April 2020 - Parks & Recreation - 41

of these factors link to climate
change conditions.
The greatest threats in the eastern United States, which is the area
of North America with the greatest number of species of fireflies,
involve habitat destruction. " The
loss of firefly habitat occurs mainly
through urbanization and commercial and residential development, "
the report states.
Artificial light at night, called
ALAN, is a major form of manmade light pollution and the
second-most serious threat to fireflies.
Because most firefly species depend
on flash dialogues between the male
and female for courtship, light pollution interferes with mating success.
Pesticide use, ranked as the thirdmost serious threat, is also the least
understood cause of the decline
of fireflies. There are few comprehensive studies investigating the
impacts of insecticides and herbicides on the larval and adult forms
of fireflies. Candace Fallon, senior
conservation biologist for the Xerces Society, says that there are few
firefly-monitoring programs in the
United States. " There are so many
holes in our knowledge, " she says.
" There is a lot we don't know. "

Parks Can Help
Save Fireﬂies
In interviewing several firefly experts for this article, there was one
thing they all agreed on: Parks
may be one of the best ways to
contribute to firefly conservation.
Emeritus professor of entomology Larry Buschman of Kansas
State University, the author of
Field Guide to Western North American Fireflies, says, " People love to
visit where fireflies are. They are
a charismatic species of wildlife.
When people get out to appreciate
and value fireflies in parks, then

we can get conservation going.
And when we do, we can help educate the public as well. "
Fallon agrees. " Fireflies are in
trouble, " she says. " They need conservation. Parks have a lot of opportunity to conserve fireflies. The
greatest threat to fireflies is loss of
habitat and degradation of existing
habitat. The most important thing
we can do to conserve fireflies is to
protect and restore habitat. "
Some park agencies already are
working to conserve fireflies and
educate the public about them.
Katrina Arnold of Five Rivers
MetroParks in Dayton, Ohio, says
they have an extensive program for
families that engages children and
youth in firefly education and conservation. Their free program, funded by the Cox Arboretum Foundation, is offered to kids ages 3 to
13. The program has three phases,
beginning with the Discover level. It
progresses to the Act level, in which
kids participate in Firefly Watch, a
citizen science program. The third
level, Share, is designed to get kids
excited about conservation in an
active way " without feeling nerdy, "
according to Arnold. They are encouraged to come back to the program, talk to other kids about what
they learned and share their stories.
The agency has received great feedback from participating families for
this innovative program.
Bill Hagenbuck, senior park
naturalist at Martin Park Nature Center in Oklahoma City,
says they used to offer very wellattended firefly hikes in June and July
each year, but in recent years, they
had to stop because there was a sharp
decline in firefly numbers. The 144acre park, which features a nature
center, was an old dairy farm with a
variety of habitats, including a mix
of open meadows and forested areas.

Five Things You Can
Do to Make Your
Parks More
Fireﬂy Friendly

1
2
3
4
5

Mow grasslands and meadow
habitat in rotational strips or a
mosaic pattern. (This is great
for pollinators, too.)
Create more meadows and
more edge habitat. Leave a
grass buﬀer strip around
forest edges.
Try to create more moisture
year-round, if possible. Plant
green infrastructure areas with
pollinators and ﬁreﬂies in mind.
Leave forested areas natural.
Allow more leaf litter and leave
downed trees in place.

Evaluate your outdoor lighting
and reduce light-spread, if
possible, in high-quality
habitat areas.

" It seems it would be just about [an]
ideal habitat for fireflies, " Hagenbuck
says. However, the park has become
" an encapsulated oasis in the city. "
Today, a turnpike, apartment buildings, a large medical building and a
residential neighborhood surround
the park. Hagenbuck says they hope
to restore fireflies to the park by increasing quality habitats for them.
One method they are trying includes
prescribed burns to eradicate Johnson grass, a noxious weed that has
taken over some of the grasslands
in the park. " We are hoping to bring
back our firefly programs, " he says.
" They were extremely popular and
maxed out every time we offered
them. People just don't get a chance
to do something like that anymore. "
In Arlington County, Virginia,
however, it is another story, accord-

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April 2020 - Parks & Recreation

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