This document summarizes a study of waterfowl diversity at Lake Reba in Madison County, Kentucky during fall migration. The author surveyed the lake in October, November, and early December, recording 11 total waterfowl species present. The four dominant species were American Coots, Mallards, Canadian Geese, and Pied-billed Grebes. Diversity indexes showed low diversity between waterfowl species across the survey months.
Poster survey of migratory waterfowl on krystal lake quarry pond chazyMichelle Volk
I created this poster and presented it at the 2013 Northeastern Natural History Conference and at the 2013 Sigma Xi research presentation at SUNY Plattsburgh.
Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) of Bivalves in Northwestern Bohol, PhilippinesAI Publications
Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) is a measure of status of marine resource in a given area. In this study, bivalve fishery information was gathered using the self-structured questionnaire. There were 61 respondents who were the registered fishermen of Calape, Tubigon and Clarin. Among the three towns it was Clarin where highest mean CPUE was observed with 1.2kg/hr/man. This was followed by Calape with 0.8kg/hr/man and lowest mean CPUE was recorded in Tubigon with 0.6kg/hr/man. High CPUE value means that there are still enough bivalve resources in the area and lowest CPUE means that these resources are endangered. Considering that, the result of this study showed that there is a need to regulate the collection of bivalves with lower wild stocks to avoid loss of these natural resources.
Poster survey of migratory waterfowl on krystal lake quarry pond chazyMichelle Volk
I created this poster and presented it at the 2013 Northeastern Natural History Conference and at the 2013 Sigma Xi research presentation at SUNY Plattsburgh.
Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) of Bivalves in Northwestern Bohol, PhilippinesAI Publications
Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) is a measure of status of marine resource in a given area. In this study, bivalve fishery information was gathered using the self-structured questionnaire. There were 61 respondents who were the registered fishermen of Calape, Tubigon and Clarin. Among the three towns it was Clarin where highest mean CPUE was observed with 1.2kg/hr/man. This was followed by Calape with 0.8kg/hr/man and lowest mean CPUE was recorded in Tubigon with 0.6kg/hr/man. High CPUE value means that there are still enough bivalve resources in the area and lowest CPUE means that these resources are endangered. Considering that, the result of this study showed that there is a need to regulate the collection of bivalves with lower wild stocks to avoid loss of these natural resources.
Winter is considered a dormancy period for phytoplankton, mainly due to the absence of light an to low temperatures. But is it? We have found diverse phytoplankton communities under the ice and their fatty acids reveal they are excellent quality food for zooplankton.
Don’t call it a comeback: Studying ancient floods to prepare for future hazardsScott St. George
How long do we need to watch a river before its behavior holds no more surprises? In this country, instrumental measurements of river stage and discharge stretch back a century or more, but this observed history still provides only a rough guide to the risks of future extreme floods. In this lecture, I’ll outline how paleoflood hydrology expands our perspective on river history by combining historical, botanical, and geological evidence of earlier (and ofttimes unknown) floods. And I’ll explain how we can interpret those physical clues left behind by ancient floods to improve hazard assessments for at-risk communities, support decisions about flood infrastructure, and investigate the long-term effects of climate or land-use changes on flooding. Because what has happened before can happen again, most everyone near a river would profit by keeping a longer memory of old floods.
Analyses of Community Attributes of Meiofauna Under A Pollution Regime in the...Agriculture Journal IJOEAR
— Meiofauna community attributes of the lower Bonny estuary was investigated under a pollution regime. This is germane because of the strategic importance of meiofauna in the food chain and the sustenance of any aquatic ecosystem. Five stations representing diverse land based activities such as refuse dump site, fuel depot, fishing-landing areas, residential housing and a station located upstream (control) were chosen for investigation. The meiofauna samples were collected from sediments in three replicate spots per station per sampling months at low tide. Sediment samples were stirred through (63-212nm) meshes to separate meiofauna and organic debris. Meiofauna samples were processed by first washing Meiofauna through a sieve of fine mesh size made of silk material, in order to wash off formation and excess silt or mud. Meiofauna samples were sorted out and identified using standard keys. Result from field studies indicate that meiofauna population abundance and diversity varied slightly between stations and seasons. There was however, no established trend. Meiofauna were generally more abundant in the rainy season than in the dry season. In general, pollution indicator meiofaunal taxa were more in all stations except the control station; the increasing impact of pollutants in the river led to a rise in the relative abundance of r-strategist genera like Chromadora. We conclude that the application of meiofaunal indices can be a useful tool for assessing the environmental quality of estuarine ecosystems.
