Arkansas Turfgrass - Summer 2020

T H E A R KA N S A S T U R F G RA S S A S S O C I AT I O N M AG AZ I N E • S U M M E R 2020

Do Arkansas Lawns Require A Lot of Water?

Plus, Member Spotlight on

ATA Board Member Mark Brown

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Summer 2020

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T H E A R KA N S A S T U R F G RA S S A S S O C I AT I O N M AG AZ I N E CO N T E N T S • S U M M E R 2020

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FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

8 Member Spotlight —

ATA Board Member Mark Brown

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Cover Story —

Do Arkansas Lawns Require A Lot of Water?

6 President’s Message 7 News from ATA 7 Index of Advertisers 7 University of Arkansas Turf Team

Find this issue, Podcasts, Events and More: T H E T U R F Z O N E.C O M

4 • A R K A N S A S T U R F G R A S S • Summer 2020

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The statements and opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Arkansas Turfgrass Association, its staff, or its board of directors, Arkansas Turfgrass, or its editors. Likewise, the appearance of advertisers, or their identification as Arkansas Turfgrass Association members, does not constitute an endorsement of the products or services featured in this, past or subsequent issues of this quarterly publication. Copyright © 2020 by the Arkansas Turfgrass Association. Arkansas Turfgrass is published quarterly. Subscriptions are complimentary to members of the Arkansas Turfgrass Association. Third-class postage is paid at Jefferson City, MO. Printed in the U.S.A. We are not responsible for unsolicited freelance manuscripts and photographs. Contact the managing editor for contribution information.

Specialty Distribution

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P R E S I D E N T ’S M E S S AG E

Arkansas Turfgrass Association P.O. Box 185 • Bryant, AR 72089 Tel: 501-860-0187

IT’S STILL SPRING Richard Covert ATA President

As

the landscape around us continues to be unaware that there is a pandemic that’s changing life as we know it, I was relieved when I read on March 27th that the Arkansas Department of Health said that pest management plays an essential role in protecting the public health by controlling disease vectors, securing our food supply and maintaining our infrastructure.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) identified the pest management area as an essential public work service: workers such as plumbers, electricians, exterminators, and others who provide services that are necessary to maintain the safety, sanitation, and essential operation of residences.

I have spoken with several lawn maintenance companies that tell me how they are adapting their crews to ensure social distancing and to stop the spread of the virus, they including starting at different times, limiting the crew per truck to two, and having the employees that can drive to the jobs to do so in their own vehicles.

They are also making efforts to minimize the use of shared equipment, and wearing gloves as much as possible, and, wearing a face mask when in close proximity to others. Also, definitely find ways to protect your customers, such as having them pay electronically or by mail rather than in person.

No doubt this will change things in our industry and the way we approach things. Thank you for all the hard work to the crews that are out there every day and especially the ones that are extremely short handed and thank you for your continuing support of the ATA. Richard Covert ATA President

Published by: Leading Edge Communications, LLC 206 Bridge Street Franklin, TN 37064 Tel: 615-790-3718 Email: info@leadingedge communications.com ATA OFFICERS Richard Covert, President Baptist Health Systems Richard.covert@baptist-health.org Kyle Sanders, Immediate Past President Sanders Ground Essentials 501-315-9395 kylesanders@sandersground.com Jeff Haskins, Treasurer Paragould Country Club 870-780-5883 Ja1116@earthlink.net Karen Cooper Executive Director 785-331-9225 arkturfgrassassn@att.net Doug Karcher, Ph.D., Education Chair University of Arkansas • 479-575-5723 karcher@uark.edu Pat Berger, Director Emeritus University of Arkansas • 479-575-6887 pberger@uark.edu Charlie Bowen, Director Emeritus Arkansas Hydroseed • 501-315-7333 charliebowen@yahoo.com Seth Dunlap Arkansas State Plant Board seth.dunlap@agriculture.arkansas.gov 501-225-1598 Mark Brown Nabholz • 501-749-7459 rmbrown2@ualr.edu Rodney Fisher Life Member, Founding Member Agra Turf, Inc. • 501-268-7036 agrarod@yahoo.com Ron Fisher Agra Turf, Inc. • 501-268-7036 agraron@yahoo.com Steve Ibbotson Conway Parks & Rec. • 501-328-4173 Steve.ibbotson@cityofconway.org Josh Landreth Ace of Blades • 479-530-7001 aceofblades@cox.net Mark Mowrey, Director Emeritus Oaklawn • 501-538-1600 bntgrns@yahoo.com Guy Oyler Jerry Pate Turf & Irrigation goyler@jerrypate.com • 501-317-5980 Rodger Pevehouse Life Member Michael Rush Rush Lawn Care • 501-279-8980 mrush@rushlawn.com

