Graded relatively flat by glacial meltwater running out over the coastal plain to the ocean 75 miles away when the landmass that would become Nantucket was nothing more than a wide, low ridge of sand, gravel and glacial erratics (boulders), Smooth Hummocks is Nantucket’s version of the Midwest’s prairies complete with rare wildflowers and grasses that thrive in sandy, nutrient-poor soil.
These so-called sandplain grasslands number less than 2,000 acres on the planet today and are protected as nesting habitat for Northern harriers, the short-eared owl, studied by botanists, entomologists, used by island students for their ecology coursework and managed with prescribed fire and brush-cutting by the Nantucket Islands Land Bank and the Nantucket Conservation Foundation for plant research and invasive species control. Smooth Hummocks is a fascinating island ecosystem with many things to teach us.