This presentation by Jonathan Ali, a PhD student at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, was presented at the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute’s Research Forum on Thursday, May 11, 2017. Jonathan is a 2016-2017 student support grantee of the Institute.
In pollution stressed environment, change in the community structure is refl ected in the diversity pattern of the component species. These changes can be quantifi ed as diversity indices, which are useful
in water quality monitoring
Utilization of Multiple Habitat Sampling Protocol for Macroinvertebrates as Indicators of Water
Quality in Stream Ecosystem in Lawis,
Buruun, Iligan City
Winter is considered a dormancy period for phytoplankton, mainly due to the absence of light an to low temperatures. But is it? We have found diverse phytoplankton communities under the ice and their fatty acids reveal they are excellent quality food for zooplankton.
Don’t call it a comeback: Studying ancient floods to prepare for future hazardsScott St. George
How long do we need to watch a river before its behavior holds no more surprises? In this country, instrumental measurements of river stage and discharge stretch back a century or more, but this observed history still provides only a rough guide to the risks of future extreme floods. In this lecture, I’ll outline how paleoflood hydrology expands our perspective on river history by combining historical, botanical, and geological evidence of earlier (and ofttimes unknown) floods. And I’ll explain how we can interpret those physical clues left behind by ancient floods to improve hazard assessments for at-risk communities, support decisions about flood infrastructure, and investigate the long-term effects of climate or land-use changes on flooding. Because what has happened before can happen again, most everyone near a river would profit by keeping a longer memory of old floods.
Analyses of Community Attributes of Meiofauna Under A Pollution Regime in the...Agriculture Journal IJOEAR
— Meiofauna community attributes of the lower Bonny estuary was investigated under a pollution regime. This is germane because of the strategic importance of meiofauna in the food chain and the sustenance of any aquatic ecosystem. Five stations representing diverse land based activities such as refuse dump site, fuel depot, fishing-landing areas, residential housing and a station located upstream (control) were chosen for investigation. The meiofauna samples were collected from sediments in three replicate spots per station per sampling months at low tide. Sediment samples were stirred through (63-212nm) meshes to separate meiofauna and organic debris. Meiofauna samples were processed by first washing Meiofauna through a sieve of fine mesh size made of silk material, in order to wash off formation and excess silt or mud. Meiofauna samples were sorted out and identified using standard keys. Result from field studies indicate that meiofauna population abundance and diversity varied slightly between stations and seasons. There was however, no established trend. Meiofauna were generally more abundant in the rainy season than in the dry season. In general, pollution indicator meiofaunal taxa were more in all stations except the control station; the increasing impact of pollutants in the river led to a rise in the relative abundance of r-strategist genera like Chromadora. We conclude that the application of meiofaunal indices can be a useful tool for assessing the environmental quality of estuarine ecosystems.
This presentation by Jonathan Ali, a PhD student at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, was presented at the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute’s Research Forum on Thursday, May 11, 2017. Jonathan is a 2016-2017 student support grantee of the Institute.
In pollution stressed environment, change in the community structure is refl ected in the diversity pattern of the component species. These changes can be quantifi ed as diversity indices, which are useful
in water quality monitoring
Utilization of Multiple Habitat Sampling Protocol for Macroinvertebrates as Indicators of Water
Quality in Stream Ecosystem in Lawis,
Buruun, Iligan City
A quick presentation on how we can implement our location code into your app so that you can track and trigger messages, promotions and surveys based on your app users location.
11:50 - ‘Multiple-hybrid’ performance 40-
foot cruiser
Joso Perkovic, independent designer, Hreko,
Netherlands
HReko 1ooo is interesting as a base for
development of the perfect 40-foot versatile hybrid
cruiser. It is a ‘multi-hybrid’ sailing boat, a hybrid
between a trimaran and a performance monohull
with water ballast, which results in an entirely new
and improved type of vessel. The ingenuity lies
in the fact that floats (effectively bilge keels) and
ballast tanks have interchangeable functions as
needed. The philosophy behind this project is as
follows: if you’re dependent on wind and electrical
power, your boat should not be heavy. Wp solar
panels: 1.5kW; hydrodynamic regeneration: 3kW;
generator: 6kW; batteries: 20kWh.
