|
Mentors
OTS is seeking additional mentors for the NAPIRE program.
CLICK HERE for more information.
Mentor |
Contact info |
Research interests |
Anne Brasher
U.S. Geological Survey Water Science Center, Utah |
abrasher @ usgs.gov
(435) 259-3866 |
Stream ecology
More info |
Luis Cayuela
Department of Ecology, University of Alcalá
Spain |
luis.cayuela @ uah.es
(+0034) 918856407 |
Landscape ecology, plant biodiversity, species distribution modelling, vegetation gradients, conservation practice, ecosystem services
More info |
Susan Cordell
USDA Forest Service
Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry
Hilo, Hawaii |
scordell01 @ fs.fed.us
(808) 933-8121 ext. 128 |
Restoration ecology, plant ecology
More info |
Maria Eifler
Museum of Natural History
University of Kansas, KS |
meifler @ ku.edu
(785)-864-3047 |
Reptile ecology, animal behavior
More info |
Doug Eifler
Haskell University, KS |
deifler @ erellinstitute.org |
(co-mentor with Maria Eifler)
More info |
Karin Gastreich
Department of Biology
Avila University, MO |
Karin.Gastreich @ avila.edu
(816) 501-2996 |
Plant-animal interactions, invertebrate behavior
More info |
Patrick Hart
Department of Biology
University of Hawaii at Hilo |
pjhart @ hawaii.edu
808-974-7645 |
Avian ecology, behavior and conservation
More info |
Rebecca
Ostertag
Department of Biology
University of Hawaii at Hilo |
ostertag @ hawaii.edu
(808) 974-7361 |
Restoration ecology, plant ecology |
Tom Peterson
Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory
Colorado State University, CO |
tcpete @ nrel.colostate.edu
(970) 491-2162 |
Hydrology, stream ecology
More info |
Heather York
Department of Biology
Doane College, NE |
heather.a.york @ gmail.com
(402) 613-8959 |
Mammal ecology (bats)
More info |
Project descriptions
Anne Brasher
U.S. Geological Survey Water Science Center, Utah
The majority of the fish, shrimp, and snails in Costa Rican streams have a unique life-history called amphidromy. The animals spawn in the stream, larvae wash out to the ocean where they spend from a few weeks to a few months as plankton, and then post-larvae migrate back upstream to grow and spend the rest of their life cycle. Potential projects this summer will focus on the longitudinal distribution and abundance of various shrimp and/or snail species. We will survey animals through a variety of methods including putting out small traps, and doing snorkeling surveys. To assess small-scale movement we will tag animals and recapture them periodically. These species can be very sensitive to land-use alteration, and sampling will be conducted in sites within forested areas, and sites in pasture lands. Additional projects comparing leaf-litter input (food for shrimps) and algal growth (food for snails) at sites with different land-use characteristics may be possible.
This project is largely field-based, so interested students should be prepared for a lot of hiking, and should be very comfortable in and around water. Most of these studies will include a snorkling survey component (good swimmers are encouraged even if you don't have experience with snorkeling). Depending on student interest, projects may also include lab work (for example; measuring chlorophyll content in algae samples, identifying larvae using a microscope, estimating leaf litter decomposition rates, or developing a picture-based species identification guide for shrimp and snails found at the research station).
Back to top
Luis Cayuela
Departamento de Ecología, Universidad de Alcalá, Spain.
I am very interested in studying vegetation patterns at different spatial scales, with particular emphasis on community composition and diversity. Potential projects that can be developed by students include:
- Assessing the effects of forest fragmentation and human disturbance on the abundance of species. The students can focus on a species of their choice (e.g. trees, lianas, birds) and compare its relative abundance in forest fragments with different characteristics (size, shape, connectivity, etc.). This would imply the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), statistics, and field sampling.
- Assessing the effects of forest fragmentation and human disturbance on plant community composition and structure. This would require the completion of full inventory plots in different areas of Las Cruces Biological Station in order to evaluate the effects of environmental and human-related variables on plant communities.
- Modelling the potential distribution of species at different spatial scales. We can use data from easily accessible databases (e.g. MOBOT-TROPICOS W3 database) to model the distribution of one or various plant species at the regional scale (i.e. in Costa Rica), and then collect field data in Las Cruces Biological Station and model the distribution of these same species at the local scale. The aim would be to see if the variables that determine the presence/absence of species change at different scales.
