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

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Moodna Biodiversity L. Heady, 19 June 2008 DRAFT Cliffs and Caves The ridges of the Moodna Creek watershed generally follow a northeast-southwest configuration, with the steep slopes of the Hudson Highlands and Schunnemunk Mountain most prominent in the southeast portion of the watershed. Also reaching higher elevations are the foothills of the Highlands, including Woodcock Hill, Goose Pond Mountain, and Sugarloaf Mountain. At its most southern point, the watershed captures the northern end of Bellvale Mountain. These rocky slopes are favorite destinations for hikers and birdwatchers, and while their summits offer incredible views of surrounding valleys, they themselves are important features of local scenery. Habitats and Wildlife of Cliffs and Caves. These mountains and ridges create an array of habitats and natural communities that are not found in other parts of the watershed, including outcrops, ledges, acidic talus slopes, rocky summit grassland, and pitch pine-oak-heath rocky summit. The plants and animals that use these habitats are adapted to the thin soils, and somewhat exposed, harsh conditions. Rare plants such as green rock-cress (NYS Threatened) and violet wood-sorrel (NYS Threatened) have been documented in ridge habitats in the watershed, along with a number of rare dragonflies, butterflies, and moths like pine barrens underwing (NYS Special Concern). Worm-eating warbler is a documented breeder in the ridges of the watershed, where it likely favors the steep, forested slopes for nesting. Other species that may inhabit rocky ridges in the watershed include five-lined skink, slimy salamander, peregrine falcon, porcupine, and bobcat, and many songbirds and raptors use the ridges of the Highlands as migratory corridors. Snakes are most often associated with rocky cliffs, and the ridges of the Moodna watershed indeed support populations of species like timber rattlesnake (NYS Threatened), northern copperhead, black rat snake, and eastern racer. While rocky habitats on south and southeast facing slopes provide den and basking sites, these species use forests and some wetland habitats for other life needs, and require connected landscapes in order to move from one habitat to the next. (See Appendix A.) Eastern racer and black rat snake may travel 600 ft (190 m) or more to forage, bask, breed, nest, and hibernate, and copperhead and timber rattlesnake have even larger home ranges, traveling distances of 3300-7900 ft (1000-2400 m) (Hartwig and Stevens 2007). The Bull Mine in Satterly Creek basin supports a bat hibernacula, used by eastern small-footed myotis (NYS Special Concern) and Indiana bat (NYS Endangered). (See Appendix A.) Human disturbance while the bats are overwintering is a serious threat, particularly now after tens of thousands of hibernating bats died in the Northeast in winter 2007-08 for unknown reasons. Bats play a very important role in the ecosystem, with one individual bat consuming as many as 3,000 flying insects each night during the summer. This group of mammals deserves special conservation consideration. Threats and Conservation Opportunities • Rocky habitat “islands.” The Moodna watershed is fortunate that many of its major ridges are protected as parks or preserves. However, unless these areas can have landscape connections to other surrounding habitats, they will essentially become isolated “islands” that will lose function and resiliency as ecosystems. Such fragmentation cannot support wildlife species that require multiple habitats to survive, or that travel great 20
Moodna Biodiversity L. Heady, 19 June 2008 DRAFT distances. Opportunities to identify and conserve natural areas between and/or around these rocky summits should be pursued, such as the biodiversity areas identified by MCA surrounding Goose Pond Mountain (Miller et al. 2005). • Recreation impacts. While the protected status of the prominent ridges reduces the threat of development, such as cell tower construction, there remains an element of disturbance from recreational activities like hiking and ATV use. Good trail systems, signage, and visitor education can help prevent trampling of fragile plant communities, disturbance of nesting birds, erosion of steep slopes, and overall habitat degradation. Trails should steer visitors away from the most ecologically-sensitive areas, while still providing positive experiences to enjoy nature and the scenic beauty of the watershed. New York/New Jersey Trail Conference is a likely partner for trail-related planning. • Snake conservation. In addition to habitat fragmentation (see above), the decline in snake populations in New York can be attributed to illegal collection for the pet trade. Specific den locations and other sensitive information should not be publicized unless essential for conservation of the population. • Bat conservation. Current use of Bull Mine for exploration and caving should be assessed to determine whether bat populations are being impacted. If so, visits to the Bull Mine should be discouraged, particularly in winter, to conserve bat overwintering habitat. If visitation or disturbance to the bat colony is considered a serious problem, then closures or restrictions may be advisable. Researchers are still uncertain what role white-nose syndrome has played in the recent deaths of bats in the Northeast, but the US Fish and Wildlife Service website has posted precautionary recommendations to avoid spreading the fungus. Cores, Connections, and Landscape Perspective Analysis of biodiversity resources at the watershed scale enables residents, planners, and conservation leaders to recognize patterns across the larger landscape, and to see the “big picture” that is often left out of the traditional site-plan review process. Whereas the latter is influenced by zoning districts, setback requirements, Department of Health approvals, location of infrastructure, and similar concerns, it often fails to consider how whole communities are developing, and where important biological resources are positioned on the landscape. Streams, ridges, wetlands, and other habitats, like the wildlife they support, are not influenced by political boundaries or municipal codes. However, they can suffer greatly from misguided or uninformed land-use planning. The Moodna Creek Watershed Plan offers an opportunity for municipalities to identify their individual and shared resources, set priorities, and create new approaches for planning with a more comprehensive perspective. Cores To plan for conservation and future development on the watershed scale, it’s useful to know where important biodiversity “cores” are, and what lands are suitable for providing “connections” between them. The map in Figure 4 includes data layers from various conservation organizations that have identified or documented important resources. Planning for biodiversity at the watershed level, and the local level for that matter, would be much simpler if exhaustive survey data and widespread habitat mapping were available throughout the region. Unfortunately, such comprehensive resource information is rarely available for large areas, so 21
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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 23: 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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