| Bloodroot Valley, in central Staten Island, in southeastern New York State has unusual vegetation, It is a highly disturbed area in which serpentinite rubble has been deposited on till-covered serpentinite bedrock, Bloodroot Valley is reputed to contain the only wild population of Sanguinaria canadensis found on Staten Island. The hypothesis of the study is that variation in observed plant associations will correlate with variations in soil properties. This study compares two distinct vegetative patterns on opposing slopes, existing within meters of each other and associates each with different soil properties. Human disturbance in one area of Bloodroot Valley has fostered a unique soil condition that reflects a blend of features of serpentinite soils and river floodplains. Vegetation in Bloodroot Valley contains neither “serpentinite flora” nor flora typical of the adjacent mixed oak forest, but rather, a floodplain type plant association with Hydrophyllum virginianum as dominant. |