Alternatively, students can carry out an observational study exploring changes in plant communities and/or species abundances (birds, plants) along environmental gradients (e.g. altitude). I am also open to students who wish to make their own proposals and will help them develop their ideas.
Back to top
Susan Cordell
USDA Forest Service Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry Hilo, Hawaii
This research will address patterns and processes related to the ecosystem recovery of abandoned agricultural lands located in southern Costa Rica near the Las Cruces Biological Field Station. Research projects will include 1) an examination of the relationship between biological structural characteristics such as species diversity and density, forest floor litter mass and soil characteristics with other physical characteristics such as forest slope and exposure. The project may encompass an existing restoration project at Las Cruces (Holl, Zahawi, and Cole) as well as neighboring forest and agricultural fragments. 2) An additional project will examine the role of species on ecosystem recovery. This project will incorporate physiological and morphological measurements of key forest species including: a) estimates of carbon gain; b) rates and efficiency of photosynthesis; and c) allocation patterns such as leaf mass per unit area, foliar nutrients, and integrated water use efficiency. In addition, we encourage the development of suitable and complimentary research projects related to the recovery of degraded tropical forests. Information gained from these projects will help elucidate and refine restoration prescriptions for fragmented forests in Southern Costa Rica.
Back to top
Maria Eifle
Museum of Natural Histor.y University of Kansas, KS
Doug Eifler
Haskell University, KS
Research this summer will focus on the ecology of the semi-aquatic lizard Norops aquaticus.
This lizard is restricted to forested areas along streams. It is a diurnal insectivore who uses visual displays and aggressive interactions to maintain territories along the river. Last summer, we conducted preliminary studies looking at how N. aquaticus choose perches along the Rio Java (the river that runs through the Las Cruces Biological Station). This year, students can choose to work on one of several aspects of this lizard’s behavior and ecology:
Habitat suitability: We know that in general this species occurs on trees near streams. We do not know what specific aspects of forest or river are needed to support populations of N. aquaticus. As forests become increasingly fragmented and river characteristics altered through human activity, species that rely on these habitats will become increasingly impacted. One possible study would involve characterizing the range of forest/river conditions in which this species occurs. This would involve surveying for N. aquaticus in multiple stream systems with varying levels of forest abutting them. Students would spend a lot of time walking through streams looking for lizards (we will find a lot more than our species) and measuring stream and forest characteristics. Depending on student interest, we may try to incorporate a GIS component to this project.
Behavioral ecology: Living along a river may seem like a fine thing, but it actually present quite a few challenges: 1) the river create a visual distraction for those trying to communicate or forage, 2) the almost daily changes in river height means that resources and the landscape change on a daily basis, and 3) the river may represent an obstacle for movement. We would welcome students interested in doing behavioral studies of N. aquaticus. Here are some possible topics:
- Foraging: We do not know what they eat or where they find their food. Do they hunt in the water? Feed on prey washed ashore? Does the visual distraction of the river influence their foraging? A student working on foraging would spend time doing detailed observations along the river, might do some sampling to determine prey availability in the river and on land, and would be encouraged to do some feeding experiments to examine the decisions of foraging lizards.
- Communication and social behavior: Male N. aquaticus extend a flap of skin under their neck (=dewlap) when communicating with other individuals, often in combination with a series of pushups. For this visual signal to be effective, it must be perceived by others; in this species that means being seen across the river, against all sorts of noise. Students could work on describing signaling in N. aquaticus and understanding how displays are produced in the field using videotaping and computer analysis. In particular, field observations would focus on identifying the circumstances under which males display. Students less interested in the details of how the lizards signal, could focus more on detailing the social system of N. aquaticus. Little is know about their system of territoriality and much could be gained from establishing a population of marked individuals and documenting how individuals interact. This option would involve lots of time along the river making observations.
- Behavioral development: Juveniles and adults seem to occur in different parts of the environment. They may have different physiological tolerances, different diets, or different predators. Just because adults are territorial, does not mean juveniles defend living areas. Students interested in doing extensive behavioral observations could focus on juvenile behavior, or on comparing adults with juveniles.
