Stone Fort at Fort Totten: Last Habitat for Woodsia obtusa and Asplenium platyneuron in Queens County, Long Island, New York?

Abstract

In the course of documenting vegetation on the northeastern coast of Queens County, Long Island, New York, the senior author discovered two ferns, Asplenium platyneuron (L.) B.S.P. and Woodsia obtusa (Spreng.) Torrey, in what may well be their last remaining habitat in Queens County (Borough of Queens, City of New York). They were found in the weathered cement between large blocks of granite used to construct the walls of the at Fort Totten, a 19th Century coastal fortification on the Willets Point peninsula (40?47'30 N, 73?46'40 W). The Stone Fort now forms Willets Point, rising from the shore level to a height of thirty feet. It was built in 1862-66 as part of the seacoast defenses of New York City; photographs and a brief history of the Stone Fort were published by Alperstein (1977). Reconnaissances of the site were undertaken in the spring of 1973, in the late spring and early summer of 1978, and during the winter of 1981-82. Occasionally a few plants were measured, but a census was not attempted. Soil samples were obtained adjacent to fern roots at two sites on the landward side of the granite wall, for elemental analysis. Stones, sticks, and obvious plant matter were separated, and a portion of well-mixed soil was ground in a mortar to a fine powder. A 1.00 g sample of each was dry-ashed at 450?C in a muffle furnace, and a semi-quantitative elemental analysis conducted with a Baird Atomics Emission Spectrograph. A just-saturated slurry in distilled water was made of each raw soil sample, and the pH measured with an Orion combination electrode and a Corning pH meter. Further tests for sodium and chloride, indicators of saline spray, were made on samples taken near Woodsia roots, one from the seaward side of the granite wall, and one from the landward side. Soil samples, 1.00 g, were extracted with 10.0 ml of distilled, deionized water. The sodium content was determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy using a Perkin-Elmer 303, and chloride content by ionselective electrode using an Orion electrode and a Beckman expanded scale pH meter.