Before agriculture transformed northcentral Iowa, the landscape and its 1000’s of wetlands
were awash with waterfowl, marsh birds, fur-bearing mammals, and…amphibians. As Iowa was settled, though, the drainage of those wetlands reduced amphibian populations to only a tiny fraction of what they once were. But, over the last 30 years, Winnebago County has become a national leader in wetland restoration.
So, how have amphibians responded to the sudden appearance of restored wetlands? How
quickly do they colonize newly-restored wetlands? How do they navigate the row-crop, agricultural landscape to find new wetlands? And, why are amphibians even important in the first place? Well, over 15 years of research has provided answers to these and other questions.
Much of that research has been conducted by Dr. Paul Bartelt, former head of the Biology
Department at Waldorf University. On Saturday, May 18th, he will be presenting a program entitled Amphibians and Agriculture…It Can be Tough to be Green at the Hanson Nature Center, beginning at 1:00 PM, and lasting about an hour. The nature center is located at 41600 Highway 69, Leland, and the talk will be sponsored by the Winnebago County Conservation Board.
During his presentation, Dr. Bartelt will discuss his research and what he discovered about the resilience of our amphibians here in ag country. His research focused on restored wetlands, whether or not amphibians were able to find and populate these new areas and, if so, how quickly they were able to do it. The talk will be free of charge and it will be open to the public. Handouts will also be available for anyone wishing to learn more about how they can help out these important animals.
For more information about Dr. Bartelt’s talk, people can contact Winnebago County Naturalist Lisa Ralls at either [email protected] or at 641-567-3390.