6 • A R K A N S A S T U R F G R A S S • Summer 2020

Ricky Self Cypress Creek r.self@yahoo.com • 501-605-8000

U N I V E R S I TY O F A R KA N S A S TURF TEAM

N E W S F RO M ATA

Doug Karcher Professor 479-575-5723 karcher@uark.edu Mike Richardson Professor 479-575-2860 mricha@uark.edu John Boyd Visiting Assistant Professor Cooperative Extension Service Little Rock 479-575-2354 Jwb019@uark.edu Matthew Bertucci Research Scientist 479-575-3979 bertucci@uark.edu John H. McCalla Jr. Program Technician III 479-575-5033 jmccall@uark.edu Daniel P. O’Brien Program Technician / M.S. Student 479-575-2603 dpo001@uark.edu Eric DeBoer Ph.D. Student Thomas Walton M.S. Student

I N D E X O F A DV E RT I S E R S Agra Turf, Inc.................................................5 www.agrainc.com

Welcome

New Executive Director,

KAREN COOPER

The

ATA would like to welcome our new Executive Director, Karen Cooper. Karen officially began her work for the association on June 1. She has previously worked in the turfgrass industry as the Senior Manager for Conference Education for the GCSAA and as the Associate Executive Director for TPI. Her experience in the industry with education, membership, and event planning will be a great asset to our organization.

“I will work to ensure that we are providing our members with topnotch education content and opportunities to network with the companies that are providing cutting-edge industry products,” she says. “I want to build partnerships that can help sustain and grow our organization. As we grow our organization, we will hopefully be able to increase and improve the opportunities and benefits available to our members.”

Karen is originally from Kansas and currently lives in Austin, Texas.

She has plans to move to Fayetteville, Arkansas in the very near future.

Karen and her husband, Mike have been married for 26 years. Their daughter received her BS in Horticulture at the University of Arkansas and is currently working to earn her Masters in Agricultural Economics there as well. •

Jackson Sand..................................................5 www.jacksonsand.com Leading Edge Communications...................3 www.LeadingEdgeCommunications.com Beam Clay......................................................5 www.BEAMCLAY.com • www.PARTAC.com Progressive Turf Equipment Inc..................3 www.progressiveturfequip.com R.W. Distributors..........................Back Cover www.Exmark.com Smith Seed Services.....................................5 www.smithseed.com

For any ATA needs, you can reach Karen at

785-331-9225 or at arkturfgrassassn@att.net

Syngenta Turf............................................. 15 www.syngentaprofessionalproducts.com The Turfgrass Group....... Inside Front Cover www.theturfgrassgroup.com

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M E M B E R S P OT L I G H T O N

ATA Board Member

MARK BROWN We

sat down with Mark Brown, who serves as a Board Member, to talk about his contribution to ATA, his career, and turfgrass in the time of COVID-19.

Arkansas Turfgrass: How long have you served on the board, and what have been your priorities in that position?

Mark Brown: I am going into my third year now. One of the big things that we’ve focused on over the last few years is trying to grow the association here in the state. Arkansas has quite a few turfgrass professionals — golf course, lawn care, sod producers and sports fields. We’re just trying to get more of them to come to our shows and get actively involved. So we’ve gotta let everybody know that the turfgrass association is a benefit to them, there’s a lot of things we can get out of it.

