Research for From the Hudson to the Taconics: An Ecological and Cultural Field Guide to the Habitats of Columbia County, New York led to the identification of three underappreciated (and therefore often unwittingly destroyed) habitats of potential regional rarity and high conservation value: ancient forests, dry meadows, and wet meadows.
We are seeking support for a more detailed documentation of the distribution of these three special habitats and their unique roles in the landscape, resulting in specific management recommendations for these at-risk habitats.
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Justification
The research for the Field Guide was necessarily broad in nature and led to the description of 36 habitats. While there is still more to learn about each of these, there is particular urgency for the further study of three special habitats: ancient forests, dry meadows, and wet meadows. They all have potentially high (and currently underappreciated) conservation value, are often difficult to distinguish from similar and less biodiverse habitats in our region, and are at-risk.
In the following, we briefly describe each of these habitats, explain why we consider them worthy of more attention, and what it is that we hope to learn from future research.
Ancient Forests
What are they? We define forests as ancient if they don’t show any signs of past agricultural clearing (such as stone walls or other artifacts, plow lines) and are visible in the earliest aerial photos (1940s) available for our region. These forests could also be called “primary”, as opposed to “post-agricultural” or “secondary” forests which are now growing on former farmland. Ancient forests are not (in our region) old-growth forests, because they usually have been managed for timber and other forest products; therefore, they don’t necessarily have big or old trees.
However, we have learned from past research that certain native tree, shrub, and herbaceous plant species occur exclusively or at least are more abundant in ancient forests than in neighboring post-agricultural forests. Ancient forests also may store more carbon in the soil.
Why are they at-risk? Remnants of ancient forest are now often embedded in a matrix of much more common post-agricultural forest in our county—which currently has 60-70% total forest cover—and are not recognized as special when forest gets selected for conversion to residential development or other non-forest land uses. Ancient forests are often located in relatively inaccessible terrain, such as steep, rocky slopes and hilltops/ridges, and increasingly targeted for residential development.
What do we hope to learn? By county-wide mapping of ancient forest remnants, we will learn how much/little of this habitat is left, where it is located, and what the size of these remnants is. By conducting more field research, we hope to document additional differences between ancient forest remnants and neighboring post-agricultural forests. We plan to focus on spring wildflowers, which we have not yet properly documented, because our botanical surveys for the Field Guide were spread across the entire season; ants, which often have a close relationship with spring wildflowers; and mushrooms, which we formerly did not have the taxonomic expertise in our team to document (although there is evidence from other places that the fungal communities are more diverse and abundant in ancient forests than in post-agricultural forests).
Dry Meadows
What are they? Most dry meadows are former (and sometimes still active) pastures and hayfields growing on thin soils, characterized by the presence of a significant amount of the native warm-season grass Little Bluestem. However, dry meadows can also be found in utility corridors, on some roadsides, and around rock outcrops on our hilltops. Dry meadows are characterized by infertile soils and, compared to more fertile pastures and hayfields dominated by European cold-season grasses, they are not very productive farmland. However, from our limited sample of 18 dry meadows, we know that many locally rare native plant species seem to only occur in this habitat. We also know of several rare native skipper butterflies that we have only seen around Little Bluestem. Finally, we found a rare ant species (Formica prociliata), which had not been previously documented east of Ohio, in half of the dry meadows we studied in our county.
Why are they at-risk? In our region, dry meadows require management (periodic mowing or grazing) to be maintained. If abandoned, they get overgrown with shrubs and eventually revert to forest. They are usually not recognized as different from other, more fertile old fields, and—without increased awareness of their uniqueness—could easily slip back into forest or become sites for residential development.
What do we hope to learn? By mapping dry meadows, we will learn, how many there are, where they are located, and what size they are. It will allow us to contact landowners, learn about the management of their dry meadows, and seek permission to include them in our field research. We plan to conduct inventories in 50 dry meadows for the rare skipper butterflies during the brief periods when they are actually active: two weeks in late May (Indian, Cobweb, and Dusted Skipper) and two weeks in late August/early September (Leonard’s Skipper). In the past, our butterfly surveys have been spread over the season, so there was little chance to document these rare species. We also plan to document the ants in the dry meadows to learn if the rare Formica prociliata is really as common in this habitat in our county as our previous research suggests and under what conditions it thrives. Finally, we plan to conduct searches for locally rare native plants in more dry meadows to get a better idea of what proportion of these meadows actually harbor rare native plants and which of these species are particularly associated with this habitat.
Wet Meadows
What are they? A wet meadow is a wetland characterized by grasses, sedges, and broad-leaved herbaceous plants growing in temporarily saturated soil. Before European colonization, wet meadows in our region seem to have mainly been associated with occasionally flooded areas along streams or with beaver activity (establishing themselves on the drained sediments of abandoned beaver ponds). Due to the regulation of streams and the extermination of beavers (and subsequent reintroduction at much lower, carefully controlled levels), wet meadows are now mainly found on active or abandoned farmland and sometimes around the edges of man-made ponds. Our past research resulted in a list of native plants associated mainly with wet meadows that are rarely found in marshes or other wetlands. In addition, we have some evidence that certain native butterflies, such as Bronze Copper and Baltimore Checkerspot, might rely on this habitat. We also know that wet meadows can be crucial habitat for the Spotted Turtle, a species of state-wide conservation concern.
Why are they at-risk? A wet meadow is difficult to manage as a pasture or hayfield due to the seasonally wet soils. Therefore, remaining wet meadows on farmland are in danger of being drained to improve their agricultural value or of being abandoned to forest regrowth. Wet meadows around the edges of landscaped ornamental ponds are often not valued and ponds are instead dug with steep banks and then mowed to the edge to make them look cared for.
What do we hope to learn? By mapping wet meadows, we will learn, how many there are, where they are located, and what size they have. After a thorough review of the combined findings from several past projects that gave us the opportunity to study the plants, butterflies, and other fauna associated with wet meadows around ponds and on farms, we will determine if more field research is needed or if we have enough information to embark on the wet meadow outreach campaign.
Read more about this project in the concept outline.