Wildlife Habitat

Whether you live in urban, suburban or rural areas, you can make a positive impact on native plants and wildlife. Help us boost biodiversity, productivity and environmental quality across the Piedmont.

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What is the Connection Between My Home and My Drinking Water?

What is the Connection Between My Home and My Drinking Water?

Although your property may not have a stream or pond on it, all land is a part of a watershed and has some effect on the condition of waterways. Land and water are intricately connected …
Cedar Waxwing eating mulberries

How Plants Fly

As my mother and I pulled up at the Jones Nature Preserve in Rappahannock, a brilliant bird dipped through the air—a rich tropical blue on delicate wings. They came in this week, Bruce Jones told …
Better Habitat: Water, Woods and Beyond

Better Habitat: Water, Woods and Beyond

Learn about Wildlife Habitat in the Virginia Piedmont — what it is, why we care, what a landowner can do to improve it. The following PowerPoint presentations were given to members of the Orange County …
Spotted salamander

The History & Habitat of Amphibians

PEC's Sustainable Habitat Program Manager, James Barnes, wrote this article about our region's amphibians for the Spring 2012 issue of The Piedmont Virginian …
BillSanford_warmseasongrass

Making a Comeback

When Bill Sanford was a boy on Arrowpoint Farm in Madison County, at the confluence of the Robinson and the Rapidan Rivers, the fields were full of bobwhite quail. He could go out after school, …
Enhancing Habitat for Birds

Enhancing Habitat for Birds

Check out the Bird Habitat Guide to learn how you can enhance bird habitat in your backyard. The Piedmont is home to over 140 species of birds that breed in the area, but many of …
| | Restoring Wildlife Habitat
Grasslands & Meadows

Grasslands & Meadows

Converting areas of turf and lawn into native warm season grasslands increases the vertical structure and species diversity necessary to feed and provide cover for grassland birds such as bobwhite quail, grasshopper sparrows, meadowlarks, and …
| | Native Plants & Pollinators
Apples

Information on Important Crop Pollinators

Pollinators play a significant role in the production of more than 150 food crops in the United States, and studies have found that pollination enhances the yield and quality of a variety of important economic …
| | Native Plants & Pollinators
Common Aquatic Invasive Species in the Piedmont

Common Aquatic Invasive Species in the Piedmont

Invasive species are introduced to local waterways from other parts of the world. In the new environment and without natural predators, many adapt to the local aquatic environment, proliferate, and out-compete native aquatic species. Their …
Managing Your Section of a River or Stream

Managing Your Section of a River or Stream

Managing flowing aquatic resources in the Piedmont is particularly important, due to our location in the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Improvements to aquatic resources at the local level will enhance regional water quality …