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Think Cutting Back Forests for Power Lines in Connecticut Is Always Bad? Think Again.

Patrick Skahill / WNPR
Ken Metzler, left, with David Wagner at a power line corridor in South Windsor. The pair co-authored a paper on how power lines impact plant and animal life.
Researchers documented more than 300 plant species underneath power lines -- twice the number found in forests.

When you think of environmentally beneficial landscapes, the land beneath power lines might not be at the top of your list, but new research is highlighting this habitat's importance in conserving a wide array of plant and insect life.

Trees and power lines are not a good mix. That's why, sometimes, power companies cut back forest. "What's left behind are these 'early successional' habitats," said Dave Wagner, an ecologist at UConn and co-author of a paper saying those cutbacks might not always be bad. "Early successional just means the things that come into a community over the first decade or so." 

"Historically, the disturbances were big blow-downs from hurricanes, windstorms, [ice storms], or fire," said Ken Metzler, one of the paper's co authors. "The disturbance is what maintains the habitat because as these forests get mature, they reach the end of their lifespan and they need some type of event to help them reorganize."

Credit Patrick Skahill / WNPR
"If you wanted flowers for bees and other pollinators, this is the place they're coming to feed up this time of year," Wagner said. "There's virtually nothing in the woods for them." Connecticut is home to about 300 species of wild bee, "and on a power line this you might expect to find perhaps even a hundred. A third of the state's fauna might be resident on this power line."
Power line corridors are a perfect habitat for milkweed, critically important to monarch butterflies.

Last week, we walked a power corridor in South Windsor (pictured above), observing plants and bugs living underneath the power lines. "As humans, since we are running the show for the world, we're the ones providing the disturbance, in addition to the natural disturbance that has always occurred," Metzler said.

In their study, Wagner and Metzler measured plant diversity and cover for more than 25 different power line plots, comparing them to adjacent woodlands with a full canopy of tree cover. They documented more than 300 plant species underneath power lines -- twice the number they found in forests.

"As I look out, I'm seeing some asters; I'm seeing a lot of goldenrods," Wagner said. "If we're looking into the woods, there's virtually nothing in bloom at this time. If you want to see butterflies in the state of Connecticut, a power line is the place to do it. If you want to see bees; if you want to see cottontails ... this is a very important habitat."

Credit Kim Phillips
From left: metallic green bee (Agapostemon sericeus) female, metallic green bee (Augochlora pura) female, long-horned bee (Melissodes sp.) female, and golden northern bumble bee (Bombus fervidus) queen.

Wagner said power line corridors are a perfect habitat for milkweed, a genus of plants critically important to monarch butterflies. In one location, he even found a rare oil-collecting bee that was thought to have disappeared from the United States.

"Bee workers had been looking for it for 20 years," Wagner said. "I'm a lepidopterist -- I study butterflies and moths. For me to stumble across this thing was a surprise to everybody." 

Credit Patrick Skahill / WNPR
Barratt’s sedge (Carex barrattii) is one of several plants on the state's endangered species list. "Sedge differ from grasses because of their floral structure. Actually, their whole anatomy differs from grasses," Metzler said. "There are more species of Carex in Eastern North America than their are birds in all of North America. It's a pretty diverse group."

Wagner said it's all evidence that power line cutbacks aren't always bad, but he cautioned that whenever you clear woodlands, certain animals and plants will be disrupted. "No matter what we do in nature, there are winners and losers and it's always going to be like that," he said. 

The research appears in the journal Forest Ecology and Management

Patrick Skahill is a reporter and digital editor at Connecticut Public. Prior to becoming a reporter, he was the founding producer of Connecticut Public Radio's The Colin McEnroe Show, which began in 2009. Patrick's reporting has appeared on NPR's Morning Edition, Here & Now, and All Things Considered. He has also reported for the Marketplace Morning Report. He can be reached at pskahill@ctpublic.org.

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