On-Farm
Biodiversity
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Research about On-Farm Biodiversity:
Links to pdf versions of our on-farm
biodiversity work:
In 2005, we did inventories of plants, birds,
amphibians and butterflies on seven farms in Columbia County. This work
documented the potential value of farmland in supporting our native
species. The summary below outlines are results. For more information,
please consult the files whose links are above. The first file contains
a series of articles on this work that we published in The Independent,
the next file is our full report, and the last (perhaps the most fun of
the bunch) is the illustrated appendices of our report. The last is a
BIG file, but it contains many pictures of the plants and
animals that occur on farms in our region. Since
2005, we have complete a trio of farm ecological mappings, two of which
are available here. Our goal with these documents is to give farmers
tools for understanding the distribution of natural habitats on their
farms and the potential interactions of their management with the
residents of those habitats.
A Summary of our Report about
On-Farm Biodiversity
For at least the past 250 years, agriculture has played a major role in
determining the landscape of Columbia County. While it continues to do
so, agriculture in the County faces a challenging future due to
competition from farther away and increased land demand for other uses.
While there are important socio-economic reasons to consider the future
of local farming, the goal of our work is to evaluate the nature
conservation value that current farming plays in our landscape. What
are likely to be the conservation repercussions should farms disappear
from our landscape?
To address this question, we have begun to evaluate the value of
on-farm habitats to native plants and animals. We conducted farmstead
surveys of herbaceous (and, to a certain degree, woody) plants, of
birds, of butterflies, and of a variety of aquatic organisms.
Our work to date has concentrated most heavily on our “home farm”,
Hawthorne Valley Farm. However, in 2005 we also began study of six
other Columbia County farms.
Obviously, farms affect the native landscape. Were we not already a
largely forested county, the negative impacts of farms on woodland
organisms might be of concern. However, given the current scale of
agriculture in the County, farms generally add to the native diversity
of our county by providing refuge for grassland and shrubland organisms
that might otherwise be largely absent. Many of these organisms found
their original home in habitats that have diminished substantially at
the national scale (e.g., prairies and wetlands). Thus, grasslands and
shrublands of farms in our area can contribute to the conservation of
species whose natural habitats have dwindled.
We found that Columbia County farms are home to at least 350 species of
native plants, of which around 10% are openland plants of conservation
concern. We cite at least 150 species of birds found on Columbia County
farms; these include 25-30 grassland and shrubland species, many of
whom are declining globally. Our farms provide habitat for at least 49
species of butterflies. While there does not seem to be a set of
butterflies completely analogous to the grassland and shrubland birds,
we present a
list of 18 butterfly species to watch if farmlands decline.
Our work with aquatic organisms added nuance to this picture. In most
cases, it is difficult to argue that farms provided important habitat
for these species. However, our results do suggest that careful farming
can be compatible with many species and, in the case of pond
amphibians, can actually provide useful habitat provided those ponds
are managed appropriately.
In sum, we believe that there are conservation reasons for preserving
working farmland in Columbia County. These benefits do not come without
potential costs. However, given adequate safeguards and compared to the
frequent alternative of large-scale development, we conclude that the
conservation value of farmland supplements the already compelling
socio-economic reasons for maintaining viable agriculture in our
region.
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