MARLBOROUGH – Marlborough is probably not the first city that comes to mind when you think of a desert.
However, the city’s Desert Natural Area, which it shares with Sudbury, hosts a rich and diverse ecological history.
Now, it’s getting a boost after MassWildlife awarded a nearly $27,000 grant to conduct restoration work to protect the area.
One of the ecosystems, the pitch pine-scrub oak barrens habitat, is specifically slated for 50 to 100 acres of restoration work to protect rare and vulnerable species targeted in the State Wildlife Action Plan.
Desert’s history mirrors New England’s
Like much of New England, the desert’s landscape was influenced by the passage of glaciers – a key determinant of its current ecological diversity.
The land is known as “The Desert” because of its rich and well-drained sandy soil that lays on several sand pits. This unique soil is a remnant of an ancient glacial lake, whose land has been disturbed by fire suppression and land development since the 19th century.
This MassWildlife project now seeks to prepare the area for “prescribed burning” by the establishment or improvement of firebreaks and the removal of log piles.
The city also plans to remove primarily white pine trees while retaining pitch-pine oaks.
A prescribed burn is a type of controlled fire that is planned, ignited and managed by professional fire managers and conservationists.
This method of ecological restoration remains a natural and healthy catalyst for pitch-pine development, which produces pine cones that require high-heat to release their seeds. According to the Sudbury Valley Trustees, pitch pine must burn every seven to 15 years in order to maintain health and support a diverse community of wildlife.
A prescribed burn was held in the area in the spring of 2014, scorching 14 acres of land along the Marlborough-Sudbury border to promote ecological restoration. It is a necessary step in protecting one of the most endangered ecosystems in the country, according to the trustees.
State, local agencies set goals
MassWildlife, the Marlborough Department of Conservation and the Sudbury Trustees have set multiple goals for the Desert area – including invasive species control and maintaining high-quality habitats for migratory birds and turtles.
The multi-phased project will benefit several endangered species, such as whip-poor-wills, brown thrashers and wild lupine, as well as moths and reptiles. This second burn hopes to attract native aviary and insect species back to the region.
“Improving ecological biodiversity can only take place where certain environmental conditions exist,” said MassWildlife director Mark Tisa in a press release announcing a round of grants that included this funding for Marlborough.
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