The once-green outdoor area on the east entrance of Lawrinson Hall and parallel to SUNY-ESF’S Baker Lab was converted into a staging area for the Dome construction project over the summer. The impacts of Syracuse University construction projects like this may only seem temporary, but altering ecosystems like these on campus leaves lasting effects. We need to be more thoughtful about the toll our renovations and new additions to campus take on the land here.

Construction efforts at the Dome involve a new roof, light and sound systems, air conditioning and other amenities. The project is set to be completed in 2022, the university said.

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SU media relations manager Keith Kobland, said the university chose the staging area for the project due to its proximity to the Dome.

“The site will be restored to its former state upon completion, and the impact of construction on the surrounding communities should be minimal,” Kobland said.

Steve Voelker, an environmental and forest biology professor at SUNY-ESF, said projects that disrupt land always leave considerable impacts.

“On an ecosystem level, we can lose a great deal,” said Voelker. “From pollinators to decomposers, there is no way that such a loss of land can be ‘minimal.’”

In the former courtyard, the ground that was once covered in grass has been taken over by gravel. The crab apple trees, black squirrels and groundhogs have been replaced by barrier planks, cranes and porta-potties.

No matter how well workers try to restore the area once construction is completed, the ecosystem of this area will never return to the way it once was. The effects of destroying a natural area, even if temporary, can be devastating, not just for plants and animals, but for humans too.

According to studies done on the shifts that occur after large man-made environmental changes, rehabilitation of green spaces can take up to four growing seasons to return to a state similar to how it was prior to being altered. Each growing season is about five years, so the impacts of what is being done today will be seen up to twenty years into the future. Simply replanting grasses and trees will never be enough to recreate the environmental harmony that took years to cultivate. And in the interim, students who utilized the ecosystem recreationally suffer.

“It’s hard to argue with the value of green spaces,” Voelker said. “The largest concern that I have about using areas that are populated, with respect to ecosystem interactions, is the loss of connectivity. In relation to human interactions, green areas create a means for us to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.”

As we continue to urbanize — and make new additions and repairs to our campus — we must realize that the ecosystems we destroy during construction are not easily replaced. We need to explore options that will leave nature as intact as possible. And we need to recognize the important ecosystem services green spaces on campus provide to the health and wellbeing of our campus itself and our students.

Anthonyne Metelus is a sophomore conservation biology major. Her column appears bi-weekly. She can be reached at ametelus@syr.edu.

Published on September 8, 2019 at 11:36 pm