It’s evening of a warm spring day, and the ring of cow bells and grunts of pigs mix with the noise of another animal. Sounding like a flock of over-anxious ducks, wood frogs are calling from ponds around the Farm. It’s breeding season for vernal pool amphibians, and wood frogs, together with the unvocal spotted salamanders, are gathering at small ponds to lay their eggs.
Vernal pools are tiny puddles that form during the late spring and last into the summer growing season, Their drying out means that they are fishless, and several northeastern amphibians have evolved to take advantage of these relatively predator-free waters. Indeed, these species also readily use other shallow pools that, while holding water through the year, may also be fishless. The wood frogs this evening are calling from vernal pools in the nearby forests and from shallow farm ponds scattered across the fields. Some of these ponds are occasional watering holes for the cattle, and the visiting frogs are no inconvenience to head farmer Steffen Schneider. In addition to their lovely vocals, Steffen appreciates the ecological gifts that the amphibians offer, especially the removal of agricultural pests. Residents of Columbia County, New York have been witness to part of a widespread expansion of manmade ponds that has taken place across the United States during the last century. In 1948, there were an estimated 2000 of these ponds in Columbia County; by 2006 there were perhaps 15000 farm and house ponds the main reason for this increase being changing landscape fashion and agricultural use. As Conrad, the farm ecologist working with Steffen, notes, “we are rapidly dotting our land with ponds; a trend that no doubt has relevance to the ecology of wetland plants and animals” (Life as a Pond, 2007).
Although the amphibians of upstate New York can be categorized into many groups such as stream dwellers, upland dwellers, and marsh dwellers, a large sector of the amphibian community can be places into the categories of vernal-pool amphibians and permanent-pond. Permanent-pond amphibians often overwinter and survive in areas where water will not dry out, and such ponds commonly contain predatory fish. Vernal-pool amphibians, however, take a more hurry-up-and-leave approach. They depend on getting into ponds early, breeding, and having their offspring leave as miniature adults before their nursery dries up. These vernal amphibians spend their mature lives in woodland areas, except when returning to ponds to breed, where they can suffer population declines if commercial and residential development destroys habitats adjacent to their breeding grounds. Luckily for these vocal creatures Hawthorne Valley Farm offers a fairly safe migratory routes to an upland environment with an assortment of protective areas including hedgerows and shrubland scattered across its open fields (Ponds as Relicts & Novelties, Deserts & Menageries, 2007).
The amphibians are but a small fraction of the native species that thrive on Hawthorne Valley Farm and are studied by “Farmscape Ecologists” Conrad Vispo and his wife Claudia Knab-Vispo. Farms in Columbia County are home to over 350 species of plants, 150 species of birds, and 49 species of butterflies all native to the Northeast. Many of these species are of conservation interest, including 45% of grassland plants. Additionally, 25 to 35 species of the farm’s grassland and shrubland birds and 18 of its butterfly species have globally declining populations. Although no one has really kept tabs on butterfly species globally; these species show indications of reduced regional populations. The farmscape provides a wide range of microhabitats that enable organisms like these to flourish. Although a farmer, like Steffen, deliberately embraces the ecological benefits that biodiversity protection offers, many farmers are providing habitat unintentionally. Common areas of farms such as woodlots, hedgerows, wet meadows, old fields or pastures, ponds, and of course vernal-pools provide prime habitat for native species (Looking at Our Roots, 2007).
Conrad and Claudia, the two working ecologists at Hawthorne Valley Farm, have been studying these agricultural habitats in Columbia County for the past six years. Throughout this time they have described some of the positive ecological relationships between agriculture and native species, and have suggested ways in which farmers can facilitate these relationships. The Vispo’s have worked side-by-side with farmers at their own farm, and in the surrounding area to provide “the tools for understanding the distribution of natural habitats on their farms and the potential interactions of their management with residents of those habitats” (FEP-What We Do, 2009). By working with farmers as collaborators, they learn to recognize the agricultural constraints that come into play with protecting biodiversity, and help to form realistic management goals.
The practical management promoted by Conrad and Claudia’s Farmscape Ecology Program not only promotes the adoption of habitat-building practices, but helps illustrate the potential benefits to agriculture in protecting biodiversity. Their studies are just beginning to uncover many of the agriculturally viable effects of preserving habitat for native species, such as the deterrence of weeds, pests, erosion, and attraction of beneficial insects. Through surveying native species living in and around farmland Conrad and Claudia have been able to make some interesting connections through their findings. For example, in collaboration with Hawthorne Valley student (now alumni) Martin Holdrege they have spent years tracking native bee populations in Columbia County. Through their studies they found that many native bee varieties live both on farms and the surrounding floodplain forest habitats, possibly indicating that preserving floodplain forests may be beneficial for crop pollination. Constructive information like this finding has helped to validate the Farmscape Ecology Program within the agricultural community in Columbia County.However, the program’s essence lies in the inherent value placed on the natural world and the perceived importance of protecting biological resources by the farmers and staff at Hawthorne Valley, and the network of farms within the area.