Students interested in any of these possibilities should contact Maria or Doug Eifler to get more details.
Back to top
Karin Gastreich
Duke University, Organization for Tropical Studies
I am interested in supervising projects in the general areas of arthropod (insect and spider) behavior, including patch choice, prey preference, cooperation and foraging behavior. At Las Cruces, students working with me could study three species of Piper ant-plants found in the forest. Belonging the black pepper family Piperaceae, these plants house tiny red ants in the genus Pheidole. Previous research has indicated Pheidole ants protect the plants from herbivory, while the plants offer the ants food (in the form of lipid-rich food bodies) and shelter (in hollow petioles). A spider in the black widow family Theridiidae inhabits the plants and preys on Pheidole ants. In lowland wet forest, the presence of the spider has been shown to affect ant behavior and influence levels of damage due to herbivory on the plant. Given that Las Cruces is a mid-elevational forest (at 1100m), the dynamics of the system here could be quite different. Students working with this system should be prepared to study a world in miniature, as the arthropods living on Piper are very small (3-5mm). Potential projects in the Piper-Pheidole system include:
- A comparative survey of the 3 species of Piper ant-plants found in the Las Cruces forest, including distribution, relative ant, herbivore and spider loads, and standing levels of folivory.
- Behavioral ecology of the ant predator Dipoena schmidti (Theridiidae), including microhabitat and prey preference.
- Assessment of the direct effects of the ant predator Dipoena schmidti on Pheidole behavior and density, coupled with quantification of the indirect effects on herbivore loads and folivory.
Back to top
Patrick Hart
Department of Biology, University of Hawaii at Hilo
I am interested in how habitat fragmentation affects animal "culture". In particular, do birds that live in reduced populations within habitat fragments experience a loss of song complexity relative to larger populations in other areas? At Las Cruces, students could focus on a single bird species and make recordings of songs and calls in forest patches of different sizes. Students would then analyze the songs using Raven software to compare complexity as a function of population size and patch area. I would also be very open to students expanding on these ideas, or even studying other aspects of avian ecology at Las Cruces.
Back to top
Tom Peterson
Colorado State University
My research interests are in hydrology, somewhat atypical from most studies at OTS stations, particularly Las Cruces. Clearly, one cannot ignore the influence of water on biological systems, and ecohydrology has become an important subdiscipline to both ecology and hydrology. To paraphrase wikipedia.org, ecohydrology is a new interdisciplinary area linking hydrology with ecological processes involved in the water cycle. Ecohydrology seeks to understand how hydrological processes influence ecological processes, and vice versa.
Hydrological research at Las Cruces has been infrequent and limited in scope, so there are numerous research paths to follow. Las Cruces is not a homogeneous plot of land. The variety of land surfaces, from mature forest to pasture, provides interesting opportunities for comparison. There is also water. In July 2007, there was measurable rain everyday, ranging from 0.5 to 80.8 mm.
I am fascinated by how streams respond to rainfall events. I am interested in how antecedent soil moisture conditions, soil texture, soil litter, and vegetation (leaf-area index) influence stream response, both in water quality and quantity. A good background paper is: Giambelluca, T.W., 2002. Hydrology of altered tropical forest. Hydrological Processes, 16:1665.
Potential research pathways include:
- Investigating stream water quality (and quantity) response to rainfall events in plots with differing levels of vegetative cover.
- Developing the baseline for a hydrological observatory at Las Cruces.
- Comparison (water quality and quantity) of saturated overland flow between plots with differing levels of vegetative cover.
- Sampling various Costa Rican watersheds for Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (a chytrid fungus thought to be the cause of amphibian extinctions and declinations). This activity would be limited by the level of external funding.
Back to top
Heather York
Doane College
Student researchers will capture bats nightly with mist nets, allowing for careful identification and measurement of each individual. Because bats are so abundant in the Neotropics, mist-netting is an extremely useful tool for taking an inventory of species and studying their relative abundances in various habitats. We will survey a number of habitats in and around Las Cruces to gain a better understanding of the effects of different management plans on bat communities. At the same time, students may conduct related projects that make use of morphological measurements, behavioral observations, or demographic capture data. Outside of mist-netting, students may choose to conduct surveys of foliage-roosting bats by searching for leaf tents in the forest during the day.
Back to top
|
