Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 45.57
Liaison Maia Roseval
Submission Date Jan. 12, 2023

STARS v2.2

State University of New York at Farmingdale
OP-10: Biodiversity

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Maia Roseval
Sustainability Manager
Facilities and Operations
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution own or manage land that includes or is adjacent to legally protected areas, internationally recognized areas, priority sites for biodiversity, or regions of conservation importance?:
Yes

A brief description of the legally protected areas, internationally recognized areas, priority sites for biodiversity, and/or regions of conservation importance:
FSC is adjacent to Bethpage State Park. Bethpage state park is considered New York Protected area (see interactive map here: https://www.nypad.org/InteractiveMap).

According to the NYS Parks and Recreation office: Our properties are also home to a variety of plant and animal life that occur naturally in these areas help to clean and protect our environment. Approximately 90% of state parks' property remain natural, with natural lakes, streams, rivers, ocean beaches and dunes, as well as scenic waterfalls, gorges, springs and bluffs.

Because of it's proximity to the park, FSC often has animals such as fox, deer, rabbits, and more wander onto and explore our campus grounds.

Endangered and vulnerable species

Has the institution conducted an assessment to identify endangered and vulnerable species (including migratory species) with habitats on land owned or managed by the institution?:
Yes

A list of endangered and vulnerable species with habitats on land owned or managed by the institution, by level of extinction risk:
The following were identified using the the U.S. Information, Planning, and Conservation (IPaC) online map tool:

Mammals
- Northern Long-eared Bat (threatened)
Bids
- Piping Plovers (threatened)
- Red Knot (threatened)
Insects
- Monarch Butterfly (candidate)
Plants
- Seabeach Amaranth (threatened)

Areas of biodiversity importance

Has the institution conducted an assessment to identify areas of biodiversity importance on land owned or managed by the institution?:
Yes

A brief description of areas of biodiversity importance on land owned or managed by the institution:
The campus has numerous garden landscapes including: the teaching garden, the sustainable garden, and the pollinator garden. They host endangered species such as bees and monarchs. These gardens are areas of biodiversity importance, and as such are monitored by the college to ensure they remain pollinator habitats.

Methodologies

If yes to either of the above, provide the following:

The methodologies used to identify endangered and vulnerable species and/or areas of biodiversity importance and any ongoing assessment and monitoring mechanisms:
Endangered and vulnerable species: These species were identified using the the U.S. Information, Planning, and Conservation (IPaC) online map tool:https://ipac.ecosphere.fws.gov/.

Areas of biodiversity importance: These areas were identified as the on-campus lands that are managed by either the horticulture department, grounds crew, or sustainability office. There are likely more areas of biodiversity importance (as the campus has many woody areas), but those are not directly managed or monitored by anyone, so they were not included in this assessment.

A brief description of the scope of the assessment(s):
Endangered and vulnerable species: The scope of this assessment was determined by IPaC, as that was the resource used to collect this data.

Areas of biodiversity importance: Limited to on-campus managed lands. Lands that are not directly managed or monitored were excluded for lack of data availability.

A brief description of the plans or programs in place to protect or positively affect identified species, habitats, and/or ecosystems:
As of Fall 2022 Farmingdale State College is designated as a Bee Campus USA and Tree Campus USA. This means that we have committees designated to both of these causes. We are committed to increasing the amount of native and pollinator plants (or if not increasing the amount, enhancing the existing amount of plants) on campus. We also have a master tree care plan that ensures we maintain existing tree cover while planting more each year. Both of these programs aim to protect endangered species and increase biodiversity.

Optional Fields

Estimated percentage of areas of biodiversity importance that are also protected areas :
---

Website URL where information about the institution’s biodiversity initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Data sources:
Office for Sustainability

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.