Biodiversity of the Moodna Creek Watershed - Orange County Water ...

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Moodna Biodiversity L. Heady, 19 June 2008 DRAFT • spotted turtle (NYS Special Concern – Watch List) in Black Meadow Creek, Seely Brook, and Otter Kill North basins (habitat complex includes woodland pools, upland forest, and wet meadows or swamps); • great blue heron rookeries in Purgatory Swamp in the Otter Kill South basin and Hamptonburgh Preserve in Otter Kill North; • nesting bald eagle (NYS Threatened) at Tomahawk Lake in Cromline Creek basin, and at the Moodna Creek mouth; • gray petaltail (NYS Special Concern) in the Highlands (habitat is seepage slopes), New England bluet in Black Rock Forest (habitat is ponds or lakes with boggy edges), and many more dragonflies and damselflies. Note that the above records are based on documented occurrences in the NY Natural Heritage Database; observations from the NYS Herpetological Atlas; and Orange County biodiversity data. There are likely occurrences of these and other species elsewhere in the watershed that are yet unrecorded. Refer to the appendices for additional information on wetland wildlife of conservation concern. Wetland Habitat Types. A thorough survey of the different wetland types in the Moodna watershed has not been conducted, so available habitat information is limited to wetland classifications on the National Wetland Inventory (NWI) maps, or inferences from reported species presence. Wetland habitats that appear to occur in the watershed include lakes and ponds, hardwood swamps, floodplain forest, emergent marsh, wet meadows, fens, woodland pools, springs and seeps, beaver ponds, and possibly bog lakes and kettle pools. (Detailed profiles of different wetland habitats are included in Edinger et al. 2002 and Kiviat and Stevens 2001.) Two small but important wetland habitats that are known to occur in the watershed are fens and woodland pools. Due to their small size, they are more frequently omitted from regulatory wetland maps than swamps, marshes, and other large wetlands. While these larger wetlands are no less important, fens and woodland pools are often missed completely during the land use and conservation planning process and therefore warrant special conservation consideration, as they support species that rarely occur in other habitat types. Fens are shallow, open-canopy wetlands, fed by groundwater seepage and dominated by herbaceous vegetation. Fens are an uncommon type of wet meadow, and are often quite small. Their calcareous conditions result from underlying limestone or carbonate rock. Fens often support rare plants, as well as rare animals like bog turtle, spotted turtle, ribbon snake, and several butterflies like Dion skipper. Because the presence of fens is so strongly linked to the bedrock properties and groundwater of the area, they are particularly vulnerable to alterations in hydrology and chemistry. Fens in the Moodna Creek watershed are known to occur in the southwestern subbasins, including Black Meadow Creek basin, but their full distribution in the watershed is not known. Woodland pools are small, isolated wetlands that typically dry out annually. This subset of “vernal” pools occurs in depressions in forested landscapes, and usually has no inlet or outlet, and therefore does not support a fish community. As a result, woodland pools are excellent “nurseries” for developing amphibian eggs and larvae. In the Hudson Valley, they provide important breeding habitat for marbled salamander, Jefferson salamander, blue-spotted salamander, spotted salamander, wood frog, and fairy shrimp, and also are 16
Moodna Biodiversity L. Heady, 19 June 2008 DRAFT used as foraging habitat by turtles, snakes, frogs, wood ducks, bats, and other wildlife. Because of their small size and isolation, woodland pools lack Federal or State protection, and consequently are often overlooked, filled, or drained. In instances where pools receive local protection, the protected adjacent area or “buffer” is typically inadequate. In order to sustain populations of pool-breeding amphibians, substantial forested habitat in the surrounding area must be protected. Calhoun and Klemens (2002) recommend maintaining forested buffers of 750 feet around pools, with less than 25% development or disturbance in the forested zone. While Black Rock Forest is known to have many woodland pools, and pool locations were documented in MCA’s Southern Wallkill Biodiversity Plan (Miller et al. 2005), distribution of this habitat on private lands is relatively unknown or undocumented for the watershed and requires further study. Threats and Conservation Opportunities • Wetland habitat mapping. Watershed communities will be better equipped to make land-use decisions if higher-quality wetland maps are available. One method to obtain such information is to create town-scale wetland maps; although this process can be costly, volunteers can be engaged to assist with appropriate components (see below). These maps can be part of a comprehensive natural resource inventory (NRI), and can represent different wetland habitat types (e.g., hardwood swamp, emergent marsh, etc.); include wetlands of all sizes, with no minimum area; and designate zones with varying degrees of conservation need. In these zones, regulated buffer sizes could be adjusted to meet specific goals; for example, maintaining water quality in an urbanized area versus protecting important habitat for a rare species. In the absence of a town-scale map, at a minimum, NYS Freshwater Wetland (including 2008 amendments for Orange County), NWI, and hydric soil data can be compiled into a GIS project as a baseline that can eventually be enhanced by detailed remote sensing and field investigations. Wetland buffers of at least 150 ft (50 m) can be added as important adjacent area. When setting conservation priorities, special attention can be given to large wetland complexes, and clusters of small or medium size wetlands. Larger buffer sizes can be added if local conditions or conservation needs are known (e.g., forested buffers of 750 ft [250 m] are recommended for woodland pools.) • Citizen science. Citizen scientists and volunteers can be engaged in mapping of locallyimportant wetlands. For example, a partnership with the Hudson River Estuary Program can be pursued to develop a map of woodland pools in the watershed. In addition, biodiversity assessment training is available to municipalities from Hudsonia Ltd. on identification and mapping of ecologically-significant habitats; this habitat approach can be part of an NRI process. • Local ordinances. Municipalities can pursue creation of local wetland ordinances, to ensure that wetlands and buffer areas that are inadequately protected by existing state and federal regulations no longer fall through regulatory cracks. Such ordinances can ensure protection of important community resources, while assisting decision-making boards and landowners in identifying conservation priorities early in the planning process. • Amphibian and reptile habitat complexes. The Moodna watershed has an extremely rich diversity of amphibians and reptiles, many of which are increasingly rare. These species often require habitat complexes for survival, so maintaining landscape connectivity is extremely important. (Mitchell et al. 2006) For example, within New York, the imperiled northern cricket frog is known to migrate at least 750 ft (250 m) from 17
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Page 3 and 4: Moodna Biodiversity L. Heady, 19 Ju
Page 9 and 10: Figure 1. Ecological Communities of
Page 15 and 16: Figure 3. Analysis of Riparian Buff
Page 19: Moodna Biodiversity L. Heady, 19 Ju
Page 37 and 38: Appendix A. Flagship Species of the
Page 43 and 44: Appendix B. Birds of Conservation C
Page 45: Appendix C. Reptiles and Amphibians

Biodiversity of the Moodna Creek Watershed - Orange County Water ...

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