by Pat Delaney, TWO Advisory Committee
New Jersey, a small coastal state on the East Coast of the United States, is often thought of as being an endless stretch of highways, factories, and landfills. Though New Jersey is a highly industrialized state, it does have places that are wild and undeveloped.
One of these areas is called the New Jersey Pine Barrens. This unique area covers approximately 1.1 million acres, which is nearly one quarter of the state’s total land area. In many locations, pines are the dominant types of tree, but the landscape is by no means barren. The Pine Barrens is home to an estimated eight-hundred and fifty species of plants and three hundred and fifty species of birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians.
In naming the region, the early settlers of the 1600´s were referring to their inability to grow traditional food crops. This was and still is because of the sandy, acidic, nutrient poor soil. Today, farming does take place by growing native plants such as blueberries and cranberries, or by adding nutrients and raising the pH of the soil.
A number of plant species have adapted to these poor soil conditions by gaining much needed nutrients, such as nitrogen, by "catching" insects. A few of these include the Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurea), Round Leaf Sundew (Drosera rotundifolia), and Purple Bladderwort (Utricularia purpurea). These insectiverous plants use three different but effective ways to trap insects.
The Pitcher Plant has specially designed pitcher shaped leaves that collect rainwater through openings at the tops. Insects are attracted by a sweet-smelling substance produced by glands on the leaves. Once they are inside the "pitcher," the insects cannot escape due to downward growing hairs on the inside surface of the leaves. The insects tire, fall into the collected water, and eventually drown. Digestive enzymes break down the insect, and the nutrients are absorbed.
The Round Leaf Sundew has hair-covered leaves that produce a sweet-smelling, sticky substance. Small insects land on the leaves and are trapped, much like how flypaper works. The insects eventually die and their nutrients are absorbed.
The Purple Bladderwort actually catches small aquatic insects and other tiny aquatic organisms in "bladders" or small structures located on fine, threadlike, underwater leaves. Tiny organisms can enter the bladders but cannot leave. Once they die, their nutrient are absorbed by the plant.
The dominant pine of the Pine Barrens is the Pitch Pine (Pinus rigida). It grows to be forty to seventy feet tall, asymmetrical, and not a very good looking pine (It is not a variety that you would decorate for a Christmas tree).
In an area where wildfire is a frequent occurrence, the Pitch Pine is a survivor. It has a thick bark, which is very resistant to fire. After fires, many Pitch Pines sprout needles directly out of their trunks. In addition, Pitch Pine cones only open in extreme heat, so after forest fire, the trees reseed themselves.
There are four different areas in the Pine Barrens where the Pitch Pines only grow to a height of five or six feet, no taller than your parents! These regions are called Pygmy Pine Forests. It is thought that soil conditions, wind, and more frequent forest fires have actually stunted the growth of these trees.
There are approximately fifty-five plant species considered endangered in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Reasons for the dwindling numbers include introduction of aggressive, non-native plants, the preventing and extinguishing of fires (normally a natural occurrence of the Pine Barrens), and changing the natural water flow, or hydrology, because of farming and building.
One of these endangered plants is the Swamp-Pink (Hellonias bullata). True to it’s name, it does grow in wet areas such as swamps or bogs. The Swamp-Pink stands from one to two feet tall with the leaves only along the bottom of the stem, which is topped with a cluster of small, pink or pinkish purple flowers.
There are presently twenty-eight species of vertebrate, including birds, reptiles, and amphibians, considered threatened or endangered. Two of these are the Bog Turtle (Clemmys muhlenbergi) and the Pine Barrens Tree Frog (Hyla andersonii), inhabitants of bogs and swamps. Both have become threatened because of habitat destruction of freshwater wetlands.
With greater and greater pressure for space in the state of New Jersey, how has the Pine Barrens remained so untouched? Both federal and state legislation protect it from development. In 1978, the United States Congress passed a law declaring one million acres as the Pinelands National Reserve. One year later, the state of New Jersey passed the Pinelands Protection Act. These greatly limit development and, in some areas, totally forbid it. In recognition of its unique nature, the New Jersey Pine Barrens was designated as an International Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations in 1983. I have been a resident of the New Jersey Pine Barrens for over twenty years, and my appreciation and wonder of this beautiful place only increases with time.