AT: That involvement support seems important now more than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic. What do you think is the general attitude among turfgrass professionals in the state right now while they’re having to work so differently, especially in the spring?

MB: It’s definitely a change for them from what they’re accustomed to. I’ve talked to some of them and they’re really itching to get back out there and get everything back to somewhat normal, but they understand some things are

8 • A R K A N S A S T U R F G R A S S • Summer 2020

going to change. The turf industry is, not to say that it hasn’t really been affected, but it’s probably taken a little bit less of a hit than other things. Still, it has its challenges of finding enough work, getting enough work for everyone.

I do know a lot of the golf courses are busy, which is good.

But the lawn care guys, this hit at a time of the year where they’re starting to get rolling.

AT: How did you get interested in a turfgrass career and get started in the industry?

MB: I originally, I lived in Austin, Texas and was working down there. I wasn’t in the turf industry then, but I started playing golf and I really liked it. So I thought it could be a good career for me. My original plan was to go into golf course design, or golf course architecture. That was really what I wanted to do. I got into that, and then I found the maintenance side of it, and being out there every day on a completed golf course, that shifted my focus to doing that.

From there I enrolled in school at the University of Arkansas, got my turf degree in Turfgrass Science and went to work. While I was in school I worked on the sports fields for the university at Baum Stadium and at Razorback Stadium. When I got out of school, that’s when I entered the golf course industry. I was an assistant golf course superintendent a couple of places, including the Alotian Club here in Little Rock. From there I transitioned back into sports fields, I was a sports turf manager at DickeyStevens, the minor league baseball stadium here in Little Rock. I did that for a few years and then went a little bit different direction and worked for the University of Arkansas Research and Extension, where I worked as an agent in the Central Arkansas area helping out the lawn care guys, golf course guys with any problems, plant diseases, weed control, things like that. But then an opportunity came back and I got back into golf courses as a golf course superintendent, so I’ve done a little bit of everything.

After golf course superintendent, then I was a director of campus grounds for the University of Arkansas Little Rock, so I was over all the sports and intramural fields, campuswide. I’ve seen a little bit of everything that the turf industry has to offer.

AT: What has been the biggest challenge in your career in turfgrass?

MB: What I’ve experienced, and probably everybody else has experienced, is finding good help, good labor, good people you can depend on that are willing to work these days. If you can’t find those folks, what happens is that you end up working too many hours. Your home life suffers, your free time suffers. The biggest challenge has to be getting those laborers, and also handling the lack of budgets.

AT: How can turfgrass professionals maintain a work/life balance?

MB: Know that you can’t do everything in one day. We all want our golf course, our sports fields, our lawns to look the absolute best, so you have to manage your expectations and the expectations of your customers — whether it’s your members at the club or your city council or your customers that you’re maintaining their lawn. You can’t do it all, so you have to draw a hard line and say, “I’m really going to focus on this today,” and once it comes time, then you’ve got to leave it there. Go home, get away from it, escape it a little bit, and try to come back the next day fresh. It’s a whole lot easier said than done to have that mentality.

AT: Any final advice for ATA members?

MB: It’s a challenging profession. I don’t know how numbers are of people getting into it, but I used to tell everybody when I was working with the extension service — always try to get guys to get more education, get more training.

Not only for the business owners on the business aspect of it, but enroll your employees in a class, give them something to shoot for, give them some training, give them a little bit more, and maybe you can get a little bit better guys, you can keep guys a little bit longer if you can give them selfworth and a personal investment in the industry.

When I was an assistant, my first superintendent I worked for, he was pretty tough, but I learned a lot from him and I got on that path, so find someone that can teach you. If you’re a young person coming into it, try to stay in places. I have moved around a few places, so longevity is key to — the younger guys may not be looking towards retirement obviously, but it is something you’ve got to look for. And the longer you stay at places, the better you sock away money, and build your retirement, things like that, that gets guys some financial training and make sure you’ve got all that in line as well as the turf knowledge as well.

