Vegetation responses to changes in design and management of an urban park

• Published in: Landscape and urban planning 1992-09, Vol.22 (1), p.1-10
• Main Authors: Zipperer, Wayne C., Zipperer, Constance E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Biological and medical sciences; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General agronomy. Plant production; Soil-plant relationships. Soil fertility. Fertilization. Amendments
• ISSN: 0169-2046; 1872-6062
• DOI: 10.1016/0169-2046(92)90002-H

Thornden Park, located in Syracuse, NY, USA, was transformed from a nineteenth century English estate to a public park in 1921. Accompanying this transformation, there has been a corresponding change in vegetation. Prevalent trees were elms, maples, oaks, willows, spruces, and orchard species. Dominant cover types were lawn (65.4%) and parkland (22.8%). By 1955, park designers combined the artistry from the Pleasure Ground Park Period with recreation activities from Reform and Recreation Park Periods to create a landscape with rustic features, formal geometric and axial gardens, and recreational facilities. Dominant cover types were still lawn (48.9%) and parkland (22.5%), but forest cover (2%) appeared for the first time. Park management shifted from active to deferred maintenance through the late 1960s and into the 1970s. Direct outcomes included the loss of formal gardens, the expansion of forest and shrub-forest cover types, and the reduction of areas for passive recreation. By 1989, dominant trees included Norway and other maples, and spruces. Dominant cover type remained lawn (52.8%), but collectively, forest and shrub-forest cover types occupied 14.4% of the park. Currently, only 25.6% of the original canopy cover exists. The remaining 75.6% has developed since 1926.