Saturday is Dragonfly Day in New York State, and Southampton Town, Friends of the Long Pond Greenbelt, and the New York League of Conservation Voters are marking the occasion by sponsoring Dragonfly Day and Green Expo, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the South Fork Natural History Museum and Nature Center in Bridgehampton.
Dragonflies are a “sentinel” species, their presence or absence indicative of the health of wetland ecosystems and whether harmful chemicals such as pesticides, excess nitrogen, or bacterial contamination and pathogens are present. Undeveloped, unpolluted wetland areas play an important role as both barriers and carbon sinks. A 2018 state resolution recognizing Dragonfly Day was intended to educate the public about the value of wetlands as a defense against flooding, storm surges, and rising carbon dioxide levels.
Saturday’s event will feature a geothermal heat pump demonstration, solar and battery storage, and electric vehicles from manufacturers including Tesla, Rivian, VM, and Ford, which will exhibit its Mach-E Mustang and F-150 Lightning truck. Experts will be on hand to answer questions about how a residence can be retrofitted with geothermal heat pump technology, and to tout Suffolk County’s septic system replacement program.
Children’s activities include a guided “dragonfly walk,” an upcycle art project with Scott Bluedorn; Ranger Eric of the Center for Environmental Education and Discovery and his rescue animals, and free seedlings to take home.
Along with local environmental groups and food trucks, a marimba band will play from 11 to 12:30. Southampton Deputy Supervisor Frank Zappone and Councilman John Bouvier, Ann Welker of the Southampton Town Trustees, and New York Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. will speak at 1 p.m.
Dragonflies, like mosquitoes, lay their eggs in standing water. Mosquito larvae are an important part of the diet of dragonfly nymphs, which can eat the equivalent of their body weight in about 30 minutes. A 2013 study concluded that mosquito larvae actually stop developing when in the vicinity of dragonfly larvae.
“We need to keep all our wetlands clean, because keeping them healthy, and not building on, disturbing, or cutting them up will ward off dangerous vectors as our climate heats,” said Helen Roussel, a volunteer with Southampton Town’s sustainability advisory committee. Ms. Roussel, who lives in Sag Harbor, helped to prepare the 2018 resolution, with others including Roger Downs of the Sierra Club, the marine biologist Judith Weis, Robert DeLuca of the Group for the East End, Alison Branco of the Nature Conservancy, Kevin McAllister of Defend H2O, Edwina von Gal of the Perfect Earth Project, the Surfrider Foundation, Peconic Baykeeper, and Concerned Citizens of Montauk. “Clean water means that we save ourselves from the worst vectors,” she said.
Ms. Roussel also referred to “The Value of Coastal Wetlands for Flood Damage Reduction in the Northeastern USA,” a 2017 study that quantified the impacts of coastal wetlands in the northeast and concluded that wetlands avoided $625 million in direct flood damage during Hurricane Sandy. “We need wetlands to sequester carbon dioxide,” she said, “but they also serve as a buffer for storm surges and flooding.”
“I hope residents who attend will leave the event understanding how the choices they make have big environmental consequences,” said Lynn Arthur, program manager of Sustainable Southampton, the town’s advisory committee. “A geothermal heat pump system costs less than a conventional gas system and has no environmental footprint if you get your electricity from the solar panels on your roof. There are huge subsidies available. Likewise, if you own an electric vehicle fueled by the solar panels on your roof, you’re not paying five dollars a gallon for gas, or contributing carbon emissions into the atmosphere.”
