Coastal Heathlands

A heathland landscape at Marconi Site in Wellfleet.  Note the vegetation cover dominated by grasses and low growing shrubs.

Photo by Kirsten Martin

Sandplain is a term used to describe an area of glacial outwash. The transportation and deposition of sandy sediments by retreating glaciers are what formed the sandplains found in New England. The grassland and heathland plant community types associated with New England sandplains owe much of their prevalence to historical disturbance. Past natural events (like fire) and human activities (like agriculture) are responsible for the formation of these community types throughout much of their present day range. The suppression and disruption of historical disturbance has resulted in conversion of these early-successional community types to other later-successional community types like shrubland and forest. The long term status of the existing grasslands and heathlands is uncertain. In addition to being themselves rare, these communities serve as important habitat for a host of vulnerable wildlife, notably open land birds including the vesper sparrow and grasshopper sparrow. Prescribed fire is used to maintain heathland and other open, early successional stage plant communities that harken to the Cape Cod landscape of the past and helps maintain native wildlife diversity. For more information on how prescribed fire is used at CCNS follow this link to an article on the Young Forest Project website.

 

There are many different coastal grassland and heathland assemblages found among the sandplains of Cape Cod. Heathlands are areas where low growing shrub species dominate the vegetation cover. They generally occur on well drained, acidic soils. The coastal heathlands of Cape Cod National Seashore are home to a number of globally rare species. Heathland assemblages on Cape Cod are characterized by the presence of broom crowberry as well as other low growing shrubs and often contain a wide variety of forbs, grasses and lichens.

 

Broom crowberry's woody consistency and short stature make it a dwarf shrub. While locally common, the species is globally rare.

Photo by Kirsten Martin

Broom crowberry is a regionally endemic plant that is found in coastal sandplain communities from New Jersey to Newfoundland. It is listed as a Species of Special Concern by the state of Massachusetts. Cape Cod has long harbored some of the largest and best known populations of broom crowberry, with descriptions by early settlers depicting carpets of the plant and healthy seedling recruitment. Unfortunately many of the populations on Cape Cod and the surrounding islands are aging and it is unknown if recruitment is sufficient to maintain these populations. Current broom crowberry research efforts are focused on seed dispersal and fire management and hope to shed more light on the subtle ways in which the plant species interacts with and persists in its environment.