of Forestry, The Nature Conservancy Virginia, and the Tennessee Valley Authority completed a high-priority prescribed burn at The Cedars Natural Area Preserve in Lee County. This was a third-entry fire treatment for the 26-acre Williams Unit, previously burned in April 2017 and November 2020 and the site of a Limestone Woodlands and Barrens restoration project underway since 2015. DCR’s objective is to restore and maintain open woodland structure using prescribed fire to reduce abundance and prevent encroachment by fire-intolerant woody plants such as eastern red-cedar (Juniperus virginiana) and eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis), as well as by non-native invasive species. Prescribed fire at this site promotes development of a diverse herb-dominated groundcover by maintaining high light levels reaching the forest floor and releasing soluble nutrients into the soil. Several rare plants have flourished on this tract since restoration work began, including Northern rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium) and White blue-eyed-grass (Sisyrinchium albidum).

read more: www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/natural-area-preserves/thecedars

On April 20, DCR Mountain Region Supervisor and Natural Areas Science Coordinator Ryan Klopf attended a public screening of a film produced by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation about invasive species, “Uninvited: The Spread of Invasive Species,” and following the screening, participated in an expert panel to answer questions from the audience. This event was attended by 112 people, many of whom had good, practical questions for the panel, which in turn led to a great, educational discussion about the management of invasive species in Virginia. This event was organized by the Virginia Tech Invasive Species Collaborative.

Natural Heritage karst staff have been busy discovering new cave isopod species. Congratulations to all for the exciting new publication and naming recognition!

Read about Southwest Region Steward Laura Young's efforts to restore native River cane stands in the Cedars Natural Area Preserve, and volunteer opportunities to help in the work:

Restoring riverfronts with native canebrakes If you drive around Southwest Virginia, you'll see roads named “Caney Creek Road” or “Cane Valley Road.” These names suggest that stands of native river cane (Arundinaria gigantea) once made their presence known on both sides of the Powell River, extending up every tributary and valley in th...

From March 19th-21st, DCR-Natural Heritage Coastal Region Stewardship staff worked with two volunteer groups, each comprised of about five members of the Eastern Shore Master Naturalists, to remove invasive species at the Cape Charles Natural Area Preserve. Efforts were focused along about ¼ mile of trail and boardwalk, a total area of almost an acre. Volunteers primarily focused on hand pulling young Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) and Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense), and severing Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) found strangling native trees and shrubs. Staff completed sawyer work to down mature privet and Amur honeysuckle, over half a ton of which, with additional volunteer support, was trailered and removed from the site. A high number of multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora) were carefully removed as well. Peeling back decades of invasive species revealed a significant stock of native shrubs and forbs, including spicebush (Lindera benzoin), American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana), Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum), golden ragwort (Packera aurea), and white avens (Geum canadense). Fourteen volunteers contributed a total of 58 hours and three staff contributed a total of 90 hours in this initial organized removal of the dense invasive species near the entrance to the preserve. These efforts, combined with a native species planting planned for mid-April, and ongoing maintenance, will lead to a preserve that can better provide visitors with an example of a diverse and healthy natural community.

During recent field work in Patrick County, Virginia, a globally rare liverwort known as Appalachian Crestwort (Lophocolea appalachiana - G2/S1) was discovered. This is the first documented population in Virginia. The species is a Southern Appalachian endemic and occurs rarely in five states (the Carolinas, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and now Virginia). Its occurrence in Patrick County is now the easternmost known for the species and is only slightly south of its northernmost range limit in Letcher County, Kentucky. The new population grows along a shaded stream on the Blue Ridge escarpment where high atmospheric moisture, elevation, and periodic flooding provide ideal growing conditions. Similar discoveries are possible in the region given the high moss and liverwort diversity and the confirmed presence of other rare and disjunct species nearby.

Stewardship staff from the Southeast, Chesapeake Bay, and Northern Regions joined Coastal Region staff to complete major public access safety improvements at Cape Charles Natural Area Preserve. The Preserve was closed from February 12th through February 28th to allow staff to rehabilitate 520 feet of the elevated boardwalk with cross beams, cross bracing, and repaired handrailing. The boardwalk terminus nearest the Chesapeake Bay shoreline had been undermined due to erosion and was moved back to ensure visitor safety and long-term maintenance efficiency. Only by working collaboratively across regions was this project able to be completed in a timely manner to reduce closure time for the public.

