Stream Corridors & Hedgerows

“In between” spaces offer some of the most diverse and important habitat at  Sunnyside. The property has five primary drainages that run north-south, starting in  Shenandoah National Park and emptying in the Rush River one neighboring property away.  They incorporate both seasonal streams that flow entirely at the surface and springs that  emerge from the ground at various points. These drainages provide important corridors for  wildlife movement across the larger landscape. They also tend to be hotbeds for invasive species. Additionally, we have strips of drier habitat running both N/S and E/W that separate  growing fields, orchards and meadows. These areas often include large piles of rock dumped  decades ago when fields were cleared for agriculture. They likewise are magnets for invasive  species that thrive in places that have undergone heavy disturbance.

Conservations Practices: These strips of generally shrubby, often wet habitat act almost like  biodiversity arteries. We manage them to enhance connectivity and augment their wildlife  benefits. Invasive species are a major challenge. When our stewardship began in 2006, the predominant species in these areas was tree of heaven or ailanthus, an Asian species that spreads aggressively by both seed and rhizome. Ailanthus is toxic to other trees and shrubs, has virtually no beneficial associations with native insects, birds or mammals, attracts the invasive and highly damaging spotted lanternfly, and is challenging to eliminate. Many of these areas were also lined with rusted barbed wire fencing, which had effectively become a trellis for Japanese honeysuckle and multiflora rose, two non-native plants that smother and choke other flora. Controlling these species has been a priority of ours from the start, and we have made significant progress in reducing their prevalence, although we now face threats from newly arrived species including mile-a-minute vine, Japanese stilt grass and Oriental bittersweet. Beyond the invasive species work, we have expanded the width of these corridors, amended them with extensive plantings of beneficial shrubs and trees, added habitat features like vernal pools and artificial nest boxes and introduced prescribed fire as a management tool where appropriate.

Indicator Species: bobcat, mink, Eastern fox squirrel, American woodcock, Eastern screech  owl, whip-poor-will, Eastern kingbird, yellow-breasted chat, blue grosbeak, swamp sparrow, black racer, box turtle, spring peeper, gray tree frog, swamp white oak, hackberry, green  hawthorn, river birch, silky dogwood, flowering dogwood, Chickasaw plum, winged sumac,  aromatic sumac, elderberry, American hazelnut, chokeberry, ninebark, swamp rose 

Goods and Services: By expanding the size of our riparian corridors and encouraging a  healthy and diverse mix of shrubs and trees, we have helped stabilize stream banks, reduce  erosion, lower flood risk and improve water quality. Rappahannock County is the headwaters  of the Rappahannock River watershed, so these actions have downstream effects both in real  terms and as an example of how conservation practices can help reduce sediment load.

Explore Other Ecosystem Features

Orchards
Production Fields & High Tunnels
Hayfields & Pastures
Relic & Existing Farm Infrastructure
Native Meadows & Savannas
Ponds
Stream Corridors & Hedgerows
Forest
Manicured Areas