It all helps for sure. •

To hear our full interview with Mark, visit

www.theturfzone.com

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DO

Arkansas Lawns REQUIRE A LOT OF WATER?

By Doug Karcher, Ph.D., Professor, University of Arkansas

T

here are a few things that turf enthusiasts can count on each spring, like fescue lawns looking brilliant in the landscape, large patch and spring dead spot showing up in wet or cold environments as our warmseason grasses green up, the need to tune up our mower engines and sharpen blades, and unfortunately, the publication of anti-turf articles in the popular press. Like clockwork this month, it was when I was changing the spark plug and sharpening my mower blades to keep up with my fastgrowing fescue lawn that I noted lower than normal spring dead spot occurrence on the north-facing, low-lying bermudagrass areas across the street, and then received a text message from a friend outside of the turf industry with, “Your thoughts?” and a link to a CNN article. The article was titled, “Designing an end to a toxic American obsession: The Lawn” (published April 17, 2020). This article contended that lawns are a big waste of space and water that should be converted to food production and wild-flower areas. Each spring when reading these types of articles, I find it very frustrating that several unsubstantiated claims are made (citations or references rarely included), and as the same outrageous claims are repeated from year to year, no effort is made at offering a counterpoint from turf industry professionals. I first noticed this trend in May of 2014 when the New York Times published, “The Toxic Brew in our Yards”. And, as of this writing, the New York Times has very recently recycled much of that story as, “America’s Killer Lawns”, which was published on May 18, 2020.

The two most common inflammatory implications from these articles are 1) that homeowners apply 10 times more pesticides per acre to their lawns compared to farmers and 2) that lawns require more irrigation than any other agricultural crop. The pesticide use claim seems to have originated from a U.S. Fish and Wildlife publication on protecting frogs, with no data or references included for substantiation. I’ve called the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to get info on the basis of the claim but have only been

10 • A R K A N S A S T U R F G R A S S • Summer 2020

able to leave messages and my calls have yet to be returned.

I am not aware of any such claim being published in the peer-reviewed, fact-based literature. The water requirement claim is likely a misinterpretation of a journal paper published by Milesi et al. (2005) that assumed if 100% of the total area in the United States covered in turf (which they estimated to be about 40 million acres) was irrigated with an inch of water per week throughout the season whenever minimum temperatures were above 40 degrees (late March to early November in Arkansas), only then would turfgrass be the single largest irrigated crop in the country. Unfortunately, that paper was interpreted as, “Residential lawns cover 2% of US land and require more irrigation than any agricultural crop grown in the country” in the latest CNN article. And this is why I have palm imprints on my forehead a few times each spring.

Our industry often gets an undeserved “black-eye” with regard to water usage, which has led some municipalities and even the EPA to encourage the removal of turf areas in lawns and replacement with other landscape plants in the name of water conservation. Obviously, that is not good for our industry and from a water-requirement standpoint, it simply does not make sense in a humid climate. We receive 40 to 60 inches of rain annually in Arkansas, which can easily sustain our turfgrass species with no additional irrigation because contrary to popular opinion, turfgrass species are by nature drought tolerant.

The turfgrass species we utilize in our lawns evolved naturally over many millennia in geographic regions around the globe where water was limiting, either due to limited rainfall, sandy soils, or shallow soils with low water-holding capacity. Essentially, grasses evolved where water-loving trees could not. If you don’t believe this and need more convincing, then head west on I-40 into Oklahoma and observe how the natural landscape changes from trees to grasses as average annual rainfall drops from 40 to 30 to 20 inches. Because of evolution under droughty conditions, turfgrass species do not respond well to excess water.

Fig. 1. United States Drought Monitor conditions as of May 18, 2020. With the consistent spring rains this year, none of Arkansas is under even mild drought at the time of this writing.

Lawns that are irrigated too frequently will remain wet near the surface, resulting in a shallow root system that will be less drought tolerant later in the summer. In contrast, as non-irrigated soils dry in the spring, turfgrass roots extend deeper into the soil to access the available moisture there, which results in a much better developed root system and better summer drought tolerance. A lawn with deeper roots will not only be more drought tolerant but will also have better recuperative potential in case of injury due to insects, disease, or traffic.

