Golf and Conserve Wildlife: All In One

Many environmentalists consider golf courses to be a waste of space, partially, because it requires considerable energy to maintain them in the condition that golf demands. But what if they served another purpose as wildlife conservation areas.

Golf is a popular past time and big time sport. Golf courses require extensive management to maintain. There are many who oppose this single use purpose and lament the loss of green space and or the arable land that is ripped up to build a course. But what if in addition to being a popular and often lucrative business enterprise the golf course could double as a wildlife preserve. This is an idea that is well worth considering. Is it possible that a golf course could also be a wildlife sanctuary? A new study, that is to be published later this year in the journal Conservation Biology, believes that these seemingly opposed goals are in fact compatible.

"There are more than 17,000 golf courses in the United States, and approximately 70 percent of that land is not used for playing. 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."

Ray Semlitsch, Curators' Professor of Biology in the MU College of Arts and Science.

Semlitsch while working with Michelle Boone, who is an assistant professor at Miami University in Ohio and J. Russell Bodie, senior scientist for Audubon International, put forward a list of recommendations that would improve golf course habitats for amphibian populations. This work was published in USGA Turfgrass and Environmental Research Online in January. The trio suggested that aquatic habitats be buffered from chemical runoff and that wetlands be surrounded by 150 to 300 meters of forest or natural grassland. The group also recommend that golf courses include a diversity of pond types that mimic natural wetlands. Semlitsch and Boone, in collaboration with Cory Mosby, a senior at MU have added to this earlier research. Their latest findings discovered that completely drying golf course ponds in the late summer or early fall benefit amphibian populations and enhance 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.

To arrive at their conclusions the researchers worked with two types of ponds; control reference ponds and ponds located on golf courses. They monitored the populations of American toads, southern leopard frogs and spotted salamanders. The results showed that the amphibians survived better in the golf course ponds than in the control ponds. One of the reasons may be the absence of over wintered bullfrog tadpoles. Bullfrog tadpoles are common to permanent golf course ponds and act as unnatural predators and competitors. The elimination of the bullfrog tadpoles reduced the competition for food and enabled the other amphibian populations to develop. The bullfrog tadpoles are eliminated when the ponds are allowed to dry in the summer.This way biodiversity is enhanced, people play golf and the amphibians, who are under threat for a number of reasons, get an opportunity to thrive. Those who oppose golf courses as a waste of space are never going to convince golfers of this nor are business people going to give up the opportunity to make a buck. The use of golf courses as wildlife refuges may be a wise middle ground.