Research Projects at the Farm
Michael Benard's research investigates how species adapt to
changing environments. He combines laboratory and field studies with ecological
modeling to predict how different types of environmental change are expected to
influence extinction risk. At the farm, he is focusing his research on the
wood frog (Rana sylvatica), a frog that lives as a
tadpole in small temporary ponds (i.e., vernal pools), and as a terrestrial
adult lives in forests. Once geographically widespread, wood frogs are
becoming increasingly threatened as formerly continuous forests are
fragmented by urbanization. Wood frog populations in fragmented habitat
become smaller and less genetically diverse than wood frog populations in
continuous habitat. Thus, wood frogs are an ideal model system to use to
test the predictive power of different modeling techniques that use habitat
characteristics, population modeling, and information on genetic diversity to
estimate extinction risk. Ultimately, Dr. Benard’s research on wood frog
populations will provide insight into not only protecting wood frogs, but
also into developing general techniques that can be applied to assessing
extinction risk and developing conservation plans for a wide range of animal
and plant species.
The University Farm is an ideal site for much
of Dr. Benard’s research. In a protected area at the farm, Dr. Benard and
his colleagues have set up one hundred artificial ponds, each of which holds
up to 300 gallons of water. These artificial ponds allow Dr. Benard and
his colleagues to experimentally manipulate specific characteristics of
natural ponds (e.g., genetic diversity within wood frog populations, the
presence or absence of predatory insects), while holding other environmental
characteristics constant. The data gathered from these experiments can then
be incorporated into population models to predict how changes in environmental
conditions (e.g., reduced genetic diversity, increased predation risk) affect
overall population extinction risk. The laboratory facilities at the farm
provide an important place for Dr. Benard and his colleagues to sort, measure
and preserve samples taken from the artificial ponds. The University Farm
also provides another benefit to Dr. Benard’s research: the wooded areas and
vernal pond on the University Farm are home to a population of wood frogs.
By taking data on the number of wood frogs living on the University Farm, and
comparing it to similar population-size estimates from other sites in Ohio,
Dr. Benard is able to test the predictions generated by his artificial pond
and modeling studies.
In 2006, Dr. Paul Drewa and his graduate students started
to study the deciduous forests at the farm. Dr. Drewa, who relied on numerous
resources at the farm for research and education purposes. His students use a
wide variety of equipment to analyze soil samples and plant material. Field
equipment is conveniently stored in the lab and is readily available for
research in natural settings that is conducted not only at the farm, but at
numerous sites all over Ohio. Natural areas at the farm serve as important
study sites research on the ecology of temperate deciduous forests. A two-year
research study was initiated in the summer of 2006 to examine relationships
between tree canopy adults and patterns of seed dispersal and seedling
recruitment in fragmented forests. The main objective of the study is to
evaluate seed abundance and seedling dynamics of beech and sugar maple under
conspecific and heterospecific canopy adults. Similar studies are being
conducted in other forested sites across northeastern Ohio in partnership
with Cuyahoga Valley National Park and Holden Arboretum.
One of his students is also studying the role of lightning-initiated fire
on native plant species in oak-hickory forests and oak barrens of southern
Ohio in cooperation with The Nature Conservancy. All of these studies will be
complemented with environmentally controlled experiments by using the
greenhouse facilities at the farm. During the summer of 2006, two
undergraduate students, Bryan Kinter and E. Ashley Bair, worked at the farm to
extend an existing study area in the old growth beech-maple forest from 2500
m² to a full hectare with the addition of twelve 25 x 25-m plots. Existing
temporary plot markers were replaced with permanent stakes. Within each plot,
all trees greater than 2 cm DBH were identified to species, measured for
diameter, and given a permanent marker. In total, approximately 1,200 new
trees were added to the study. These trees will be available to students in
future ecology courses as a way of teaching sampling methodology in temperate
deciduous forests.
Dr. Tim Matson, Curator of Vertebrate Zoology at the
Cleveland Museum of Natural History, is working at the Debra Ann November
Greenhouse facilities to investigate the extent and severity of the problem
of metal toxicity in NE Ohio on two taxa of amphibians, the Jefferson
Salamander and the Wood Frog. The purpose of this project is to investigate
the impact of metals upon recent observed declines in population size,
probable recent localized extirpations, and exclusion of the Wood Frog (Rana
sylvatica) and Jefferson Salamander (Ambystoma jeffersonianum) complex from
NE Ohio Erie Lake Plain Section and Portage Escarpment breeding ponds. This
project is an important follow-up study designed to elucidate the results of a
field/transplant project conducted by the Cleveland Museum of Natural History
during 2006. This extensive laboratory study is testing the potential toxicity
of various cations under several concentrations and combinations, predicated
on those found in NE Ohio breeding ponds. During the study, freshly laid egg
masses from each taxon are collected from two or three sites, transported to
the laboratory where eggs of each species are pooled and then separated into
smaller units before placement into glass rearing containers having treatments
of cations at two levels of acidity (pH) and two levels of hardness (CaCO3
plus MgCO3). There were four replicates of each of the 45 treatments. The
embryonic effects study continue in each treatment until all embryos have
either suffered mortality or have hatched. Hatchlings are transferred and
reared in polycarbonate containers. Larval mortality was determined by
counting surviving larvae at 7 days (acute) and at 28 days (chronic) after
hatching or when all larvae within a treatment have died. Water chemistry of
each treatment are checked before the experiment begins and upon its
completion.