With the arrival of warmer weather (hopefully!) this month, it’s likely that many Arkansas homeowners,

commercial properties, and municipalities will fire up their irrigation systems to water the lawns. Although it may be getting hotter, it probably isn’t quite time to be irrigating home lawn turf. As of this writing (late May) most lawns in Northwest Arkansas will not need supplemental irrigation for at least a couple of weeks as our soils have plenty of moisture to maintain turf growth throughout the rest of this spring. In addition, there is no drought stress anywhere in the state according to the Untied States Drought Monitor (Fig. 1; https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/) and rains are forecasted for the next several days. In fact, I never advise homeowners to begin watering their lawns based on a

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COV E R S TO RY • continued

calendar date, rather I advise them to hold off irrigating until some visible wilting is present on the turf. Historically, this has typically occurred in late June on my lawn in Fayetteville; however, we’ve had so much timely rainfall in Arkansas the past two seasons that my irrigation requirements have decreased significantly, and I’ve irrigated my lawn only a couple of times since 2017. And 2020 is shaping up to be another wet year.

If you’re like many of my neighbors you may ask, “what’s the harm in irrigating lawn turf now?” After all, if you’ve invested in a nice irrigation system then you probably enjoy watching it run. Well, here are a few drawbacks of over-irrigating your turfgrass systems:

1.) Less Healthy Turf.

to “OFF” (Fig. 3) so that your irrigation programs do not continue to run unnecessarily. Then, set up a program that will apply enough water to wet the soil to a 3 to 4 inch depth (this typically takes 0.5 to 0.75 inches of water for Arkansas native soils, which will require run times of 30 to 60 minutes per zone for most residential systems). Then, set the program start times daily for the early morning hours to ensure that the program will run every morning

Fig. 2. Water is sometimes wasted on lawns, but this is caused by operator error, not heavy water consumption by turfgrass species.

Here, irrigation run times are too long on this sloped campus lawn causing water to run to down the street (a) and an automatic irrigation controller is watering this commercial property during a rain shower (b).

See the section above on turfgrass evolution and drought tolerance. In addition, turfgrass systems that are kept wet tend to have more disease and weed pressure, are more likely to develop excess thatch, and are more prone to soil compaction.

A

2.) Expensive Water Bills.

Although I consider Fayetteville city water a bargain at less than a cent per gallon, irrigation costs do add up when considering how much water it takes to effectively irrigate a home lawn. When irrigation is necessary, we generally recommend applying 1 inch of water per week in two to three applications. It takes 27,000 gallons of water to apply an inch of water to an acre, so a medium sized, quarteracre lawn would require 6,750 gallons weekly to irrigate, ultimately adding around $150 to the monthly water bill.

3.) Public Perception.

I’m particularly sensitive to this final negative consequence of over-watering lawns. Home lawns are often the target of public criticism as being “water wasters” when, in reality, turfgrass species are among the most drought tolerant plants used in the landscape. Nevertheless, we repeatedly see CNN and New York Times articles such as those mentioned above. Unfortunately, the myth that lawns require constant watering is perpetuated by too many irrigation systems that are either running too early in the growing season, run too frequently, or run during or shortly following rainfall events (Fig. 2).

Let’s discuss the best way to utilize those automatic irrigation systems. My best advice is to turn the main dial

12 • A R K A N S A S T U R F G R A S S • Summer 2020

Photo credit: Doug Karcher, Ph.D.

B

continued

when the main dial is switched “on”. This may seem counter-intuitive at first but remember that the main dial should be set to “off”. Finally, wait until you see some visible drought symptoms in your lawn (remember, a little drought stress will ensure a deep root system) and then turn your program “ON” or “RUN” so that it runs the next morning… and then don’t forget to return the dial to the “OFF” position when the program has finished.