11/2/2014
1
Community Ecology I
Stability, Resilience
WFC 10 – D. A. Kelt
A biological community is defined by the species that occupy a
particular locality and the interactions among those species.
A Primer of Conservation Biology, 3rd ed. R. B. Primack 2004
Community Ecology is the study of biological communities.
In what ways are communities organized, structured, predictable?
In what ways are they not?
Note the difference between “habitat” and “community.”
The former refers to a physical location,
whereas the latter refers to constituent species.
Many communities may appear very similar.
Coniferous Forest
near Mt. Rainier
central Oregon
King’s Canyon National Park
Sandy Desert
Sahara Desert
Simpson Desert (Australia)
Death Valley, California
Thus, there may be great variation
from point to point in these
communities
One major way in which they differ is
in composition – the particular species
that occur at a site.
Example: Burrowing
mammals
N. Amer. - Gopher
Asia - Zokor
Australia – Marsupial mole
S. Amer. – Tuco tuco
Africa – Mole rat
Ecologically similar species in different
regions with different evolutionary origins.
N. Amer. - Gopher
Asia - Zokor
Australia – Marsupial mole
S. Amer. – Tuco tuco
Africa – Mole rat
11/2/2014
2
Often true at smaller spatial scales as well . . .
Geomys
Eastern Pocket Gophers
Cratogeomys
Yellow-faced Pocket Gophers
Pappogeomys
Southern Pocket Gophers
Thomomys
Western Pocket Gophers
4 genera of North American
pocket gophers
From a conservation perspective we are interested in how
stable a community is in the face of anthropogenic abuses.
Stability – often portrayed in simple cartoon fashion as follows:
So, given all this variation, how are communities structured,
and how do they respond to disturbance?
Global Stability Local Stability
Stability may be measured by a community’s fluctuation over time.
Communities often remain stable over time.
However, they may be perturbed by some external force.
What happens then?
The American chestnut (Castanea dentata)
made up >40% of trees in mature eastern
deciduous forest.
Chestnut blight – introduced to New York City in ca. 1900
By 1950 only 1 remaining large tree in North America
What impact did this enormous loss have on
the biota of eastern North America?
Perhaps surprisingly, essentially no impact.
Eastern deciduous forests are very diverse – maples, oaks, hickories, catalpa, etc. Loss of American chestnut led to NO major changes in animal or plant communities.
Black bears may have suffered from loss of mast.
Thus, this was a relatively minor perturbation
from the perspective of the community – it
evidently shifted to a different local stable point.
Seven butterfly/moth species were specialists on
American chestnut, and have gone extinct.
Another 49 Lepidopterans simply shifted their hosts.
11/2/2014
3
Pollution – another
perturbation that can
result in ecological
deteriorat.
1. EASTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY
Waterfowl Diversity at Lake
Reba During Fall Migration
BIO 589
Ethan D. Henry
8/29/2013
Qualitative Sight Sampling of Waterfowl Using Lake Reba between Months (Oct. vs. Nov.) To
Determine Species Composition And Diversity Of WaterfowlCommunities.
2. Henry 1
ABSTRACT Waterfowl migration is essential to their survival. Areas of migration in North
America are broken into migration routes known as Fly Ways. In this case the Mississippi Fly
Way will be emphasized. Waterfowl use migration routes to utilize food, habitat, and nesting
sites. Along these migration routes are what is known as “stop-over sites” which include all
water sources; lakes, rivers, wetlands, etc., where waterfowl stop to rest and feed during periods
of migration. Lake Reba in Madison Co., KY, was surveyed during fall migration over the
months October, November, and a small portion of December to determine what species were
using the lake between months during the fall. Diversity indexes were used to show diversity
between waterfowl species. I found that there were 4 dominating species that inhabit Lake Reba
during the fall months which are the American Coot, Mallard, Canadian Geese, and Pied-billed
Grebe. Diversity indexes showed that there was low diversity between waterfowl species
between the three months surveyed.
