"...upon which the battle of Bull Run was fought, I saw pretty, pure, delicate flowers growing out of the empty ammunition boxes, and a wild rose thrusting up its graceful head through the top of a broken drum, which doubtless sounded its last charge in that battle, and a cunning scarlet verbena peeping out of a fragment of a bursted shell, in which strange pot it was planted? Wasn’t that peace growing out of war?
Even so shall the beautiful and graceful ever grow out of the horrid and terrible things that transpire in this changing but ever advancing world. Nature covers even the battlegrounds with verdure and bloom. Peace and plenty spring up in the track of the devouring campaign, and all things in nature and society shall work out the progress of mankind.”
— Frank Leslie, Illustrated Newspaper, May 6, 1865
While Manassas National Battlefield Park preserves the sites of the First and Second Battles of Manassas, it also protects over 4,000 acres of natural habitat. Nearly half the park is grassland that provides crucial habitat for grassland birds and pollinators including monarch butterflies. The other half is forests from early-successional Virginia pine stands to relatively mature oak-hickory forests.
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Deer, black bear, birds, snakes, amphibians, and more call Manassas home.
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Oak hickory woodlands and native warm season grasslands are the primary habitats in the park, but the park has quite a variety!
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Learn about the underlying geology of Manassas National Battlefield Park
Researching Nature at Manassas
Manassas is a natural oasis for visitors and for scientific researchers because of its protected natural landscape. The research done here provides the accurate and current natural resource information we need to provide to best care for the park. Scientists look at what key resources are present in the park, if they are stable or changing, how ecosystems are changing over time, and how much change is normal.
Like a physician monitoring a patient's heartbeat and blood pressure, National Park Service ecologists with the National Capital Region Inventory & Monitoring Network collect long-term data on forest vegetation, bird and amphibian communities, water quality, and other key resources at Manassas, analyze the monitoring results, and share them with the park.
Read more in the articles below about researchers studying nature at Manassas and nearby national parks.
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 The National Park Service will improve the ecological health of eastern forests in 38 parks using an array of management techniques. The NPS has selected forest ecosystems of high ecological and cultural value across multiple parks from Virginia to Maine that are at greatest risk of forest loss due to chronic and interacting stressors.  Chickadees are some of the most common birds in the National Capital Region. Both Carolina chickadees and black-capped chickadees can be found in NCR parks. Learn more about these birds and how they're sometimes hard to tell apart.  Dryad's saddle is a large and unique fungi species that can be found across the National Capital Region. Learn more about where they can be found and how to recognize them.  Preliminary results of recent macroinvertebrate monitoring in the National Capital Region (NCR) using environmental DNA revealed that freshwater jellyfish are present in all NCR parks. Learn more about these unique organisms, and the role they may play in our freshwater streams.  From coast to coast, the NPS Inventory and Monitoring Division is helping park managers improve the health and function of forest ecosystems. From promoting resilient forests in the Northeast, to conserving whitebark pine in the West, to protecting Hawaiian forest birds from avian malaria, scientific partnerships are helping parks to share information, leverage funding sources, and work together for outcomes that extend beyond what any park could accomplish on its own.  Out of the 50 oak species native to the eastern United States, 20 are native to the National Capital Region (NCR). Learn more about these oak species and where they can be found across NCR parks.  A comprehensive look at the conifers found in the National Capital Region (NCR). Learn more about where these species can be found and what makes each kind unique.  Out of the 150 birch species found across the globe, 9 are native to the National Capital Region (NCR). Learn more about these birch species and what makes them unique.  Seven species of grapes are native to the National Capital Region. Learn how to tell them apart, where they grow, and how they benefit birds, bugs, and beasts alike.  Freshwater salinization is a growing threat to aquatic life in streams of the National Capital Region. Learn more about the factors influencing salinization and the actions parks can take to help reduce salt pollution.
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