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The above strategy takes advantage of your automatic irrigation system’s capabilities while eliminating the possibility of over-watering and all the related negative consequences discussed previously. One exception to delaying lawn irrigation for now is if you are establishing turf from seed, sprigs, or sod (Fig. 4), which all lack an extensive root system and cannot access moisture deeper in soil.

Fig. 3. My favorite setting on the automatic irrigation controller is “OFF”. Unfortunately, this setting is under-utilized by many homeowners.

Photo credit: Doug Karcher, Ph.D.

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For those of you that want to take some extra steps in conserving water while maintaining your lawn, here are some additional considerations: • Use improved irrigation controller technology. Many newer irrigation controllers can utilize rainfall or soil moisture sensors, or even weather data to adjust programs so that water is only applied when needed. Recent research completed by Dan Sandor while earning his Ph.D. in our turfgrass science program indicated that soil moisture sensors used only 1/3 the amount of water compared to “set-itand-forget-it” weekly irrigation program. Even more

impressive, Dr. Sandor (now an Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech) showed that such water savings were consistent over three consecutive years with no reduction in lawn quality, and that a complete return on investment of such technology was achievable in a single growing season. With soil moisture sensors, we can fully utilize the set-it-and-forget-it appeal of automatic irrigation systems without wasting water.

• Use a drought tolerant cultivar. Recent research has identified turfgrass varieties that exhibit superior drought tolerance characteristics. Cultivars of tall fescue,

Fig. 4. This bermudagrass sod was laid near campus in May 2014 and was not irrigated. Although there was some moisture in the underlying soil, it was unavailable to the new sod, which lacked a root system. Unlike mature turf, new planted sod, sprigs, or seed may require spring irrigation in the absence of daily rains.

Photo credit: Doug Karcher, Ph.D.

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continued

bermudagrass, and Kentucky bluegrass have been experimentally proven to retain their green color longer during extended drought conditions. More information is available at www.tgwca.org.

• Grow deep roots. In addition to allowing the soil surface to dry, deep turfgrass roots can be produced with good mowing and fertility practices as well as core-aerifying areas where the soil has become compacted. The University of Arkansas Extension has several great publications packed with tips for maintaining healthy lawns with a deep root system. These may be found at: https://www.uaex.edu/ yard-garden/lawns/default.aspx.

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To conclude, I’m a bit fed up of reading about toxic lawns the waste water in the popular press, so let’s make sure we’re all doing our part to irrigate only when necessary and not flame the fires of this myth. •

REFERENCES Lewis, D. 2014. The Toxic Brew in Our Yards. The New York Times.

Accessed 26 May 2020 https:// www.nytimes.com/2014/05/11/ opinion/sunday/the-toxic-brew-inour-yards.html Milesi, C., S.W. Running, C.D. Elvidge, J.B. Dietz, B.J. Tuttle, and R.R. Nemani. 2005. Mapping and Modeling the Biogeochemical Cycling of Turf Grasses in the United States. Environmental Management Vol. 36, No. 3, pp. 426–438 Ponsford, M. 2020. Designing an end to a toxic American obsession: The Lawn. CNN Style. Accessed 26 May 2020 https://www.cnn.com/style/ article/lawns-american-yard-us Renkl, M. 2020. America’s Killer Lawns. Accessed 26 May 2020 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/ 18/opinion/lawn-pesticides-insectextinction.html

©2020 Syngenta. Important: Always read and follow label instructions. Some products may not be registered for sale or use in all states or counties and/or may have state-specific use requirements.

Please check with your local extension service to ensure registration and proper use. Action™, Appear®, Briskway®, Daconil®, GreenCast®, Posterity®, Velista® and the Syngenta logo are trademarks of a Syngenta Group Company. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

GS 5355_1_28

Sandor, D. 2018. Water Conservation Practices for Irrigation of Turfgrass Lawns. Theses and Dissertations Retrieved from https://scholarworks. uark.edu/etd/3064 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

2000. Homeowner’s Guide to Protecting Frogs. Accessed 26 May 2020 https://www.fws.gov/dpps/ visualmedia/printingandpublishing/ publications/2003_Homeowners GuidetoProtectingFrogs.pdf

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