Nature & Science

NPS Photo/ C.S. Anderson III

NPS stewards in Hyde Park, NY work every day to maintain and improve the health of the diverse ecological communities around the Home of FDR NHS.

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National parks protect many of our nation’s greatest natural landscapes. A primary mission of the NPS is to conserve treasured places unimpaired for future generations. To fulfill that mission, American citizens need a deeper understanding of what we are conserving.

Everyone of us should associate ourselves with the plants, wildlife, and geologic features which our parks contain. Then, we can better identify when a resource is thriving, threatened, or impaired and search for the reason why.

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Quick Ecology Facts about Hyde Park, NY

Biome Information

• Hyde Park Biome Type
  • Temperate deciduous forest biome
    • This biome occurs in mid-latitude areas between the polar regions and the tropic areas of the Earth.
    • In North America, this biome occupies most of the eastern part of the United States and a small strip of southern Ontario in Canada.
       
• Seasonal Distinctions 
  • Four distinct seasons due to warm and cold air masses.
  • Temperatures vary widely from season to season with cold winters and hot, wet summers.
     
• Average yearly temperature
  • about 10° Celsius 
     
• Precipitation Frequency
  • About 750 to 1,500 mm spread fairly evenly throughout the year
     
•  Dominant trees
  •  Broadleaf trees such as:
    • oak
    • maple
    • beech
    • hickory
    • chestnut

Land and Water Information

• Hyde Park, NY is within the following regions:
  • Eastern Great Lakes region
  • Hudson Lowlands ecoregion
     
• Hyde Park borders the Hudson River.
  • The river is dammed in Troy, New York which is approximately 75 miles to the north.
  • The Hudson River is a brackish-water estuary
  • The presence of the river brings a marine influence far inland, resulting in unique plant communities and animal species otherwise uncommon to the region.
     
• Ecosystem Highlights within the NPS Park units in Hyde Park
  • 40 acres of non-tidal wetlands
  • 25-acre tidal marsh between the Home of FDR and the Hudson River
  • 14 acres of permanent ponds
  • Approximately four miles of streams.
  • Numerous unmapped vernal pools
  • Mature, second-growth hardwood forests
  • Numerous rock outcrops
  • A sphagnum swamp
  • A wet sedge meadow
  • A dam built by the Roosevelt family in 1925 created an extensive, wetlands complex at the Eleanor Roosevelt NHS.
     
• Exotic species which pose significant threats to the natural and cultural landscapes.
  • Japanese barberry
  • Japanese knotweed
  • garlic mustard

 

Follow the image links below to learn more about Hyde Park's animals, vegetation, and geological attributes.

Read the articles in the "Species Spotlight" series to gain in-depth and up-close details about some of the plants and animals in the Northeast Region of the United States.

Check out the Natural Resource Monitoring if you want access to hard data concerning actual species populations, geological inventories, air and water quality, and more in Hyde Park, NY. The thorough monitoring website is provided by the Northeast Temperate Inventory & Monitoring Network.

 

Learn about species in the region

"Species Spotlight" Articles

 

Hyde Park Ecologic Data & Inventory

Natural Resource Monitoring