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Coastal Oak-Heath Forest |
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System: Terrestrial
SubSystem: Forested Uplands State Protection: Not Listed Federal Protection: Not Listed State Rarity Rank: S3 
A State Rarity Rank of S3 means: Typically 21 to 100 occurrences, limited acreage, or miles of stream in New York State. Global Rarity Rank: G4
A Global Rarity Rank of G4 means: Apparently secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery. Did you know? These coastal oak-heath forests provide critical wildlife food resources, including huckleberries and blueberries that ripen in the summer and mast acorns from oaks that mature in the fall. Wildlife biologists can estimate the size of the population of deer, wild turkey, and squirrel by monitoring the mast production of acorns from oaks. Mast food availability has also been found to reflect antler development and reproductive success among yearling deer. Mast production is influenced by many factors such as annual rainfall, wind, temperature, and weather events, which in turn can affect wildlife populations (Suchy 2006). |
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| State Ranking Justification | [-] |
There are less than 10 fairly large occurrences of this natural community on Long Island. Many of the documented occurrences are protected on public land or private conservation land. This natural community is probably stable for the occurrences on public land and possibly declining slightly elsewhere due to development pressure.
| Short-term Trends | [-] |
The numbers and acreage of coastal oak-heath forests in New York have moderately declined in recent decades. This decline is due to to displacement from residential and commercial development.
| Long-term Trends | [-] |
The numbers and acreage of coastal oak-heath forests have declined from historical numbers due to settlement of the area and the subsequent agricultural, residential, and commercial development.
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Home | Advanced Search | About Us Animal Guides | Plant Guides | Community Guides © 2004-2012 New York Natural Heritage Program, a partnership between the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry Please cite this page as:
New York Natural Heritage Program. 2013. Online Conservation Guide for Coastal Oak-Heath Forest. Available from: http://www.acris.nynhp.org/guide.php?id=9979. Accessed May 21st, 2013. 
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