Solar Array at Sisters of St. Joseph with Pollinator Survey and Counts
Project Location: Brentwood, NY
Client: Sisters of St. Joseph
NPV prepared a Master Plan to assist The Sisters of St. Joseph sustainably manage their 200+ acre Brentwood campus. As part of implementation of this Master Plan, NPV was retained by the Sisters to prepare a landscape restoration plan for 4-acre solar array installed in 2017. The solar array, which was planted in the spring of 2018, has been maintained to ensure that the goals of the landscape restoration area met. Maintenance has included monitoring of health and survival of native plantings and removal of invasive species, shrubs and trees that may disrupt the restoration or shade the solar panels. Funded by a research grant from the Nature Conservancy, NPV was then hired by the Sisters to complete pollinator surveys and counts at the native species restoration installation to monitor its success. NPV developed the monitoring protocol for pollinators visiting the native pollinator plantings within the 4-acre solar array groundcover restoration area. Starting in late summer of 2019, a set of control and test plots were established within and surrounding the solar array. NPV has completed bee and butterfly counts to examine both the species richness and relative abundance of plant pollinators within the control and test plots. Surveys are being conducted monthly to capture the variety of species that visit the plots. Analysis of observations will continue to be documented to demonstrate the benefits and effectiveness of the solar array native groundcover restoration project.
Relevant Project Components:
- Habitat Restoration Plans
- Wildlife Survey
- Ecological Monitoring
- Natural Resources Management
- Native Habitat Restoration