Restoration ecology is the practice of renewing and restoring degraded ecosystems in the environment through active human intervention. Our programs are improving the greenway’s plant and animal communities.
Plant Communities
Long ago, this corridor hosted plant communities indigenous to the native soil, climate, and other environmental conditions here. Over time, native plants have diminished and, in some cases, disappeared, given man’s activities on the land including the introduction of exotic species that invade and deplete natural resources our native plants need. Volunteer groups and educational campaigns help us manage invasive plants and reestablish native vegetation along the creek. You might find signs along the trail encouraging you to “Give Knotweed the Stomp!”
Animal Communities
It’s not only plants that benefit from restoration of native communities. Wildlife species native to North Carolina depend on the plant species alongside which they have evolved. When we restore the food salamanders and turtles and cottontails and beavers enjoy, they reestablish themselves. These glimpses of wildlife in natural habitats are treasured experiences in our increasingly urbanized world.
Love native wildflowers? Big on salamanders? Join us as a member or volunteer. When you spot a natural wonder, share your photo using #hominycreekFOG. And thanks!