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17 <br />community. Instead, the goal is to guide towards and maintainthe parks asproductiveand functional <br />natural spaces for park visitors to enjoy and wildlife to residein. <br />GeneralManagement Goal Habitat Types <br />The following recommendations are made to maintain this natural space as a broadleaf hardwood forest <br />with minimal changes to the existing functional plant community. The two most similar native plant <br />communitiesas defined by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’Ecological System Summaries <br />and Class Fact Sheets located here: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/npc/uplandforest.html that the <br />municipality maytryto establishandmaintainare “MHs37 –Southern Dry-Mesic Oak Forest” and “FFs59 – <br />Southern Terrace Forest”. These systems are guidelines for potential management, with predominant <br />species that will fit the parks continued stewardship to native species butare not measures of a “complete” <br />restoration. Every urban system has been impacted by the land use history of the property and of the area, <br />and are not expected to match these defined plant communities’ ideal definitions. <br />Generally Recommended Management Tasks <br />Woody invasive species removal should be a primary goal, supplemented bygraminoid seeding for minor <br />erosion control. Erosion control may be necessary to prevent further eutrophication/ nutrient and sediment <br />loading of the wetlands within the parks. Woody invasive removal will likely need to focus on removal of <br />common buckthorn (Rhamnuscathartica), glossy buckthorn (Frangula alnus), white mulberry (Morus alba), <br />andinvasive honeysuckle (Lonicera spp.) . Timed forestry mowing, chain sawingor brush cutting starting in <br />winter can control the remaining invasive woody population. Fine forestry mowing and/or goat browsing in <br />late summer could help to maintain light infiltration to the ground. Forestry mowing may be possible in <br />portions of the woodlands, but likely not the entirety due to high variability in localized elevation. An <br />experienced operator should be consulted to evaluatethis option, and hand-cutting with material staging for <br />removal or dropping for decomposition and wildlife piles can be used in parallel with heavy equipment. <br />After management of invasive trees and shrubs,herbaceous invasive species such as burdock (Arctium <br />spp), garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), or motherwort (Leonorus cardiaca) may spread into the cleared <br />areas in the absence of sufficient seeding efforts. If that occurs, foliar herbicide application and timed <br />mowing of those species should be utilized to limit their population expansion. Establishment of native <br />understory species including grasses, sedges, as well as wildflowers, will be crucial to prevent the <br />reestablishment of both herbaceous and woody invasive species, and depending on the goals for the <br />specific area, planting native plant plugs, shrubs, and trees will be required to add diversity to the layers of <br />habitat in the now invasive-cleared areas.