Flora and Fauna
The park's plants and animals are part of the Northeastern coastal forests ecoregion. Its variety of biomes – ranging from brackish tidal marsh and mudflats along the river's edge to pitch pine-oak-heath rocky summit forest and rocky grasslands at higher elevations – contribute to its biodiversity. The mountain slopes are dominated by oak hickory and chestnut oak forests.
Besides rattlesnakes, the park also supports some other state-listed threatened species, such as the bald eagle and least bittern. Three of New York's five known eastern fence lizard communities are found in Hudson Highlands State Park, near the northern end of its range.
Read more about this topic: Hudson Highlands State Park
Famous quotes containing the words flora and/or fauna:
“A man’s interest in a single bluebird is worth more than a complete but dry list of the fauna and flora of a town.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The whole fauna of human fantasies, their marine vegetation, drifts and luxuriates in the dimly lit zones of human activity, as though plaiting thick tresses of darkness. Here, too, appear the lighthouses of the mind, with their outward resemblance to less pure symbols. The gateway to mystery swings open at the touch of human weakness and we have entered the realms of darkness. One false step, one slurred syllable together reveal a man’s thoughts.”
—Louis Aragon (1897–1982)