The Vegetation of the Edmund Niles Huyck Preserve, New York

Abstract

The Edmund Niles Huyck Preserve, which comprises about 500 acres adjoining the village of Rensselaerville, N. Y., is located about twenty-seven miles southwest of Albany on the Helderberg peneplain at an elevation of 1400 to 1700 feet. The Preserve was established and formally incorporated in 1931 by Mrs. Edmund Niles Huyck as a memorial to her late husband and in recognition of a need for the preservation of natural areas for recreation, education, and study. In addition to the protection of the native plants, animals, and the scenic beauty of the area, the construction of suitable trails, and the operation of a restricted camp ground, the officers of the Preserve felt that something more constructive should be done with the area so that it might become more than just another small sanctuary. At the suggestion of several prominent biologists, a Scientific Advisory Committee consisting of William J. Hamilton, Chairman, the late G. Kingsley Noble, Thomas Ordway, Lewis Eldridge, John R. Greeley, and William Vogt was appointed to consider the possibility of establishing a research biological station. During the summers of 1936 and 1937 Dr. Hamilton made a preliminary biological survey of the area and in 1939 a biological station was established with provisions for a Resident Biologist and several Summer Fellows to devote their full time to problems in field biology.