Green-Wood Cemetery 

Brooklyn, New York

 

Organization Description: 

The Green-Wood Cemetery was founded in 1838 and opened to the public in 1842 as a private, rural cemetery, designed to offer visitors a sanctuary for solace, reflection, and escape from the surrounding cityscape. Recognized for its art, architecture, history, and landscape, Green-Wood was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006. As of 2015, Green-Wood became an accredited arboretum. Its 478 acres supports over 7,000 trees and shrubs, a landscape that closely reflects the original rolling topography of the region. Today, Green-Wood continues to function as an urban oasis, a contrast from the relatively flat, illuminated streets of the surrounding built environment.

 

 Organization Goals:

• To gather data that will guide landscape management practices and increase resilience of Green-Wood’s ecology, while enhancing habitat and resource availability for the permanent and migratory species of Green-Wood.

• Contribute to the data and scientific understanding of the annual life cycles of urban forests.

• Expand Green-Wood’s role as a resource of environmental learning and research.

  

Phenology Project Description:

There are two phenology sites within Green-Wood, Valley Water and Vista Grove. Valley Water is located closest to the perimeter of the Cemetery, where the plant life is exposed to more artificial light at night. Vista Grove is located in a valley between sloping topography, with a higher density of surrounding canopy, and is over 700 meters away from an artificial light source. As part of the dynamic urban ecology of New York City, our site is observing species that are common street and park trees and seeking to examine whether the quantity of light pollution influences the timing of life-cycle events.​