Stanley
Reservation
Features:
The woods in Stanley
Reservation are characterized by tall oaks, mature pines
and young maples. In summer green-headed coneflower, a
pretty daisy-like flower, blooms in wet areas.
There is a vernal pool in
Stanley Reservation. Vernal pools are temporary ponds
that fill up with water in spring as a result of
snowmelt, spring rains and/or elevated groundwater
tables. These pools provide valuable wildlife habitat
for small amphibians. Vernal pools provide safer
breeding grounds than permanent waters because they
contain no fish that might eat amphibian eggs and
larvae. On rainy spring nights salamanders make their
way from the woods to vernal ponds to breed.
The plants that grow in the
rich vernal pool soils when the ponds are dry provide
food for worms, mollusks, crustaceans and insects. These
animals in turn become food for salamander and insect
larvae, birds, reptiles and amphibians.
History:
This property was given to AVIS
in 1988 by Georgia Stanley. Her aim was to protect from
development land that had been in her family for almost
60 years. The trail through the Reservation was cut by
neighborhood volunteers, allowing walkers to enjoy the
small streams and stately trees.
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