“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 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.

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.

Source: Science Daily and University of Missouri-Columbia.