Get Outside! PCA Hosts Meadow Walk with the Hawthorne Valley Farmscape Ecology Program

It was a beautiful July afternoon in Gallatin, New York when Claudia Knab-Vispo and Kyle Bradford arrived for a scouting walk in the meadow where they’d be leading a walk later that evening. The site, a family-owned property managed by Eli Arnow and Avalon Bunge, is in the process of being converted to a native biodiversity hotspot. After two years without mowers in the fields, native plants were evident in every direction, and bees and butterflies floated among them.

A spicebush swallowtail butterfly (Papilio troilus) collecting nectar from swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)

One of the first plant-pollinator pairings that Knab-Vispo and Bradford spotted was a pink-and-yellow primrose moth (Schinia florida), resting atop a flowering evening primrose (Oenothera biennis), the host plant for its caterpillars. “Now it just needs to stay put for the next two hours so everyone can see it!” laughed Bradford. 

The meadow tour’s 25 participants arrived shortly, and the Farmscape Ecology team guided them through fields of native flowers like goldenrods (six different species of Solidago!), narrow-leaved mountain mint (Pycnanthemum tenuifolium), and milkweeds (Asclepias species), interspersed with native grasses like little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium). As a former orchard whose last fruit trees were removed about 20 years ago, the site’s fields had never been plowed or grazed, allowing biodiversity to persist. Today, the owners are employing techniques like mowing in late winter when plants are dormant, leaving 2-3 years between mowing cycles, and aggressively managing hungry white-tailed deer to encourage the spread of native plants that benefit pollinators, birds and the larger ecosystem. 

Meadow walk participants on the lookout for insects among the plants at their feet

“So often when we talk about climate change the focus is on carbon alone, but we really have a parallel crisis unfolding, and that’s biodiversity loss,” said Eli Arnow. “Intact biodiversity is the primary tool we have to face the climate crisis and create resilience in our natural landscapes, and that’s what we’re working towards here.” 

The Farmscape Ecology team shared ID techniques for common native plant species and insects, and noted the importance of “specialist” relationships between some native plants and pollinators. For example, Monarch butterfly caterpillars are only able to develop on milkweed, while little bluestem grass is a critical host plant for a variety of skipper butterflies. Some of our native bees are also pollen specialists, meaning they’re only able to collect pollen from certain flowers.

Kyle Bradford collected bees throughout the walk for participants to view and identify.

“When we look at the future of these plants and insects under climate change, it’s the specialists who might be in trouble sooner, since they aren’t able to adapt as quickly to shifting conditions,” said Knab-Vispo. That’s just one reason why conserving native plants and their habitats is so important to a diverse, resilient future.

A participant examines a stand of goldenrod with abundant “goldenrod rosette galls” (clusters of small leaves at the top of some plants). Inside each gall is the larva of a tiny fly, the gall midge (Rhopalomyia solidaginis), which will overwinter in the gall and emerge next spring. Mowing fields in summer or fall destroys these tiny insect homes along with the flowering potential of the plants. 

Despite the heat (and occasional poison ivy), the leisurely stroll through the meadows was enjoyed by all. Joshua Cohen, Community Director at Partners for Climate Action, said “A walk in any natural area with the Farmscape Ecology Program team is not to be missed - there’s so much to see and learn every time. It’s been such a pleasure to partner with FEP for this event.”

Claudia Knab-Vispo demonstrates identification techniques for the Hudson Valley’s four major species of “old field” goldenrods (from left to right): grass-leaved goldenrod (Euthamia graminifolia), tall (often referred to as “Canada”) goldenrod (Solidago altissima), smooth goldenrod (S. gigantea), and wrinkle-leaved goldenrod (S. rugosa); the dried goldenrod stalk on the right had formed a goldenrod ball gall in which the tiny goldenrod gall fly (Eurosta solidaginis) developed over the winter.

There was one special surprise left to discover. At the top of the field, just before turning for home, the group arrived at the evening primrose that Knab-Vispo and Bradford had noticed on their scouting walk. Sure enough, two hours later the primrose moth was still there, displaying its beautiful colors for all to see.

Primrose moth (adult) on evening primrose flower. This moth lays its eggs into the flower buds and the caterpillar feeds on the undeveloped flower inside.

Learn more about Hawthorne Valley Farmscape Ecology Program View Upcoming Events at PCA