This message was originally sent to the list serve for activists
that enjoy and protect butterflies and other insects. I am sending
it to assist in responding to questions about how climate change
relates to management and restoration of natural areas. Technical
details I believe are important for more realistic benefits to our
natural areas. For example recent fires in California were caused
by heavy rain during the growing season followed by severe drought
but the primary cause was that 2/3 of the victims moved to fire
prone areas that we in the conservation movement had recommended
be set aside as parks (with some success) to avoid such a disaster.
Cheers.

Marc

-----Original Message-----
From: VA-MD-DE-Bugs AT yahoogroups.com
[mailto:VA-MD-DE-Bugs AT yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Harry Pavulaan
Sent: Wednesday, November 07, 2007 8:57 AM
To: VA-MD-DE-Bugs AT yahoogroups.com
Subject: [VA-MD-DE-Bugs] RE: Natural Areas and Climate Change?

All:

regarding:


Climate Action at the Park

Help Swann Park survive global warming and climate change.


Not to engage in debate, but I seriously do not think that invasive plant
species are at any advantage over our native species simply due to "global
warming", if that's what's being implied. Most of our non-native invasives
are of Eurasian origin and are well adapted to cold-temperate climates such
as our own. Let's give these plants the credit they deserve. They are
themselves hardy competitors and are better adapted here because factors
which keep them under control in their own native lands are not present
here. Perhaps the invasives are just as susceptible to climate change.

The New York City metro area, where I grew up, was ground zero for invasive
species since I was a kid. As I remember, winters were quite severe in the
60's, summers nowhere nearly as hot as down here in D.C., yet Japanese
Honeysuckles and English Ivy covered every bit of forest edge from ground to
canopy (ah, the sweet smell of summer). Though Ailanthus filled every
vacant space, I never did find Ailanthus Silk Moths. Fields were thick with
Cresses, Mustards, Dandelions, English Plantain and other species of
Eurasian origin and I doubt many of the plants that I trampled in search of
bugs and snakes were of native origin. We never heard of global warming
back then. We need to control invasives because our native ecosystem just
can't do the job by itself. Just a different view.

Harry



Hi Harry,


I agree with all of your comments. To educate the new enormous force
of young folks that are working on climate change about nature, I have
joined the core of naturalists that are treating the global warming
movement as a stepping stone to the larger conservation movement for
these newcomers. As bad as the non-native vines are they are even
worse with global warming. Also, invasive species tend to be
generalists, as opposed to specialists and climate change creates
disturbed habitats generalists are more adapted to.

But I agree, climate change is only a small part of the cause of
invasive species problems.

Following are some general thoughts I have.

Should we just work on removing the causes of global warming and
climate change or should we recognize that we may not be able to stop
all global warming and thus should also ameliorate the effects.

For example, providing wildlife migration corridors is one way to
adapt to climate change. Species of plant and animal life live in a
shifting mosaic pattern and thus need migration corridors (a minimum
of 1600 feet wide) to adapt to storms, diseases, hydrological changes
and the changes in climate even with out global warming. Without the
ability to move through what are now cities, highways and farms about
half the 1,000 species that typically reside in a natural area of 100
acres become extirpated over a period of about 5 decades. The Nature
Conservancy made this issue of forest fragmentation one of their top
issues a few decades ago before global warming. The state of
Maryland's DNR Green Print Program is based on this issue and has
identified high priority corridors and hubs to preserve with Program
Open Space. Climate change caused by Man has increased this problem
significantly.

Likewise the great increase in wildfires occurred several decades ago
because of forest fire suppression which resulted in crown fires
rather than normal fires. Good management is to have prescribed
burning in longleaf pine wiregrass ecosystems in the southeast and
Ponderosa Pine, Gamble Oak ecosystems in the West where fire is a
natural component of the ecosystem. The non-native invasive cheat
grass, which benefits from fire by growing much more rapidly, causes
much, much more frequent and larger fires. The four governors
finally get it this year and are asking congress to appropriate funds
to remove cheat grass. We have been telling them this for ten years
just as we told New Orleans that the preservation of the wetlands to
control hurricanes was necessary to prevent a storm such as Katrina
from destroying the city. I really do wish people would listen to our
scientists. Global warming has made the existing serious problems
significantly worse.

A complex native ecosystem of at least 16 species of trees, shrubs and
ground cover works many times better than trees alone in controlling
global warming and storm water run off. At Camp Guernsey, Wyoming, for
example I funded (as the natural resources manager of the Army
National Guard) such a restoration project for erosion control because
of the studies that showed the contributions of the individual species
to the total root structure at different depths in the ground.

Global warming has significantly exacerbated the problem of invasive
species, as well as water pollution, but is, of course, not the
primary cause. Again, shall we adapt to global warming and climate
change by reversing the effects or should we only try to reduce it
with education and legislation? Should global warming and climate
change be an avenue to work on a variety of environmental problems?

Unfortunately I remember in the early 1970's shortly after Earth Day,
Acid Rain was the subject of about half of the media coverage of
environment in newspapers, radio and television for about 2 years.
Then a widely viewed program (something like 60 minutes) debunked acid
rain and said it was all a fake. After that the media coverage of acid
rain stopped abruptly and environmental coverage in general dropped
greatly. Actually acid rain is a very, very, serious air pollution and
water pollution problem along the Blue Ridge and in up state New York
where there is little calcium buffering capacity. It is an important
problem elsewhere. The program was wrong and media coverage of acid
rain went from one extreme to the other extreme. It should not have
received half the media attention. One tenth, or even one fifth, would
have been more appropriate.

So let us cover climate change as a very important issues in it's own
right but also utilize it as an introduction to the other related
environmental issues. Cheers.

Marc Imlay PhD
Conservation biologist, Anacostia Watershed Society


Climate Action at the Park

Help Swann Park survive global warming and climate change. Saturday,
November 10, 1-4 pm. Rescue native plants from non-native invasive plants,
remove trash, participate in water quality sampling and hear introductory
talks about climate action.
On Saturday, November 10, we will walk through Swann Park in Charles
County, look for and remove invasive plants, identify and appreciate the
native plants and animals we have rescued, bag trash we come across, and
participate in water quality sampling on the wetlands meadow tributary to
the Mattawoman Creek in Swann Park.

Participating organizations with speakers include Maryland Native Plant
Society www.mdflora.org , Sierra Club, http://maryland.sierraclub.org and
Chesapeake Climate Action Network www.chesapeakeclimate.org .

Starting in 1999 volunteers have removed almost all of the English Ivy,
Japanese Stilt Grass, Chinese Privett, Swedish Ivy, Asiatic Bittersweet,
Japanese Knotweed, Japanese Honeysuckle and other plants from Europe and
Asia to rescue native violets, ferns, orchids, asters, St. Andrew’s Cross
and other native American plants that contribute to global biological
diversity. These native plants provide ecosystem services that reduce CO2
emissions and storm water and nitrogen runoff to the Chesapeake Bay.
Invasive species, especially vines, generally can survive the new climate
better.

Directions: Meet at the Ruth B. Swann Park-Potomac Branch Library parking
lot, 20 miles south of Washington Beltway (I-495) on Rt. 210 (Indian Head
Hwy), about a mile and a half south from the traffic light on Rt. 2l0 in
Bryans Road .Give yourself 30 to 40 minutes from the Beltway. Casual
clothing, long sleeves and pants, sturdy comfortable walking boots/shoes,
gloves are encouraged for these events.

Contact: Marc Imlay 301-283-0808.

PhD Conservation biologist, Anacostia Watershed Society
(301-699-6204, 301-283-0808 301-442-5657 cell)


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