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Once cut for timber or cleared for agricultural fields, New York’s forests have since recovered — at least when it comes to the tree canopy.

But plants that grow on the forest floor continue to struggle, including native wildflowers such as trillium, bloodroot and wild ginger.

“Plants in the understory below the trees significantly contribute to the biodiversity in these forests, and 30 to 40% of these plants have their seeds dispersed by ants,” explained Rosebelle Ines, a ��������Ƶ doctoral student in biological sciences. “This mutualism is very important.”

These plants, known as myrmecochores, have seeds with a fatty tissue appendage that ants bring back to their nests for nutrition. Ants, however, don’t travel very far. If plants aren’t already in the nearby area, there are no seeds for the ants to disperse — and ultimately no wildflowers.

In partnership with the New York State Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Binghamton biologists are restoring native wildflowers to the University’s Nature Preserve and adding them to an existing population at Buttermilk Falls State Park in Ithaca. Ines is working with her advisor, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences Kirsten Prior, and Research Assistant Professor Christina Baer of the First-year Research Immersion (FRI) program’s ecological genetics stream on the project.

Ines received a Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens Botany Action Fellow Award, which allows her to create educational materials and run volunteer days for the restoration project, as well as a grant from the New York Flora Association. Prior, Baer and Ines also won a Provost Award, Sustainable World Research Grant that allows them to restore additional sites and monitor successful restoration.

In June 2024, the researchers planted 10 plots of bloodroot along a trail at Buttermilk Falls State Park in Ithaca, working with interns from NYS Parks’ Friends of Recreation, Conservation and Environmental Stewardship (FORCES) program. Some plots are within an enclosure that wards off deer, while others lie outside, to gauge the impact of deer on successful restoration.

FRI is involved in a similar project at the University’s Nature Preserve focused on wild ginger, with eight plots inside fenced areas protected from deer and another four plots outside the barriers. The deer and other herbivores left the wild ginger mostly alone until the fall, when some were eaten to the ground. In the next few weeks, researchers will check the plots for flowers and see if those eaten by deer survived, Baer said.

Bloodroot and wild ginger are culturally important to Indigenous communities, who have traditionally used them for medicine. They also help regulate water and nutrients in the environment — and have attractive flowers to boot, Ines said.

Plans are in the works to expand the program to other areas, including Chenango Valley State Park. It will also include an educational component, with signage at the restoration sites to explain the importance of biodiversity.

“This project, initiated and led by Rosebelle, is exciting and impactful, allowing for collaborations between NY state parks and ��������Ƶ,” Prior said. “It involves opportunities for students and interns to contribute to conservation and engages the public about the critical importance of biodiversity in local forests.”

Two summers ago, Binghamton graduate and undergraduate students created , a graphic novel for children highlighting native wildflowers and the seed-dispersing ants in New York forests. The book corresponds to state learning standards for third- to fifth-graders and is accompanied by learning materials and lesson plans, Ines explained. Potentially, these books could be made available to children visiting Chenango Valley.

“I want to leave a living legacy to the community,” Ines reflected. “Once I leave, future generations will have something to enjoy. That’s what keeps me going when this work gets hard.”