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Native plants, vegetation that occurs naturally in this area, are being used to landscape several pedestrian entrances to the Saturn plant. Over 1900 trees, 3700 seedlings, and 4200 nuts/seeds have been planted to help speed up the process of creating a constantly evolving habitat. |
| Everything planted is native to Middle
Tennessee, such as red maple, hackberry, buckeye, redbud, red cedar,
sweetgum, and sumac. The planted nuts and seeds will help the
habitats grow and evolve in natural but attractive directions. In the near future, these areas will be dense
shady areas of natural habitat that will require little maintenance. Back to top |
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A 50' buffer along the south end of an old
farm pond serves many purposes. The vegetation acts as a filter by
reducing run-of from adjacent fields. which benefits aquatic life and
water quality. This buffer also connects two segments of fencerows
which now provides a continuous corridor for the movement and cover of
small mammals, birds, and other wildlife. Plant diversity is
increasing in the process. Back to top |
| Rock channels built into the slope of an
eroded slope divert water run-off from the adjacent agricultural
field. Planted native trees, seedlings, and wildflowers adorn this
site. This area is now showing minimal run-off effects, less
erosion, a good stand of wildflowers, and an overall positive management
outcome. Back to top |
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Since birds can be good general indicators of habitat change,
bird surveys have been taken to help determine if there has been success
in creating deep woodland habitat--a goal from the biodiversity
perspective. Comparison of the surveys shows that numbers of species
have remained unchanged, but the number of deep forest species is slightly
higher. It is difficult to verify any trends over the four year time
span; however, the changes seem headed in the right direction. Back to top |
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A small mammal catch-and-release survey was
conducted for two winters in a stream-side habitat. Sherman traps
(small metal live traps) were baited with peanut butter and dried
oats. Once caught, the small mammal was marked for recapture (using
fingernail polish), measured, and released. The purpose of the
survey was to identify the small mammals found in this area and to detect
changes in species and numbers in response to control of severe invasions
of exotic pest plants. The diversity and number of individual voles, mice, and shrews
are greater than anticipated. The loss of cover from removal of
exotic pest plants temporarily reduced numbers of small mammals but not
their biodiversity. Back to top |
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An 80 acre tract of land
consisting of two springs, a small marsh, a stream, and a well-developed
forest community has been set aside as a sanctuary. Since this areas
has more plant and animal species than any other area on the Saturn site,
it is now a hub from which these species can spread to other
communities. Natural habitat corridors along streams have been
widened to facilitate this spread of species. Back to top |
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A perpetually wet area at the
base of a steep rock cliff was rid of exotic grasses and planted with
vegetation found in other wet areas located on site (e.g. cattails).
Not only has this constructed mini-wetland created a unique habitat, it
has also solved a grounds maintenance problem as mowing in this wet area
proved difficult. A second area was protected from mowing and
planted with wetland plant species. Back to top |
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Areas of vegetation near streams (also called
riparian corridors) help prevent soil erosion, shade streams, and improve
water quality while also allowing cover for the movement of mammals and
birds. Also, the number of exotic invasive plant species in the
understory is controlled naturally as more shade encourages native plant
growth. By widening these corridors (not mowing so close to the
streams) these benefits are better realized. Several stream
corridors are undergoing improvement. Back to top |
| Approximately 50 acres of mowed turfgrass has been converted to "managed no-mow zones." These habitat areas allow for greater diversity of plants and wildlife. Fertilizers will no longer be required; mowing will be avoided; and chemical use will be greatly reduced. This will result in reduced maintenance costs for Saturn. Management includes exotic pest plant control, periodic planting of native nuts and seeds, and annual mowing where prairie habitat is desired. |  |
| Nearly three acres are the site
of an experiment on native prairie grasses. The area was planted
with varieties of big/little bluestem, indiangrass, switchgrass, sideoats
grama, and eastern gama grass. The results of this experiment are
difficult to determine this early in the development of the grass stand. Back to top |
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There have been many efforts to educate Saturn team members
and the public on the Land Use Project. Saturn web pages, UT web pages, presentations,
various UT and Saturn publications, interpretive signs, newsletters, and posters
have all been successful sources of information readily available. Other
public relations events involve public announcements on both Nashville and
Knoxville National Public Radio, Nashville, Knoxville, and Spring Hill
newspaper features, and a 10 minute video presentation on Windows on
Saturn. Back to top |
