Groton is well appreciated for its scenery and recreational opportunities and it is also a hot spot of habitat and species diversity.  Several years ago, the Groton Conservation Trust began a “project” on the international ecological crowd-sourced application, iNaturalist.com. (You can see our running tally of findings at the right of this article.)

Our project is called the Nature of Groton and it has logged over 39,000 observations of a remarkable 7,670 different species of plants, animals, and fungi – from smooth rock tripe to a moose – all in Groton and its immediate environs. These extraordinary numbers are a testament to the dedication of the observers, the ecological richness of our town, and the success of several organizations, government and private, in conserving our lands.  

  Groton’s geology, topography, and geographical placement combine to provide a variety of habitats that are located at the edge of two different ecoregions. For these reasons, most of the town is within one of two Areas of Critical Environmental Concern, a designation that applies to less than four percent of the Commonwealth.  Most of our town is also identified as habitat for rare plants and animals.  The records available in the Nature of Groton project not only provide a scientific resource, but also they are illustrations of the relevance of these designations and the simple wonder that is available in our local environment.

This diversity is an important reason that Groton attracts the attention and funding of organizations like Mass Audubon, the Trustees of Reservations, Nashua River Watershed Association, Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, and recently the Forest Legacy Program through the US Forest Service and National Park Service. Of course, protecting this diversity is also a key goal of local organizations including the town’s Conservation Commission, the private Groton Conservation Trust, Lawrence Academy, and the Groton School, to name only a few. These efforts have been pursued by hundreds of local volunteers over one hundred years of Groton’s history.

We are very fortunate to have these organizations working together and separately to protect our habitats while maintaining wonderful scenery and providing spaces for outdoor recreation. We must acknowledge that cooperation has been a key part of our success and that it requires understanding and respecting that different organizations and individuals have slightly different goals and rules for land protection.  

 While sometimes these differences result in the need for compromise, we all share common goals including protection of our unique environment.  It should be a source of optimism and pride for our community that all these different efforts have had such tangible success.  

 We hope that you enjoy Groton’s remarkable environment and consider supporting the organizations that conserve it.  You might also consider contributing observations to iNaturalist and the Nature of Groton – it is a great way to confirm your identifications and contribute to science.  Be warned, some of our local observers have a big head start – like 32,805 observations!

A recent iNaturalist post from Ken Horton: the Bent-lined carpet. The bat photo was taken by Tom Murray in West Groton. The bobcat was caught by Mark Gerath’s critter cam.