Wildlife Conservation on Golf Courses

Golf courses are not generally popular with wildlife managers. But SNRE Assistant Research Scientist Matt Goode is finding reasons to take a second look at their conservation potential. His work comparing Tiger Rattlesnakes at Stone Canyon Golf Course with those found in the surrounding desert has shown that snakes are actually more common on the course. Rattlesnakes on the golf course also grow faster, and reproduce more often than their off-course counterparts.

Goode traces this pattern to the irrigation of the course. More water means more plants in the rough, essentially creating a biologically rich riparian zone along the golf course. Increased vegetation leads to greater seed production, which in turn causes an increase in rodent populations. Rodents comprise 90% of a Tiger Rattlesnake's diet on the golf course, but only 40-60% of the species' diet off the course. The protein-rich diet of the golf course residents likely leads to their faster growth rates and more frequent reproduction.

SNRE Professor Courtney Conway has also taken a look at golf courses for their potential as habitat for burrowing owls. The birds typically nest in grasslands, and feed on small rodents. Placing artificial burrows in golf courses could be used to increase the population of this species in decline in North America.

So, what can be done with this information? Goode recommends connectivity within the course, using natural areas and rough around and between fairways. Seasonal ponds surrounded by unmowed vegetation are also a good way to maintain wildlife populations on the course. Conservation in compromised environments is on the rise, and SNRE scientists are taking the lead in understanding and managing these landscapes.

Progress To Date: Since 1997, we have radiotracked over 90 Tiger Rattlesnakes, captured and marked over 4,000 snakes (21 species), and observed thousands of lizards and amphibians during surveys on three golf courses and in surrounding intact desert areas. Recent research is focused on determining movement patterns of Gila monsters in response to features of the golf course.

Funding

1997 Urban Rattlesnakes: A Management Plan. Arizona Game and Fish Department Heritage Fund. With C. Schwalbe. ($74K)

1997 A Student-directed Environmental Education Program Based on Ongoing Research with Tiger Rattlesnakes. Arizona Game and Fish Department Heritage Fund. ($18K)

1998 Effects of Urban Development on Tiger Rattlesnakes Living at the Boundary of Saguaro National Park. Southwestern Parks and Monuments Association. ($24K)

2001 Effects of Urban Development on Herpetofauna. Arizona Game and Fish Department Heritage Fund. With Lisa Harris. ($76K)

2002 Interpretive Signage for Golf Courses. Vistoso Partners, LLC. With D. Caldwell. ($5K)

2003 Putting the Green in Golf: Research and Education. Arizona Game and Fish Department. With Michael Rosenzweig. ($79K)

2007 Promoting Coexistence of Reptiles on Golf Courses Through Research and Education. United States Golf Association Wildlife Links Program/National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. ($60K)

Publications:

Smith, J.J., Goode, M., and Amarello, M.A. In Press. Individual-, population-, and community-level effects of golf courses on Sonoran Desert lizards. In: Urban Herpetology. Eds., J. Mitchell and R. Jung. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Herpetological Conservation, Volume 3.

Goode, M., J.J. Smith, and M. Amarello. 2008. Seasonal and Annual Variation in Home Range and Movements of Tiger Rattlesnakes in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona. In: The Biology of the Rattlesnakes. Eds., W.K. Hayes, K.R. Beaman, M.D. Cardwell, and S.P. Bush. Loma Linda University Press, Loma Linda, California.

Goode M.J., and Wall, M. 2002. Rattlesnakes and Urban Development: A Management Plan. Final Report to Arizona Game and Fish Heritage Fund.

Goode, M.J., Smith, J., Amarello, M., Setser, K., and Favour, N. 2003. Effects of Urban Development on Herpetofauna. Final Report to Arizona Game and Fish Department.

Key Collaborators: Mickey Parker, Wildlife Biologist; Rachelle Baker, Undergraduate Research Assistant; Dale DeNardo, Associate Professor, Arizona State University; Mike Rosenzweig, Professor, UA

References:

Cohn, J.P. 2008. Wildlife Scores on Golf Courses. BioScience 58(6): 568.

Pearce, F. 1993. How green is your golf? New Scientist. 139:30-35.

Rosenzweig, M.L. In Press. Win-Win Ecology: how Earth's species can survive in the midst of human enterprise. Oxford University Press.

Tietge, R.M. 1992. Wildlife and golf courses. In Balogh, J.C. and Walker, W.J. Golf Course Management and Construction, pp.441-478. Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, Fl.

Terman, M.R. 1997. Natural links: naturalistic golf courses as wildlife habitat. Landscape and Urban Planning. 38:183-197.

Tobin, B., and B. Taylor. 1996. Golf and wildlife. British Wildlife. 7:137-146.