HomeMy WebLinkAbout20231004 3376 S Broadway Treehouse Site Plan T & E Report
Threatened and Endangered Species
Habitat Suitability Assessment Report
Route 9 Site (Former Driving Range)
Route 9
Town of Saratoga
Saratoga County, NY
September 29, 2023
Prepared by:
Michael Nowicki
Ecological Solutions, LLC
121 Leon Stocker Drive
Stratton, VT 05360
(203) 910-4716
Threatened and Endangered Species Habitat Assessment Report
Route 9 (Former Driving Range) Site - Town of Saratoga Page 2
1.0 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 3
TABLE 1 COVER TYPES IDENTIFIED ON THE SITE ...................................................................... 3
2.0 HABITAT SUITABILITY ASSESSMENT/CONCLUSION ....................................................................... 4
2.1 Karner blue butterfly .......................................................................................................................... 4
2.2 Frosted elfin ....................................................................................................................................... 5
3.0 PHOTOGRAPHS ..................................................................................................................................... 6
Figure 1 Location Map .................................................................................................................... 9
Figure 2 Soil Map .......................................................................................................................... 10
Threatened and Endangered Species Habitat Assessment Report
Route 9 (Former Driving Range) Site - Town of Saratoga Page 3
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Ecological Solutions, LLC completed a threatened and endangered species habitat suitability assessment
on the Route 9 (Former Driving Range) project site consisting of 10.91(+-) acres in the Town of Saratoga,
Saratoga County, New York (Figure 1). The site consists of open meadow, mixed hardwood forest fringe
and wetland at the rear of the site.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) Environmental Assessment
Form Mapper indicates that the karner blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis) and frosted elfin
(Callophrys irus) are threatened and endangered species potentially located on or in the vicinity of the site.
This assessment was completed to determine if suitable habitat exists on the site for these species.
Habitat was observed on the site on September 25, 2023 and is listed in Table 1.
TABLE 1
COVER TYPES IDENTIFIED ON THE SITE
NO. DESCRIPTION
1 Open Meadow
2 Mixed Upland Forest
3 Wetland
Threatened and Endangered Species Habitat Assessment Report
Route 9 (Former Driving Range) Site - Town of Saratoga Page 4
2.0 HABITAT SUITABILITY ASSESSMENT/CONCLUSION
2.1 Karner blue butterfly
In New York, the karner blue butterfly is found in certain parts of the Hudson Valley sand belt which
extends from the Albany Pine Bush north to the Glens Falls area. Within its range, this species is restricted
to dry sandy areas with open woods and clearings supporting wild blue lupine. This type of habitat is
usually associated with pitch pine/scrub oak or oak savannah communities that are maintained by fire at
an early stage of plant succession.1 Lupines can occur in power line rights-of-ways and utility corridors,
military installations, forest trails, and other open areas that are maintained as early successional
landscapes. Without natural or artificial disturbance, savanna and barrens communities yield to shrubs or
forests. Lupines in shaded habitats may survive, but usually with poor vigor and without flowering.
Eventually, the lupines are shaded out, making the site unsuitable for Karner blues.
Karner blue caterpillars feed only on the leaves of the wild lupine plant. Adults feed on the nectar of
flowering plants. This severely restricts where they can survive. The Karner blue butterfly usually has two
generations, and thus two hatches, each year. In April, the first group of caterpillars hatch from eggs that
were laid the previous year. The caterpillars feed only on wild lupine plant leaves. By about mid-May, the
caterpillars pupate and adult butterflies emerge from their cocoon-like chrysalis by the end of May or in
early June. These adults mate, laying their eggs in June on or near wild lupine plants. The eggs hatch in
about one week and the caterpillars feed for about three weeks. They then pupate and the summer's
second generation of adult butterflies appears in July. These adults mate and lay eggs that will not hatch
until the following spring.
Conclusion - Wild lupine on which karner blue butterflies rely is a perennial plant with pink to blue flowers.
It is found primarily on dry, sandy soils in open to partially shaded habitats. Many of the areas where the
lupine grows are oak savanna and pine barrens plant communities. The most common trees are the jack
pine, red pine, pitch pine, blackjack oak, and scrub oak; a scattering of larger oaks is not unusual. The
understory includes grasses, sedges, and forbs, many of them common in dry prairies .
The subject site does contain this habitat type and although no wild lupine was observed to serve as host
plants for larvae other secondary nectaries are prevalent on the site for feeding by adults.
1https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7118.html#:~:text=In%20New%20York%2C%20the%20butterfly,clearings%20supporting%20wil
d%20blue%20lupine.
Threatened and Endangered Species Habitat Assessment Report
Route 9 (Former Driving Range) Site - Town of Saratoga Page 5
2.2 Frosted elfin
This species is often associated with remnant pine barrens, oak savannas, or dry oak forest. The race of
Frosted Elfin in Wilton is one that feeds mostly on the flowers or seed pods of wild lupine (Lupinus
perennis). The key habitat feature is an abundance of the foodplant or many moderate-sized patches of
the foodplant within a few hundred acres or more. Frosted elfin are not likely to be found in stands of
foodplants that have been isolated for a long period of time. This species nearly always occurs in clusters
of populations that function as metapopulations and small habitat patches may be unoccupied in some
years.
Conclusion - Similar to the karner blue butterfly the frosted elfin utilizes and relies upon wild blue lupine
which were not observed on the site. However other plants are food sources for this species.
Threatened and Endangered Species Habitat Assessment Report
Route 9 (Former Driving Range) Site - Town of Saratoga Page 6
3.0 PHOTOGRAPHS
Uplands at center of the site.
Threatened and Endangered Species Habitat Assessment Report
Route 9 (Former Driving Range) Site - Town of Saratoga Page 7
Typical habitat on the site.
Threatened and Endangered Species Habitat Assessment Report
Route 9 (Former Driving Range) Site - Town of Saratoga Page 8
Typical habitat on the site.
Threatened and Endangered Species Habitat Assessment Report
Route 9 (Former Driving Range) Site - Town of Saratoga Page 9
Figure 1 Location Map
Threatened and Endangered Species Habitat Assessment Report
Route 9 (Former Driving Range) Site - Town of Saratoga Page 10
Figure 2 Soil Map