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Professor Ray Semlitsch talks about lake buffers near the
12th hole at the L.A. Nickell Golf Course in Columbia. Semlitsch
says golf course lakes can be modified to provide better
habitat for native amphibians. Don Shrubshell photo
courtesy of the Columbia Tribune
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The
New Wildlife Refuge:
Golf Courses?
By Katherine Kostiuk
Golf courses are known as centers for human recreation, but if managed
properly, they also could be important wildlife sanctuaries, a University
of Missouri-Columbia researcher has found.
“There are more
than 17,000 golf courses in the United States, and approximately
70 percent of that land is not used for playing,” said Ray
Semlitsch, Curators' Professor of Biology
in the MU College of
Arts and Science. “These managed green spaces aren't
surrogates for protected land and ecosystems, but they can include
suitable habitat for species native to the area. Golf courses
could act as nature sanctuaries if managed properly.”
Semlitsch, along with Michelle Boone, an assistant
professor at Miami University in Ohio and former MU graduate student,
and J. Russell Bodie, senior scientist for Audubon International,
outlined recommendations that would improve golf course habitats
for amphibian populations in a paper published in USGA Turfgrass
and Environmental Research Online in January. Their recommendations
included buffering aquatic habitats from chemical runoff, surrounding
wetland areas with 150 to 300 meters of forest or natural grassland,
and creating a diversity of pond types that mimic natural wetlands.
A recent study by Semlitsch, Boone and Cory
Mosby, a senior at MU, built on these suggestions. They found
that completely drying golf course ponds in the late summer or
early fall would benefit amphibian populations and biodiversity.
“It's a hard concept for people to understand,
but non-permanent wetlands are more natural than permanent wetlands.
Most natural wetlands dry for some periods of time, and the species
that live in them are well-adapted for this. The natural drying
process benefits amphibians, and it releases nutrients from the
soil. Maintaining permanent ponds actually harms biodiversity,” Semlitsch said.
In the study, the researchers used two types
of ponds — control reference ponds and ponds located on golf courses
— to monitor populations of American toads, southern leopard frogs
and spotted salamanders. They found that the animals survived
better in the golf course ponds than in the control ponds, probably
because of a reduced number of insect predators. They also found
that these species survived better in the absence of overwintered
bullfrog tadpoles, which are common to permanent golf course ponds
and act as unnatural predators and competitors.
Semlitsch said this shows that greater biodiversity
can be achieved by eliminating bullfrog tadpoles. Because bullfrog
cycles of metamorphosis take longer to complete (typically 12
months) than the cycles of other amphibians (typically one to
four months), the bullfrog tadpoles have advantages in permanent
ponds and can grow larger and more powerful, nudging out other
species. By drying golf course ponds in the early fall, the tadpoles
can be eliminated.
Semlitsch, Boone and Mosby's study will be
published later this year in the journal Conservation Biology.
It was supported by the United States Golf Association and the
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. For a copy of their paper,
which includes ways to bolster amphibian communities on golf courses,
visit the USGA
Turfgrass and Environmental Research Web site.
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Last Update:
March 12, 2007
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