Clockwise starting at top left: At risk CCNAP boardwalk terminus before; Zach Bradford deconstructing undermined viewing platform; group with Jack Saladino, James Watling, Will Mears, and Bryan Ehrenfried; Dylan Gavagni repairing handrail; Cross beam and cross bracing rehabilitation; New northern spur terminus after; New safety and erosion control fencing.

On February 28, the Flora of Virginia (FOVA) Project presented a webinar to Virginia Master Naturalists on how to use the FOVA App. Vegetation Ecologist Joey Thompson presented on DCR Ecological Group information which was added to the FOVA App in 2023. While most of the information on the app has been available on the DCR website for several years, it is now easily viewable and searchable on the FOVA app. Additionally, a new means of viewing Ecological Group distribution data was developed for the app specifically; these maps display distribution patterns of Ecological Groups by physiographic provinces as well as points at documented occurrences (see example below). Over 100 Master Naturalists attended the webinar, which helped to progress DCR’s mission of educating the public about resources tracked by Natural Heritage.

read more: www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/vaflora

On January 29th, Ryan Klopf, the DCR Mountain Region Stewardship Supervisor and Natural Areas Science Coordinator delivered a presentation to a Conservation Biology capstone class at Virginia Tech. The presentation covered the mission and general workflow of the Virginia Natural Heritage Program within the context of current conservation challenges. Following this initial presentation, a small group of seniors in the class will partner with DCR’s Natural Heritage Division on a semester-long project centered on one or more Mountain Region preserves. 2024 will mark the tenth year of this productive and mutually beneficial partnership between DCR-Natural Heritage and the Department of Fish & Wildlife Conservation at Virginia Tech.

On January 26th, DCR Northern Region staff joined staff with the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust (NVCT) to complete the annual Great Blue Heron nest count within the Potomac Creek Heronry at Crow’s Nest Natural Area Preserve. A total of 212 nests were counted this year, an increase of 32 nests from 2023. This count may not reflect the true nest count from the previous spring as there was evidence that storms over the previous year caused nests to fall from trees. Prior to the derecho of 2012 and the loss of green ash caused by emerald ash borer since 2015, nest counts typically were greater than 300. DCR, with our partners with Stafford County and NVCT, continue to protect additional land around the heronry. This could allow herons to nest in areas less affected by the emerald ash borer.

dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/natural-areas/crowsnest

On January 22nd, Coastal Region Stewardship staff placed almost four tons of layered gravel over an area of seasonal inundation that posed access issues and safe egress concerns at Cape Charles Natural Area Preserve. At another Coastal Region Preserve, Savage Neck Dunes, staff installed over 150 feet of rope line as a guide for guests and to deter inappropriate access to globally rare maritime dune woodlands and coastal zone dunes. Continuing this effort, on January 23rd and 24th, staff installed over 130 feet of sand fencing in strategic locations to capture sand, reduce erosion, and discourage foot traffic along the primary and secondary dunes. Sand fencing is installed elevated to allow for sand accumulation at the base and is installed in staggered 10-foot sections to allow wildlife to pass through unimpeded. In April, staff will work with volunteers to plant over 1,000 American Beachgrass (Calamogrostis breviligulata) plugs. These activities both protect natural resources and make trails clearer and safer for visitors.

https://dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/natural-area-preserves/capecharles

https://dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/natural-area-preserves/savage

A new cave beetle described in Virginia! On January 8th, DCR-Division of Natural Heritage (DNH) Lead Cave and Karst Scientist, Tom Malabad was one of the authors of a paper published in the journal Subterranean Biology. The paper discussed the rare beetle genus Horologion and included the description of a new species, Horologion hubbardi sp. nov., found in a Virginia cave. The new beetle is the second beetle described in this incredibly enigmatic genus and the first found in Virginia. The article can be viewed at: https://subtbiol.pensoft.net/article/114404/.
Congratulations to Tom and the entire DCR-NH Karst team!