Editing Eastern Prickly Pear (section)

=== Short Beach Colony (Stratford) ===

The Short Beach Colony is a large colony of ''Opuntia humifusa'' spread generously throughout about one to two acres of flat, sandy scrubland fronting Long Island Sound at Short Beach Park in Stratford, Connecticut.  The colony is named after the beach park in which it was found.

==== Background ====

Unlike all of my other finds (as of May 2012), I had no prior research indicating the existence of ''Opuntia humifusa'' within Stratford's Short Beach Park.  While my research did reveal that ''O. humifusa'' was known to live in Stratford, Short Beach Park was not among the known locations that I was able to dig up.  Thus, when I decided to investigate this area, it was purely on a whim.  I simply knew that ''O. humifusa'' was documented as living nearby (within only a mile or so along similar beachfront land), so I thought that I might investigate.

==== Exploration ====

===== May 9, 2012 =====

On May 9, 2012, I conducted a field exploration of Short Beach Park in which I focused exclusively upon a swath of sandy scrubland found within.  This exploration involved roughly 1/2-mile of walking in total, during which I attempted investigate all of the potential habitat areas in the immediate vicinity.

Although I uncovered no material in my research which suggested the presence of ''Opuntia humifusa'' at Short Beach Park, I was surprised to discover the first specimen within only a minute or two of searching.  Subsequently, I discovered numerous other specimens spread out over roughly an acre.

These cacti are actually rather easy to find, which may seem odd considering that no literature, articles or photographs of them can be found online.  There are probably three factors which contribute to this lack of publicity.  First, Short Beach Park is generally open only to residents of Stratford, meaning that the park doesn't get nearly as many visitors as if it were open to surrounding towns.  Second, those Stratford residents that do visit the park probably tend to be interested primarily in visiting the sand beaches, not the scrubland behind them.  Finally, one of the most common herbaceous plants that I found in association with this colony was ''Toxicodendron radicans'' (Poison Ivy), a highly-allergenic plant which is readily identifiable and generally avoided at all costs by humans.  Some combination of these three factors is responsible for the relative "secrecy" of this colony despite the fact that it is easily accessible and found in extremely close proximity to heavily-visited beachfront.

Nonetheless, there is a trail matrix weaving throughout the scrubland which I doubt is of natural origin, so there must be some measure of human tending/landscaping to the area, as well as at least some regular foot traffic.  Thus, this colony is probably well-known locally, but simply hasn't been publicized for one reason or another.

==== Status and Description ====

[[File:Short-beach-colony-opuntia.jpg|thumb|One of many individual cacti in the '''Short Beach Colony''', found at Short Beach Park in Stratford, CT]]My field exploration of Stratford's Short Beach Park has revealed a large colony of ''Opuntia humifusa'' growing on dry, sandy scrubland behind the sand beach.  Despite being little-known throughout the state, this colony is probably rather well-known to those Stratford residents that frequent the park since it is easily accessed from high-traffic beach areas.

The Short Beach Colony contains specimens that are spread throughout an acre (or more) of land, with most specimens being at least 15 to 20 feet apart.  I counted a total of 14 ''O. humifusa'' specimens: four (4) large specimens, five (5) small specimens and five (5) specimens of intermediate size.  Although there is always some measure of inaccuracy with these counts, owing to the clonal growth habits of ''O. humifusa'', this count is rather thorough.

Interestingly, there did not seem to be any significant clonal clusters at all, a finding which is congruent with the Milford Point Colony and which contrasts sharply with colony structures found on inland ridges.  Although I did count four "large" ''O. humifusa'' specimens at Short Beach, these were relatively tall plants which, unlike clonal colonies that I've observed, still maintained a tight, individual structure with a discernible basal center.

The habitat area at Short Beach is exceptionally similar to the habitat area at Milford Point.  At both of these habitat areas, the ''O. humifusa'' specimens are interspersed amongst dune shrubs and low-growing herbaceous plants along with a few coniferous trees, though the Short Beach habitat exhibited a lower density of coniferous trees and higher density of shrubs than the Milford Point habitat.  Also congruent with Milford Point, ''O. humifusa'' did not seem to have a preference for any particular margin from larger shrubs; some specimens were found growing right at the base of shrubs, while others were found in more open, exposed areas amongst sparse, low-growing herbaceous plants.

The Short Beach Colony exhibited a similarly high diversity of associated plant life as the Milford Point Colony.  At least one of those herbaceous associates was ''Toxicodendron radicans'' (Poison Ivy), which was exceptionally prevalent.  However, because ''T. radicans'' can be found in a wide range of habitats where there are no cacti, it cannot yet be considered anything more than an incidental associate (that is, I do not yet consider ''T. radicans'' to be a useful indicator species).

==== Possibility of Human Introduction ====

Research into the history of Short Beach Park reveals that, as late as the early 1970s, there were numerous cottages there and the northeastern section of the park was being used as a town dump of sorts.<ref name="lordship-history">"Short Beach and Half Moon Cove 1946 to Present." ''The History of Lordship''. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2012. <http://www.lordshiphistory.com/ShortBeach2webpage.html>.</ref>  The last of the cottages were demolished in 1972 after the town emerged as the victor of a 15-year debate over whether the cottagers or the town held ownership over the land.  At some point afterwards, between 1972 and 1973, Short Beach was developed as a town park.

Given these findings, there is some measure of question as to whether or not the ''O. humifusa'' that can be seen today at Short Beach were introduced by the park designers.  On one hand, these cacti are on ideal habitat and would seem to be natural in origin.  On the other hand, it is entirely possible that this habitat area did not exist prior to park development.

At this point, I do not possess enough information to make any conclusions in this regard.

==== Concerns About Preservation ====

Although the Short Beach Colony is easily accessible and in close proximity to areas that likely receive a good deal of foot traffic, I have minimal concerns about preservation.  The plants are relatively inconspicuous unless you are looking for them and they seem to have fared very well thus far.  I cannot think of any reason why this would change in the foreseeable future.

==== Colony Location and Statistics ====

The Short Beach Colony is located in Stratford, Connecticut at Short Beach Park.  The colony is spread out over a large area (approximately one acre), so it is not possible to provide pinpoint coordinates that are sufficiently representative.  Suffice to say, the westernmost ''O. humifusa'' specimen is located at  41.1638° , -73.1093°, while the easternmost specimen is located at 41.1648°, -73.1090°.

<ul>
<li>To view the westernmost location in Google Maps, [http://maps.google.com/?q=41.1638,%20-73.1093 click here].</li>
<li>No GPS track log was recorded for this exploration.</li>
</ul>

Pertinent statistics concerning the colony location include:

<ul>
<li>'''Elevation of Colony:''' ~5 feet above sea level</li>
<li>'''Surficial Geology:''' Sand (composed primarily of quartz)</li>
<li>'''Habitat Type:''' Coastal Sand Dunes <ref name="habitat-types">Habitat type is categorized using the Habitats Classification Scheme (Version 3.0) defined by the ''International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources''. <http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes/habitats-classification-scheme-ver3>.</ref>
</li>
</ul>