Dr. Carl Anthony, Associate Professor at John Carroll
University and his Master’s student Kimberly Thompson are currently looking at
behavioral interactions between Plethodon cinereus and Eurycea bislineata
within a forest to stream ecotone at the farm. Plethodon cinereus and Eurycea
bislineata are often sympatric within regional forest-stream ecotones. It is
unknown whether these species compete for resources (e.g., food or suitable
cover objects) or whether competition, if present, restricts one species from
fully taking advantage of its fundamental niche. With the integral help of
several fellow researchers, including Owen Lockhart, a PhD candidate at
Cleveland State University, they are examining how these two species from
different adaptive zones interact with each other and how competition may
dictate species distribution and abundance, as well as their consequent
behaviors within an ecotone. A survey was conducted of the red-backed and
two-lined salamander populations along the stream margin within the northern
part of the forest at the farm to establish where individuals of each species
are located (relative to the stream margin) and whether or not the two species
co-occur under cover more or less frequently than expected by random chance
alone. With the proper IACUC and ODNR permits, salamanders of both species
were collected and used in two laboratory experiments to examine behavioral
interactions between the two species. The prediction is that if the two
species are competing for space, that they will recognize and respond to each
other's odors and that they will aggressively defend territories in laboratory
arenas. All specimens will be deposited in the Cleveland Museum of Natural
History at the conclusion of the research
Dr. Joseph Keiper, Curator of Invertebrate Zoology at the
Cleveland Museum of Natural History and Adjunct Assistant Professor of
Biology, uses the farm as a study site for forensic entomology research.
Keiper and two summer interns, Kurt Broz and Jessica Taylor, selected a
location near the farm research ponds to study nine small mammal carcasses.
Each mammal carcass was placed in cages on the ground and students checked
them weekly to record the insect colonization. The study took place over a
two-month period. The results of this study were submitted in a manuscript to
the Journal of Medical Entomology in the fall of 2005.
Dr. Joseph Koonce, Professor and Chair of the Department
of Biology, uses the farm as a base of operations for fish habitat studies of
the Chagrin and Grand River watersheds. Koonce
and his students use a variety of equipment available at the Biological Field
Station, including a newly purchased 4x4 truck and survey equipment. The truck
is housed at the farm and is being used by the biology and geology departments
for various research projects. The farm staff provides maintenance and upkeep
of the vehicle.
Dr. Beverly Saylor, Assistant Professor in the Department
of Geological Science, uses the greenhouse laboratory for core storage and
analysis. Dr. Saylor
was storing sediment cores from the deepest parts of the central and eastern
basins of Lake Erie in the greenhouse cold room at the farm. These cores were
collected by piston coring from the Canadian Coast Guard Research Vessel
Limnos. The longest core is approximately 16 meters and extends back in time
to more than 6,000 years B.C. There are also short benthos cores that provide
high-resolution records of the last 100 years. Dr. Saylor and her students
worked on these cores and investigated the evolution of Lake Erie since the
retreat of the glaciers 12,000 years ago. They studied the sedimentology and
geochemistry of the cores.
Dr. Mark Willis, Associate Professor of the Department of
Biology, and his research assistant, Andrew Finnell, studied the olfactory
orientation of turkey vulture populations at the farm during the summer.
Previous studies have documented olfactory orientation in the turkey vulture
(Cathartes aura), but all records of behavior are anecdotal or
descriptive in nature.
The goal of their study was to characterize and quantify this behavior.
Willis
had studied similar odor-tracking behaviors in the moth Manduca sexta and the
cockroach Periplaneta americana. One long-term goal of their study was to
compare the behavior of the insects to that of the turkey vultures. Farm sites
used for this study included a central site located on an exposed ridge by the
research ponds with supplemental sites both upwind and downwind, based on
predominant northwesterly wind currents. Several methods were used to
characterize flight behavior and to distinguish between odor-guided flight and
other in-flight behaviors. A rough trajectory of the birds' flight were
hand-sketched onto a map of the immediate area to get an overhead view of the
orientation behavior. The birds also were filmed with a portable video camera
as they approached the source. Using Peak Motus 8.0" motion analysis software,
the team was able to plot the vultures' movements and determine velocity,
acceleration, and other parameters. Additional weather notes (cloud cover,
visibility, etc.) also were taken on site.