Nature on the Hook
The natural forces of wind and waves are constantly changing the shoreline of Sandy Hook. This movement of sand helps to maintain a variety of coastal habitats. Sand dunes, grasslands, salt and freshwater marshes, shrub thickets and maritime forests are unique, valuable natural resources and remain unchanged in contrast to the development found along much of the mid-Atlantic coast.
The 264 acres of maritime
forest contains the greatest
concentration of
American holly on the
East Coast. Some trees
are over 170 years
old.
The salt marsh provides a vital function, serving as a nursery for marine species and the basis of the food chain in the estuarine environment.
A number of threatened and endangered species including piping plover and wild wormwood can be found in the park.
Other interesting natural features include plentiful beach plums, prickly pear cactus, red foxes, ospreys, horseshoe crabs and monarch butterflies.
Birders appreciate Sandy Hook’s critical location in the Atlantic Flyway that enhances birding opportunities, especially during spring and fall migrations.
Past military activites and development have left their mark in many places on Sandy Hook.
Park staff are working to restore degraded areas by revegetating with native plants and restoring, where appropriate, native animal populations like the northeastern beach tiger beetle, the Fowler’s toad and eastern hognose snake.
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