Marshalling his troops - Pitchcare

Grass Snake Male Adders
wildlife potential of course
redevelopments or the construction of
new courses.
Decline of herptiles
The UK has long been a stronghold for
great crested newt, which has suffered
severe declines across continental
Europe, where pond destruction, either
through neglect or for development, has
resulted in a severe decrease in available
breeding habitat, and the fragmentation
of suitable terrestrial habitats has made it
harder for newts to move to another,
suitable pond. However, these declines
are now being mirrored in the UK, where
lowering of ground water levels for
development, destruction of hedgerows
and increased pollution are resulting in
declines in this species.
In order to attempt to halt the decline
of this species, great crested newts are
now protected under UK and European
legislation. In practice, this means:
destruction of habitats, killing, injuring,
disturbing, taking or offering for sale, all
of which can result in hefty fines and/or
imprisonment! This means that a licence
is required in order to survey for this
species.
The four widespread reptile species in
the UK; adder, grass snake, common
lizard and slow worm, are currently
relatively common, if often undetected.
However, it is widely considered that
these species are suffering declines across
the country, due to loss of habitat or
fragmentation of areas of suitable
habitat. All UK reptiles are now
protected from killing, injuring and sale,
in an effort to halt the declines in their
populations.
Herptiles on golf courses
Golf courses provide an ideal
Slow worm Great Crested Newt
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opportunity to create ‘safe havens’ for
these declining species, with only simple
changes to the habitats and the
management that is already in place. In
fact, several golf courses around the UK
are known to have populations of great
crested newts and good reptile
populations already present, and may
have done so for several years, without
any impacts on the running of the course
and the enjoyment of its use.
Several simple steps can be taken to
encourage these species to colonise golf
courses:
• Ponds - great crested newts prefer to
live in medium sized ponds that are
well vegetated, but also have areas of
open water, as these are used by the
males for their elaborate courtship
displays. It is also ponds like this that
look the most visually appealing and,
therefore, would fit in well on a golf
course. Newts like to live in places
where there are several medium sized
ponds in close proximity to one
another, and this can easily be
considered in the design or
redevelopment of courses.
• Fish - fish will eat great crested newt
larvae and so, if possible, ponds on
golf courses should not be stocked with
fish. Frogs and toads should, however,
be encouraged as they provide a great
food supply for reptiles.
• Habitat - as mentioned above, all
herptiles like areas of rough grassland,
scrub and woodland, all of which are
usually readily present on golf courses.
These habitats will require no
additional maintenance to ensure that
they provide perfect conditions for
newts.
• Connectivity - if possible, habitat
corridors; lines of habitat connecting
other habitat features, such as a strip
of rough grassland between two ponds
(for example, along the edge of a
fairway) or a hedgerow between two
patches of woodland, should be
incorporated into the course design to
allow herptiles to move freely between
all the ideal habitats that are present.
It is no use creating a lovely, fish free
pond, ideal for breeding newts and
foraging reptiles, if the animals have to
cross the shortly mown green, where
they are at risk of aerial predation, to
get to it! The connectivity does not
need to encircle the pond, a strip of
rough along the rear of the green,
connecting to one side of a pond and
along the side of the fairway, would
provide an excellent habitat
connection.
Prior to any alterations to golf courses,
the presence of herptiles should be
confirmed (or otherwise) by an
appropriately licensed ecologist, who can
offer advice to ensure that the works will
not result in breaking the law and
causing harm to these species.
For those simply enjoying the golf,
without being actively involved in the
management of the course, the presence
of herptiles will rarely be detected, unless
you are playing particularly late into a
damp dusk or early on a damp morning.
However, by regularly using golf courses
that actively seek to encourage protected
species, golfers are contributing to the
maintenance of these vital spaces and,
hopefully, ensuring the survival of this,
and other, increasingly rare species in the
UK.
With thanks to Sarah Hallen at
Peak Ecology Ltd.
Email: sarahallen@peakecology.co.uk
Website: www.peakecology.co.uk