Question for the MyWoodlot Team:
I just read your excellent email article about vernal breeding pools for salamanders and wood frogs. Thank you!
This year we moved to our new property that is surrounded with vernal pools and a 1-acre pond, and we have been hearing the wood frogs all day and night the past couple of weeks. It’s a joy to listen to them.
We also have a small concrete pond filled with leaf litter where we see adult frogs and a turtle, but we’re not hearing the wood frogs there. We are hesitant to clean out any of the leaf litter, since it may be important to the habitat. Can you advise us on this? Should we just let the leaves stay, or will their decomposition eventually hurt the frogs?
Thank you for your help,
G.
I just read your excellent email article about vernal breeding pools for salamanders and wood frogs. Thank you!
This year we moved to our new property that is surrounded with vernal pools and a 1-acre pond, and we have been hearing the wood frogs all day and night the past couple of weeks. It’s a joy to listen to them.
We also have a small concrete pond filled with leaf litter where we see adult frogs and a turtle, but we’re not hearing the wood frogs there. We are hesitant to clean out any of the leaf litter, since it may be important to the habitat. Can you advise us on this? Should we just let the leaves stay, or will their decomposition eventually hurt the frogs?
Thank you for your help,
G.
We reached out to Audrey Kropp of Cornell Cooperative Extension Columbia and Greene Counties for some insight. She said:
Hi G.,
Your instinct about the habitat value of the leaves is spot on. Leaf litter naturally accumulates in woodland pools providing a variety of functions. It serves as important daytime cover and helps retain moisture in dry periods. The leaves also serve as habitat for the invertebrates frogs and salamanders eat. In this man-made pool, the leaves are providing natural substrate and may actually help create a more suitable environment for amphibian breeding as well as habitat. There is not a concern for harm from decomposition, so I would advise leaving the leaves, which will likely enhance biodiversity and habitat quality. Thanks for your question and thoughtfulness.
Best,
Audrey
Hi G.,
Your instinct about the habitat value of the leaves is spot on. Leaf litter naturally accumulates in woodland pools providing a variety of functions. It serves as important daytime cover and helps retain moisture in dry periods. The leaves also serve as habitat for the invertebrates frogs and salamanders eat. In this man-made pool, the leaves are providing natural substrate and may actually help create a more suitable environment for amphibian breeding as well as habitat. There is not a concern for harm from decomposition, so I would advise leaving the leaves, which will likely enhance biodiversity and habitat quality. Thanks for your question and thoughtfulness.
Best,
Audrey
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