Research Report #3 — Mud Pond (North) on Overcliff Road

Mohonk Preserve
Jul 27, 2017 · 4 min read

A note from Director of Conservation Science Dr. Elizabeth Long: For many years scientists and naturalists have been studying and observing the flora and fauna of the Shawangunk Ridge. Foremost among them was Daniel Smiley, for whom Mohonk Preserve’s Daniel Smiley Research Center is named. Dan wrote numerous reports summarizing his observations on various topics. This regularly occurring series will feature some of these reports; some hold tremendous scientific value today and just await an interested researcher to follow up, others showcase a quirky sense of humor or highlight an oddity of nature.

Read the report: “Mud Pond (North) on Overcliff Road”. 17 April 1972. Daniel Smiley.

© Jay Diggs

A Note from Director of Research Emeritus Paul Huth:

Daniel Smiley, from a young age, knew of the “Three Mud Ponds” located to the south of Overcliff Road in the Trapps. On April 17, 1934, he noted in his Species Card File — “heard (Wood Frogs) croaking, 3 Mud Ponds at Top of the Trapps. Egg masses seen….” North Mud Pond, a natural vernal pool and the northern most of the Three Mud Ponds, is the result of a shallow depression in a glacial furrow on top of the southern end of the Trapps. The pool’s elevation is some 1060 feet and the surface area is less than a fifth of an acre. The outlet of this pool is to the north toward the Coxingkill and the Rondout Watershed. The larger Middle Mud Pond and South Mud Pond, in the same glacial furrow in contrast, have their outlets to the south, contributing to the Wallkill River Watershed. As an aside, these combined outlets, when flowing, provide the source of water for the “Uberfall” on Undercliff Road.

In this April 17, 1972 Mohonk Trust Research Report, Dan traces North Mud Pond’s ecology and origin, and observed Wood Frog breeding. This report was a result of a question from ecologist and Research Associate Steve Collins who had asked why North Mud Pond hadn’t naturally filled up with organic material over the last 11 millennia. At the site, Dan carefully observed that
from its summit location and potentially dry summer conditions, fires that had passed over this area of the ridge would have consumed all the organic material in its dry bottom, not allowing it to fill over time and disappear.

Wood Frog © Christy Belardo

This was also a time that Dan, recognizing that fire was an important part of the natural processes of the Shawangunk ridge, was thinking about reintroducing fire on the ridge using scientifically monitored prescribed burns. This culminated in two significant prescribed burns in the Trapps in April 1978 and April 1979, managed by The Mohonk Trust and the NYS
Department of Environmental Conservation, Region 3. These prescribed burns were very early in the evolution of the reapplication of fire in natural systems to reduce fuel loads, and to encourage native species and vegetation communities supportive of a diverse and fire dependent flora and fauna. It also shows that Dan was experienced in understanding ecosystem processes learned from decades of careful observation, resulting in creative applications of Mohonk Trust land stewardship.

Egg Mass © Jay Diggs

As part of the Research Center’s decades long annual phenological monitoring of amphibians, and as a part of our detailed study of the characteristics of 29 Shawangunk vernal pools, on July 7, 1981, Dan and I undertook a documentary field trip to the “Three Mud Ponds”. Our report
for North Mud Pond is also attached
. Vernal pools, especially here on the Shawangunk ridge, are a vital water source used each spring by amphibian breeding populations, some species that are New York State listed for Special Concern. Vernal pools on Mohonk Preserve lands are considered Natural History Landmarks and should not be disturbed.

Vernal Pool Monitoring © John Mizel

Each March and April, Conservation Science staff continue to monitor springtime amphibian breeding at this pool and 10 others around the Shawangunks.

Read the report: “Mud Pond (North) on Overcliff Road”. 17 April 1972. Daniel Smiley.

Mohonk Preserve

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With over 8,000 acres on the Shawangunk Ridge, Mohonk Preserve is the largest member and visitor-supported nature preserve in New York State.

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