George Mason University
OP-10: Biodiversity

Five of George Mason University’s campuses have areas protected for biodiversity. The main campus in Fairfax has 3 gardens, such as the Innovation Food Forest and Potomac Heights Garden that are maintained by sustainability staff to ensure organic management and conservation practices. Another site, the Green Studio is maintained by the School of Art, as another protected area to promote biodiversity and native plantings. In addition, there are 2 remediated riparian streams that utilize pools and riffles and native plantings to promote pollution reduction and biodiversity. Also, within one of the resource protected areas (RPA) is a grad student’s recent project to plant native species as a site for foraging and wildlife restoration, funded by an Amazon grant. Mason manages a collaborative campus in Front Royal with the Smithsonian School of Conservation that houses Mason students and teaches them methods of protecting biodiversity on its 3,100-acre property, which borders the Shenandoah National Park. In addition, the Point of View campus in Mason Neck is used as retreat center that Mason owns and manages. It is a 120-acre property that overlooks Belmont Bay, borders Mason Neck State Park and is across the water from the Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, which is also nearby another Mason campus in Woodbridge, called the Potomac Environmental Science and Education Center (PEREC), which is located on the Potomac River and devoted to wildlife conservation education. Lastly, Mason’s Science and Technology Campus in Manassas has wetlands and RPAs within the parcels’ boundaries that are upkept with trails and protected areas.

This fall 2023, interns and staff in University Sustainability hosted a Bioblitz event with iNaturalist to conduct a citizen-science sourced biodiversity assessment. As of October 27, 2023, there are 619 observations posted to the app. ONe of them is the endangered monarch butterfly caterpillars that have been found every year in the protected milkweed plants at two of the organic gardens on the Fairfax campus. Students have also tagged several monarch butterflies in the fields of the Front Royal campus for researching their migration. Bald eagles have been spotted at the Potomac Environmental Research and Education Center and are expected nearby the Point of View campus as well. There are also many endangered and vulnerable species reported to have habitats on land owned and managed by George Mason University. According to the Virginia Fish and Wildlife Information Service (VaFWIS) the following species are listed as Federal or State Endangered likely to occur on the Fairfax campus: Atlantic Sturgeon; Northern Long-eared Bat, Little brown Bat; Tri-colored Bat; Monarch Butterfly; Bald Eagle, Black-Billed Cuckoo; Cerulean Warbler; Chimney Swift; Eastern Whip-poor-will; Kentucky Warbler, Prairie warbler, Prothonotary warbler, Red-Headed Woodpecker, Rusty Blackbird; Wiid Thrush; and Brook Floater. The bald eagle is reported to have a high chance of being present on the Fairfax campus. The chimney swift and wood thrush also have high probabilities, particularly during the warmer months of the year. Species with lower probabilities include the red-headed woodpecker, rusty blackbird, and the prothonotary and prairie warblers. The following are Federal or State Threatened species with habitats in a 3-mile radius distance of the Fairfax campus: Wood Turtle; Peregrine Falcon; Loggerhead Strike; Henslow’s Sparrow; Appalachian Grizzled Skipper and Migrant Loggerhead Shrike. In addition to these ones, the yellow Lance is listed as Federal or State Threatened at Science and Technology campus. The Bioblitz assessment will continue again in April 2024, to utilize the spring season and more outreach to the other campuses to identify the vulnerable and endangered species present on Mason’s land.

The Bioblitz biodiversity assessment conducted fall 2023 has helped sustainability staff determine areas of biodiversity importance on Mason’s owned and managed lands. As mentioned previously, the organic gardens on the Fairfax campus; Innovation Food Forest, Potomac Heights Garden, and the Green Studio, are hot spots for biodiversity importance. There are about 300 acres of wooded land on the Fairfax campus that has been included in the Bioblitz, including many RPAs and stream beds. In addition, there are currently native plants and organic land surrounding the honeybee hives on the Fairfax campus that support biodiversity. The Front Royal’s campus 3,100 acres includes many meadows and forests, some of which were found to be habitat for the endangered monarch butterfly. The other Mason campuses have been identified as areas important for biodiversity due to their location near the Potomac River and Belmont Bay, including the Potomac Environmental Research and Education Center and Point of View. The Science and Technology campus also has wetlands and RPAs on the property with an additional organic wildflower garden for the beehives.

The Bioblitz biodiversity assessment was advertised during October and November 2023, for which anyone can download the iNaturalist app and upload photos of organisms. The app has a community of experts that review the posts and confirm the identifications to make them research grade. In Front Royal, aerial nets were used to capture monarch butterflies with faculty guidance and tag them using supplies purchased from Monarch Watch. Audio from nearby birds can also be uploaded into the iNaturalist app. The Bioblitz will continue in April, and potentially every October and April to create ongoing efforts on all of Mason’s campuses to identify and monitor endangered and vulnerable species. Sustainability staff host several shifts every week in the organic gardens on campus from March to December for volunteers to assist with organic maintenance to ensure these areas are free from chemicals and remain protected for biodiversity purposes.

The Bioblitz was focused on the main Fairfax campus, which encompasses over 970 acres. Observations from the Science and Technology campus and the Potomac Environmental Research and Education Center are also included, although not as popular. The event was originally limited to the month of October, for the Sustainable Campus Month, but was extended through mid-November to allow for more time. The Bioblitz is planned to run again in April when warmer temperatures will allow for more observations. Sustainability staff hosted a couple workshops with experts to help educate and guide students on how to identify plants, frogs, birds and bugs.

University Sustainability runs the Greenhouse & Gardens Program, which has one full-time and 4 part-time staff who host over 2,000 volunteers and interns every year to maintain organic restoration sites and gardens on the main Fairfax campus. Their now 6 separate sites are protected from chemical pesticides and future development while featuring wild and native plantings. These sites include milkweed to restore habitat for the endangered monarch butterfly. New sites are being created every year, such as the Foragers’ Forest project using Amazon grant funds this year in fall 2023, to plant native food producing plants in one of the stream’s RPAs. The Smithsonian School of Conservation, Point of View and PEREC campuses have many ongoing educational and infrastructure programs that work to protect and monitor populations of vulnerable species and their habitats, such as tagging Monarch butterflies, planting native landscaping, and protecting wooded areas from development. The Grounds landscaping team has converted several areas of lawn into wildlife habitats that attract native insects and birds: Butterfly Gardens and Bumblebee Havens. They are documented on our Sustainability map, linked at https://green.gmu.edu/campus-sustainability/sustainability-map/. Many butterflies, moths, bumblebees, and birds (such as golden finches and hummingbirds) have been observed feeding on the flowers (or insects attracted to the blooms) at these sites. There is also a National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat in the yard at the Child Development Center’s Garden. In addition, there have been several professors and students over the years that have contributed to an ongoing effort to prevent bird collisions with buildings on our campuses that included data collection and infrastructure projects to determine which buildings cause the most bird deaths due to collisions and how to remediate this issue to reduce the loss of biodiversity in bird populations. Lastly, every exterior construction project on campus must evaluate its environmental impact at the location of the project sites, which includes an analysis of vulnerable species habitat that might be impacted.

Currently, less than 1% of Mason's property's are managed organically, allowed to grow wild and are protected from chemicals. However, about one third of the land is currently wooded and established as undisturbed and unmaintained wild forest, some of which are planned to be protected from development.