"Beneath the swirling energy of Times Square, under the relentless rhythm of yellow cabs and towering glass giants, lies a secret world almost no one suspects: New York City's very own ancient swamp forest, hidden deep below the concrete. Imagine for a moment a time before skyscrapers touched the clouds, before subways rumbled underground-when the land was wild, thick with towering cypress trees, and teeming with life."
"Most New Yorkers rush through their daily routines without realizing that their footsteps echo above what was once a sprawling wetland. Before the city's grid was etched into the earth, Manhattan was shaped by winding streams, marshes, and swampy forests. These wetlands were alive with birdsong, buzzing insects, and the calls of amphibians. The land was soggy underfoot, often covered with dense stands of ancient trees that reached for the sun."
Beneath Manhattan lies an ancient swamp forest preserved under layers of urban fill and concrete. The landscape once consisted of winding streams, marshes, bogs, and dense stands of trees such as bald cypress, black gum, and tupelo. That ecosystem formed after the last Ice Age as glaciers retreated and created lakes and wetlands that accumulated peat and organic layers. Wetlands supported diverse wildlife and provided food, water, and shelter for Native American peoples and early explorers. Urban development and the city's grid buried these features under stone and construction debris, but remnants remain preserved in subsurface soils and peat deposits.
Read at discoverwildscience
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