College of the Atlantic
OP-10: Biodiversity

In addition to many acres of ocean frontage on our main campus (which are protected by state and local shoreland zoning regulations as well as vegetative buffers), College of the Atlantic owns 4 properties that fit this description in their entirety: Beech Hill Farm is a 73-acre property in the town of Mount Desert comprising forest and farmland on a ridge of deep glacial till soils. Maine Coast Heritage Trust holds a conservation easement on the property, “to provide a significant public benefit by protecting and preserving the highly scenic and open views of and across the protected property enjoyed by the public from the Beech Hill Road; and to prevent the conversion of open lands on prime agricultural soils to development or other land uses that would limit their productivity and availability for agricultural uses in the future.” The Peggy Rockefeller Farms comprise 125-acres that include part of the largest remaining contiguous area of pasture on Mount Desert Island. The property, which is protected under a conservation easement held by Acadia National Park, includes prime agricultural soils suitable for cropping, livestock, orchards, and other uses. Two-thirds of the property is covered with second-growth forest or wetland. The property is in the Northeast Creek Watershed, which is monitored closely by the U.S. Geological Survey. The land also shares a boundary with property owned and protected by the Audubon Society. Both Beech Hill Farm and the Peggy Rockefeller Farms are in close proximity to Acadia National Park land. The Cox Protectorate is a 100-acre, forested parcel that was donated to the college to be used exclusively for field research and primitive recreation. There is no formal conservation easement on the Protectorate property at this time, but students and classes have begun inventorying, monitoring, and developing management plans for the property. The college also owns 12 acres on Great Duck Island, a 220-acre island that is about 90 minutes south of our main campus by boat, and is home to the school’s Alice Eno Field Research Station. The majority of the island is owned by The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and the College and TNC manage the island collaboratively for purposes of conservation and research. Over 310-Acres in total.

The easement holders of Beech Hill Farm and Peggy Rockefeller Farms (Maine Coast Heritage Trust and Acadia National Park, respectively) conduct annual assessments and monitoring of both properties. Biodiversity inventories of the Cox Protectorate have been conducted by several student researchers and students in wildlife ecology classes. As of March 2015 the vegetational biodiversity inventory is believed to be comprehensive for trees, good for shrubs, adequate for herbaceous flowering plants, good for ferns and fern allies, and incomplete for bryophytes, liverworts, and lichens. We know of no surveys that have looked at the macrofungi or freshwater algae of the Protectorate; but these have been identified as the next priority for biodiversity inventories on the property. The vegetation survey was conducted initially with 25 10x10 meter plots set along transects of the property. The natural history survey was conducted through use of game cameras and direct observation on the property. Student researchers have also examined and compiled Maine critical areas program listings, Maine "Beginning with Habitat" GIS data layers, and Acadia National Park GIS data layers. Assessment and inventorying of this property is ongoing, as the property is still relatively new to the college. Great Duck Island is home to the Alice Eno Field Research Station where COA student researchers spend each summer inventorying and monitoring seabird populations and habitat. Additional research projects have focused on other flora and fauna on the island. A summary of several recent student research projects can be found on our website: http://coa.edu/islands/research-projects/

Great Duck Island supports some of the largest known breeding populations of Leach’s storm petrels and black guillemots in the continental United States. These, along with resident herring and black-backed gulls, are subjects of ongoing research by teams of students from the college’s Island Research Center under the supervision of faculty member John Anderson. Of major concern is the island’s large population of varying hare, a species that was introduced in the mid-20th century, and has had an enormous impact on the island’s flora. The Peggy Rockefeller Farms include important bobolink and songbird habitat, as well as wetlands that drain into the ecologically sensitive Northeast Creek.

All of COA's properties, and particularly Beech Hill and Peggy Rockefeller farms, are managed using strictly organic methods to protect watersheds and biodiversity. At the Peggy Rockefeller Farms, we are re-establishing a riparian buffer along wetlands and creeks. Animals are kept away from riparian areas and wetlands, and we are cultivating vegetables and fruit in the high and dry soils, not the low and wet. We are also observing and marking pasture areas with heavy bobolink activity and avoiding grazing/haying/mowing of those areas until August. On both farms we also use cover cropping to prevent soil erosion from wind and rain.

"The Natural History of the Protectorate" -- Hale Morrell, 2012 A Species List for the Cox Protectorate, updated March 2015 Great Duck Island: http://coa.edu/islands/great-duck-island/ Island Research Center Projects: http://coa.edu/islands/research-projects/ Beech Hill Farm: http://coa.edu/farms/beech-hill-farm/ Peggy Rockefeller Farms: http://coa.edu/farms/peggy-rockefeller-farms/