Hidden in Plain Sight: the Outstanding Natural Diversity of New Jersey
We all know New Jersey suffers an abundance of highways, cars and houses, but did you know New Jersey offers an abundance of varying ecoregions? Yes, it is one of the most diverse states in all of the U.S.
This geologic and botanic diversity results in the vast species of plants native to our state. With over 2000, we have plants that thrive in a variety of environments with soils from thin to sandy. Each ecoregion defines the plant species that will thrive there, forming communities of companions that are also compatible for use in our gardens.
New Jersey is where the north and south geologies collide. With the Piedmont extending up from Georgia into central Jersey. The Outer Coastal Plain stretching down from Massachusetts’ Cape & Islands. As a peninsula, our western boundary runs the length of the Delaware River with the bluffs and sands of the inner coastal plain and the northern ridges and valleys tumbling the Delaware from it’s headwaters in New York.
Learn more about the ecoregion you call home, and the plants and animals that will thrive there from our special guest speakers:
New Jersey’s Rich Forest Biodiversity
Emile D. DeVito, PhD., Manager of Science & Stewardship, New Jersey Conservation Foundation
Reading Our Landscapes: The Highlands
Noah Charney, PhD., Assistant professor of Conservation Biology at the University of Maine
Rare & Uncommon Plants of the Piedmont
Hubert Ling, PhD, Past President NPSNJ & Horticulture Chair
Maritime Forests: New Jersey’s Most Threatened Ecosystem
Pedram Daneshgar, PhD, Professor plant ecology, specializing in climate change impacts on coastal forests, Monmouth University