Wildlife Technicians
2006 Students
Jesse Spitzer, Ossining High School
Impact of Japanese barberry on soil nutrient availability and the ectomycorrhizal colonization of eastern hemlock seedlings
Mentors: Rod Christie, MRGP; Dr. Tom Horton, SUNY Environmental School of Forestry (ESF); Mark Weckel, MRGP
Project Description: Increases in nitrogen deposition may disrupt important mutualisms between trees and ectomycorrhizal fungi with implications for woody regeneration, especially of hemlock. Barberry, an exotic shrub from Asia, is believed to increase nitrogen cycling rates and also invade canopy gaps in hemlock forests. Jesse Spitzer is investigating the impact of barberry on nitrogen availability and ectomycorrhizal fungus and how that affects colonization of hemlock.
Jesse planted 144 hemlock seedlings at varying distances from 12 barberry plants in 2006. He is using distance as a proxy for the impact of barberry on soil chemical properties and on the colonization of hemlock root tips by mycorrihizae. In March of 2007, Jesse and Mark Weckel went on a 2-day field trip to SUNY ESF to learn techniques in the identification of colonized versus uncolonized rood tips. Jesse is poised to begin soil coring for subsequent chemical analysis waiting only for Spring to come and barberry to leaf out. Hemlocks planted in 2006 will harvested this summer and the number of root tips colonized by mycorrihizae counted.
Seth Aschen, Pleasantville High School
Amphibian and small mammal communities of Japanese stilt grass
Mentors: Rod Christie, MRGP; Chris Nagy; MRGP; Dr. Robert Rockwell; City University of New York (CUNY) and American Museum of Natural History (AMNH); Mark Weckel, MRGP
Project Description: Stilt grass Microstegium vimineum, an exotic plant originating from Japan, forms dense monocultures in the understory of many suburban forests. Managers have attempted to eradicate the grass through herbicide, cutting, burning, and pulling without fully understanding the role the new grass plays in the ecosystem, especially as potential habitat for small mammals and amphibians. This is especially important as superabundant deer herds have reduced native vegetation cover, leaving stilt grass as the predominant herb where present. Seth Aschen is using pitfall traps to exhaustively sample areas with and without stilt grass in order to describe the animal community of this new habitat type.
Seth’s 2006 pilot season suggests that some amphibian species (i.e. wood frogs, American toads) do not discriminate between areas with and without stilt grass. However, pickerel frogs, white-footed mice, and garter snakes were found to use the stilt grass disproportionately. For the upcoming 2007 field season, Seth is planning to increase his sampling from 3 stilt grass patches to 20 in order to exhaustively test the trends suggested in 2006. This data is very important to managers as it is not uncommon for stewards to use both mechanical and chemical means to destroy stilt grass habitat and therefore cause both direct and indirect harm to these animal communities.
Deborah Mack, Irvington High School
Habitat Suitability Analysis for suburban coyotes
Mentors: Rod Christie, MRGP; Chris Nagy; MRGP; Dr. Robert Rockwell; City University of New York (CUNY) and American Museum of Natural History (AMNH); Linda Gormezano; CUNY/AMNH; Dr. John Tirpak, USGS; Mark Weckel, MRGP.
Project Description: Coyote are generalist species and therefore are suitable to life in sprawling suburbia. However, even in suburbia, coyotes generally avoid human habitat. Identifying suitable habitat for the persistence of coyotes in suburbia will be important in planning decisions and in identifying areas with a potential for coyote-human contact/conflict. Using a Geographic Information System (GIS), Deborah Mack is attempting to model suitable coyote habitat for Westchester using published accounts of preferred habitat during coyote denning and pup rearing season.
In 2006, Deborah completed a tutorial in basic GIS applications and has used this knowledge along with published information on coyote habitat requirements to make predictive maps of coyote distribution in Westchester. Early in 2007, Deborah has also begun to use surveys at local elementary and high schools as a source of “backyard” coyote sightings. These sightings will be used to test of the validity of her predictive maps. She has received over 200 responses thus far from 3 schools.
If you are interested in submitting data for Deborah's project, more info can be found at our Coyote Survey site here.
2007 Students
Annica Hellburg, Somers High School
Response of herbaceous and wood plants to deer exclusion: Implications for woodland restoration
Mentors: Rod Christie, MRGP; Mark Weckel, MRGP
Project Description: The impact of deer superabundance on plant communities is well established. However, the potential for natural regeneration following a reduction in deer herd size is a site-specific phenomenon. Annica will be upgrading the monitoring of already established deer exclosures in order to investigate the potential for natural woody and herbaceous restoration at the MRGP. She is ready to begin her first season of monitoring in May 2007.
Katherine Caswell, Yorktown High School
Foraging site selection of suburban eastern screech owls
Mentors: Rod Christie, MRGP; Chris Nagy, MRGP; Mark Weckel, MRGP.
Project Description: The eastern screech owl is regarded as a generalist species, relatively unaffected by fragmentation. How screech owls use modified habitats, however, is poorly understood. To complement Chris Nagy’s doctoral research on the impact of urbanization of screech owl population biology, Katherine is investigating how screech owls use the suburban environment for foraging.
Caitlyn Korren, Fox Lane High School
Diet of eastern coyote in a suburban nature preserve
Mentors: Rod Christie, MRGP; Linda Gormezano; CUNY/AMNH; Mark Weckel, MRGP.
Project Description: Coyotes are championed as natural predators for reducing deer populations and for reducing tick-carrying small mammal populations. At the same time, they are also vilified as predators of house pets. Very few dietary studies of eastern coyotes have been performed to straighten out this confusion. As coyote-human interactions increase, more data is needed to provide quantifiable data as to the real benefits and risks of living with coyotes.
Wynter Larson, Ossininng High School
Community of potential predators of hemlock wooly adelgid (HWA) in an eastern hemlockforest
Mentors: Dr. Caroline Cheah, Connecticut Experimental Agricultural Research Station; Rod Christie, MRGP; Chris Nagy, MRGP; Mark Weckel, MRGP.
Project Description: In 2000, Sasajiscymnus tsugae, a predatory lady beetle of HWA was released into the MRGP. The biocontrol agent was not observed following 2001. However, the MRGP hemlock forest is relatively healthy and how S. tsugae and other potential predators contribute to our hemlock’s survival is unknown. In this exploratory study, Wynter will be “hunting” for our lady bird beetle, while surveying the community of potential other HWA predators across hemlock stands varying in infestation.
Mianus River Gorge Preserve
167 Mianus River Rd
Bedford, NY 10506-1808
(914) 234-3455
rodc@optonline.net