U.S. Golf Courses' Ecosystems Health Better Than Predicted, MU Researcher Finds

The 2014 Masters Tournament is the 78th edition of this event and the first of golf’s four major championships to be held this year. Currently, there are more than 18,300 golf courses in the U.S. covering over 2.7 million acres and popular opinion suggests that environmentally, golf courses have a negative impact on ecosystems. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri are studying salamanders as a means of determining ecosystem health on golf courses and have determined that they can offer a viable habitat.

“If you look at the literature on golf courses, historically they get a lot of bad publicity,” said Ray Semlitsch, Curators Professor of Biological Sciences in the College of Arts and Science at MU. “It’s always been thought that course managers not only clear the land, but they add a lot of chemicals to the environment. In terms of maintaining the turf of the golf course, managers use herbicides, insecticides, pesticides and fertilizers. We went into the research study thinking these things were going to be really toxic and really bad to the salamanders. What we found was quite the opposite—golf courses can actually provide a wonderful habitat for salamanders and other organisms where they can survive and thrive.”

Ocoee salamander - image courtesy University of Missouri

Black Bellied salamander - image courtesy University of Missouri

The study was conducted on 10 golf courses in the southern Appalachian region of western North Carolina. All courses were within a 30-mile radius of the Highlands Biological Station. Sampling focused on both larvae and adult salamanders in streams that crossed fairways within the golf courses. Water samples were also analyzed for chemicals and adverse substances that might be detrimental to the salamanders located on the courses.

“We have this image of pristine and highly manicured fairways such as the ones we see in Augusta, or at Pebble Beach,” Semlitsch said. “However, our research suggests a more natural course that includes streams with leaf litter, sticks and twigs that offer a natural habitat for different species is preferred. Turf and golf course managers are taking note of these practices, and it is making a real ecological difference.”

A link to the full press release can be found here:  Salamanders Help Predict Health of Ecosystems on U.S. Golf Courses, MU Researchers Find

Article contacts:
Jeff Sossamon, sossamonj@missouri.edu 573-882-3346  
Melody Kroll , krollmm@missouri.edu 573-884-4144