FRY FARM IN RICHFIELD, OHIO
HABITAT 5
FORESTS

tile under Interstate 271 I-271   ephemeral pond
Young Maple and Oak Forest
  
Forest Adjacent to Spring

 

As previously noted, amphibian habitats can be divided into into terrestrial and aquatic. 1) Forests are terrestrial habitats dominated by trees and other woody plants. 2) They are important for a wide variety of salamanders, toads and frogs during that part of the year when they leave the breeding habitats of streams and ponds. 3)

Salamanders, for example, tend to do their hunting and mating journey across the forest floor during cool, wet nights of spring. During the day, and in the hot summer months, they are safely housed in crevices and small tunnels underground, although they are also found under leaf litter, logs and flat stones. 4)

Recognizing that most amphibians live part of their life cycles in both aquatic and terrestrial habitats: ". . . it isn't sufficient to protect just one habitat type for a species to ensure its survival." 5)

  

In other words, preserving just a spring or stream, without preserving the adjacent woods, will not result in an effective conservation plan.

On the Fry Farm, forest areas include old growth around the springs; new growth on fence lines or previously farmed areas; Scotch and Austrian Pine originally planted for Christmas tree sales; and a large area more recently farmed for hay, but now dominated by invasive species of woody plants.

Typical forest trees in the old and new growth areas include Maple and Cherry, together with smaller numbers of Oak, Beech, Hickory and Tulip. Interestingly, a sole Tamarack Tree stood on the edge of the spring, but died as a very old tree 10 to 15 years ago.

With the exception of the American Toad found in the wooded area near the ephemeral pond, cataloging these species on the Fry Farm has not yet begun.

 

Conservation

The area between between the West and Middle Branches of the Upper North Fork of Yellow Creek is a potentially important forest habitat, but is now dominated by Autumn Olive and Multi-Flora Rose, both originally planted for conservation purposes, but now spread widely by birds and small mammals.

In addition to removing Autumn Olive and Multi-Flora Rose wherever they are found, it is critical to extirpate those species in the area between the West and Middle Branches of the Upper North Fork of Yellow Creek, and replant with native species such as Tulip, Maple and Oak.

Replanting Tamarack Trees near the area where one once flourished is a second conservation goal that should be pursued.



1. "Amphibians of Ohio," Ohio Biological Survey, Inc. (2013) p. 33.

2. "Amphibians of Ohio," p. 35.

 

2. "Amphibians of Ohio," p. 33.

4. "Amphibians of Ohio," p. 64.

 

5. "Amphibians of Ohio," p. 33.