Kindling Neighborly Connections between People and Nature.

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Rich is a nature guide and environmental educator with experience guiding in Pennsylvania and New York. He is a 2009 graduate of Penn State University's Environmental Studies program, a fully insured New York State Licensed Guide, and a Certified Interpretive Guide through the National Association for Interpretation. Rich has a passion for revealing nature's relationships and he wants to help you discover yourself in the gift, the adversity, and the wonder of wild nature.

Monday, July 11, 2022

Decomposing Log Communities

One of the joys of living in New York's Adirondack Park is that there are decomposing logs all over the forest. Each decomposing log is host to its own little world of fungi, mosses, liverworts, vascular plants, and arthropods. 

When you're out hiking the trails it's often the visible animals like toads, snakes, and birds that capture our attention.

When the diet of animals like toads, snakes, and birds is considered it becomes clear just how important it is that there are healthy decomposing logs in our forests. Without the decomposing logs that host a buffet of arthropods, larger insectivorous animals would not have enough food. You can help by following Leave No Trace Principles the next time you build a campfire.

One of the Leave No Trace principles is to minimize campfire impacts by gathering firewood that is dead, down, dinky, and distant. Dead and down means 1) no longer living and 2) on the ground. Dinky and distant means 1) smaller than your wrist in circumference and 2) collected at least 200 feet from your designated campsite. 

By following these Leave No Trace Principles in this way you can help to make sure that there will be community-supporting decomposing log communities all throughout our forests, even in proximity to designated campsites in the Adirondack Park.





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