Land Stewardship Plan
Mission: Overall Purpose of the Plan
The Land Stewardship Plan is, in a sense, a living thing. It grows and changes as a result of changes in Aullwood’s land resource and in the demands put upon the land by the programs that are the public face of Aullwood.
Mission:
The Land Stewardship Plan has been created within the bounds of Aullwood’s Mission Statement and our understanding of the best available technology for managing ecosystems.
Aullwood’s Land Stewardship Objectives:
- To provide a number of diverse habitats in a small area.
- To provide habitats that are accessible to school groups and others of the visiting public
- To protect the biodiversity found at Aullwood
- To promote and enhance biodiversity through restoration of habitats
- To prevent the overuse of areas and restore areas that have been overused.
- To develop habitats that promote species identified as endangered, threatened or of special concern.
- To enhance the monitoring of land resources in order to plan effective strategies.
Habitat Healers Volunteers
Aullwood depends on volunteers in nearly every aspect of our operation. Many land stewardship activities are conducted by volunteers in a group called Habitat Healers. These volunteers remove non-native invasives. They are resource people for the Native Plant Sale. They plant native plants, maintain a quality trail system, and do a score of other important jobs.
Join us by contacting Nina Lapitan [nlapitan@audubon.org] for more information about volunteering. Or contact John Wilson [jwilson@audubon.org] for information about specific projects.
Habitats at Aullwood
The National Audubon Society protects birds, other wildlife and the habitats they depend on. Diversity is the heart of Aullwood’s mission. Teaching people about habitats and the diversity of life is vital. Our 200 acre sanctuary contains a rich variety of plant-animal communities. Young and old woods, streams, our organic farm, ponds, wetlands, prairies, meadows are all part of our land resource.
All Taxa Biological Inventory
At some of the best sites in the world scientists and amateur naturalists are working to compile exhaustive lists of species. The Great Smoky Mountains is famous for its work on this massive task. Aullwood is working in a more modest way on a biological inventory. All of the following lists are works in progress and known to be incomplete.
Click here to view the lists of all the flora and fauna found on Aullwood's land:
Flora and Fauna
Non-Native Invasives
The gravest threat to diversity is loss of habitat. The cause of this loss might be development or resource extraction. It might include human actions which cause global warming. One of the most important threats is the spread of non-native invasives. See the Ohio Invasive Plants Council Website.
Like most similar institutions, Aullwood has many non-native plants. Some we ignore and others we control by using a variety of techniques. We have multi-year strategies for some species using overlapping methods and engaging large numbers of volunteers and staff. We are in multi-year battles with some plants. We have skirmishes of less prolonged and dedicated effort against others. There is progress in some areas. Habitat Healer volunteers do much of the work. Aullwood’s Native Plant Sale provides local origin native species to put into the battle zones.
Native Plant Sale
Every April since 2005 Aullwood has offered a selection of locally grown native plants from local origins for people who want to support local diversity in their own yards, woods, fields and aquatic areas. Leftover wildflowers and trees are planted in Aullwood’s landscape to help preserve and enhance the natural diversity. When this land was changed from forest to farm in the early 1800s we lost a great diversity. The slow change from the monocultures of the farm back to a diverse nature sanctuary is still progressing. It can help you too.
Citizen Science
Another exciting part of the land stewardship effort is Citizen Science.
We have many volunteers who participate regularly in our efforts to monitor Aullwood’s natural resources.
Long Term Butterfly Monitoring takes place once a week from April through October. We started this program in 2000.
The breeding bird count has taken place in early june for decades.
The Thursday Morning Adult walk had created a long list of bird observations. Bird list.
The Prairie Phenology Project has allowed us to plot the likely bloom times of flowers in the planted prairie at Aullwood.
The Dayton area count of the National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count has included Aullwood as an area since Aullwood was created.
What you can do to protect diversity
The National Audubon Society has a lot of good information about ways you can protect birds, other wildlife and their habitats around the place where you live. Visit Audubon At Home to see lots of suggestions you can use. Aullwood’s Native Plant Sale can help you create a rich landscape around your home so butterflies, birds and other creatures will come.
We have many volunteer activities that you might enjoy. Some of our volunteers work as Habitat Healers to help eliminate threats to diversity, like non-native invasives.
