Suitma Scientists "Dig" New York City
The 5th International Soils in Urban, Industrial, Traffic, Mining and Military Areas (SUITMA) Conference was held in New York City from September 20 to 25, 2009, showcasing the work of dedicated soil scientists working in urban, industrial, traffic, mining and military areas. New York welcomed the International Union of Soil Sciences to North America for the first time; past conferences have been held in Europe, China, and Egypt. Scientists came from all over the world to attend; including France, Germany, Russia, China, Africa, and many areas of the U.S.
Programs throughout the week ranged from talks and discussions on the particular characteristics of urban soils, heavy metal contamination, urban gardening, and man-made soils to hands on field trips throughout the five boroughs. The organizers included the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, New York City Soil and Water Conservation District, City University of New York, the Central Park Conservancy and Natural Resources Group.
Deputy Chief Bram Gunther represented Parks on the organizing committee and several staff from Forestry, Horticulture, and Natural Resources hosted the conference attendees at sites throughout the five boroughs:
Native Plant Center, Staten Island
Ed Toth, Director of the Greenbelt Native Plant Center, led a group around the 13-acre greenhouse and nursery, and explained different aspects of the plant propagation process. This tour highlighted efforts by Parks to conserve and protect the local genotypes of native plants populations in New York City. Through the PlaNYC reforestation efforts and the continued threats of invasive species, the Native Plant Center is an invaluable asset to current and future plant communities around the city.
NYC Greenstreets Program, Citywide
Adriana Jacykewycz, Parks’ Director of Greenstreets, and environmental engineer Nandan Shetty showed off one of their latest creative effort to support New York City’s aging sewer infrastructure at 110th Street and Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan. This Greenstreet is specially designed to capture and absorb rainfall instead of letting large amounts of water rush into the sewers during rain events. The water is purposely diverted away from the roadways and funneled into beds of trees, shrubs, and grasses. Adriana and Nandan described the design of the Greenstreet as well as the various monitoring systems that have been installed in the Greenstreet to track performance.
Soundview Park, Bronx – Park Restoration
Some of the “land” New Yorkers walk on today used to be much different years ago. The field trip to Soundview Park highlighted the use of old landfill sites for building and constructing some green spaces today. Marit Larson, a project manager leading restoration efforts in the Bronx, explained the evolution of Soundview Park and the ongoing efforts to restore an area once used to dump garbage and building rubble into a recreation area that also encourages the growth of native aquatic and terrestrial plants and animals. Two soil pits were dug with the help of Parks personnel to show the different layers of soil and old landfill components deposited over many decades.
Kissena Park, Queens
Mike Feller, chief naturalist of the Natural Resources Group, led the tour of Kissena Park. Kissena Park has played a large role in the PlaNYC reforestation effort with over 10,000 trees planted to date. He spoke about the native soils found in the New York area and the need to mitigate Parks and other large landscaping projects with clean, high quality soils that can often be sourced from nearby construction excavation projects.
Written by Brady Simmons
QUOTATION FOR THE DAY
“All truth, in the long run, is only common sense clarified.”
Thomas Huxley
(1825 – 1895)