7 Current Landscape Conditions

A common characteristic of urban woodlands is a thinner canopy than would be typical of an analogous natural forest. Many factors are involved, including poor regeneration which might be due to damage by trampling and stormwater, competition from exotics, browsing by rabbits and even over consumption of local seed by squirrels and other wildlife. At the same time, mortality is often higher in urban woodlands, especially where stormwind tunneling has resulted in excessive blow-downs and where construction and other activities have damaged trees. These problems were noted as early as 1885, where the Annual Report referred to “the gradual decline of the forest trees.” Today, with the wholesale loss of forest topsoil, almost all mature trees are left perched in eroded subsoils with their roots exposed. Many young to middle-aged trees are rooted in the impoverished subsoil strata as a result of the loss of topsoil.

Following the account of the historical character of the landscape and before presenting the actual plan, the Landscape Management Plan provides an overview of then-current conditions in the park, based on “comprehensive documentation of the current environmental conditions in Prospect Park and more detailed inventory in the Natural Areas.” The documented problems include the fragmentation of the woodlands, including the woodlands around the perimeter of the park; soil disturbance from “trampling, stormwater, bicycles and vehicles”; and “the proliferation of invasive exotic plant species”—some of which, of course, Olmsted and Vaux themselves introduced. These conditions led to the thinning of the canopy described in the passage above.