KEY WORDS disturbance, diversity, habitat, migration, Mississippi Fly Way, Prairie Pothole
Region, waterfowl
Introduction
There are many different fly ways
(migration routes) of waterfowl in the world;
the Mississippi Fly Way is used the most
heavily by waterfowl, especially in the
Mississippi Alluvial valley, which consists
of the lower Mississippi River. (Baldassarre
et al. 2006). The Mississippi is the largest
water way in North America and is
approximately 3701.5 km long. The fly way
is composed of several states which include
Alabama, Arkansas, and Indiana, Illinois,
Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan,
Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio,
Tennessee, Wisconsin, and parts of Canada.
Fly ways are essential to the survival of all
migratory waterfowl because it allows them
to utilize habitat for food and nesting sites.
Early in the year, many waterfowl species
will migrate to what is called “The Prairie
Pothole Region (PPR)” (Figure 1.) in the
northern parts of U.S. and Canada. It is the
most productive duck habitat in the world
(Sorenson, et al.1998). The PPR provides an
abundance of food for duck hatchlings,
perfect habitat for nesting sites, and
protection from predators. But, due to
climate change and other human causing
factors, there has been a loss of habitat in the
Prairie Pothole Region due to the
construction of agricultural land. (Naugle
2001)
Figure 1. Prairie Pothole Region of North
America
Humans play a huge role in the survival of
waterfowl. As the human population
increases so does the demand of food
3. Henry 2
(farming) and building. Humans are the
number one cause of most extinctions and
endangerment of animals in the present age
due to habitat destruction/alteration (Pimm,
et al. 2000). To understand why and where
birds migrate to is essential in managing for
the wellbeing of waterfowl. In the recent
past biologists have seen a decrease in
certain populations of dabbler duck
populations such as the American Black
Duck (Nichols 1995). Contributions to this
issue have been determined by many things
such as, global warming, loss of habitat, loss
of edible biomass, loss of solid breeding
habitat, and other disturbances caused by
humans. After U.S Fish and Wildlife
biologists reviewed several thousands of
articles and books they have then grouped
disturbances into 4 categories listed in order
of decreasing disturbance (Korschgen et al.
1992). Which are, 1. Rapid overwater
movement and loud noise (boating, skiing,
aircraft), 2.Overwater movement with little
noise (sailing, wind suffering, rowing,
canoeing), 3. Little over water movement or
noise (wadding, swimming), 4. Activities
along shorelines (fishing, bird-watching,
hiking, traffic). Understanding dynamics of
waterfowl populations can help us determine
what we as biologist need to do in managing
for waterfowl.
Study Area
The study area, Lake Reba, a 76 acre
reservoir built in the 1890’s by impounding
Otter Creek in the Kentucky River drainage
(City of Richmond KY 2013). The lake sits
on a 600 acre recreational area that is subject
to high anthropogenic disturbances such as;
playgrounds, shelters, picnic areas, a little
league baseball complex, a men’s softball
complex, batting cages, a soccer complex,
walking/jogging trails, recreational fishing, a
boat ramp, fish cleaning stations etc. It is
also home to many different waterfowl
species that use this lake and are subject to
most of these disturbances listed above
(Disturbances 2, 3, 4). The objective of the
study is to determine what waterfowl are
using this area during fall migration
Methods
During each survey, the numbers of species
of waterfowl present were determined based
on observations taken at three locations
(Figure 2.) During each survey, the number
and species of waterfowl seen directly on
the lake, on an island of the lake, or within
approximately 5 meters of the lake shoreline
were recorded. Only one survey of each
section of the lake was taken per sample day
to prevent double counting (Figure 3.). The
lake was sight sampled multiple times
throughout each week of October,
November, and a small portion of
December.
4. Henry 3
Figure 2. Waterfowl Survey Locations
(observation points) on Lake Reba, Madison
Co., KY, Oct.-Dec., 2013
Figure 3. Sections of Lake Reba, Madison
co., KY, surveyed (scanned) for waterfowl,
Oct.-Dec., 2013
To determine how similar species
composition of waterfowl using Lake Reba
between months October, November, and
part of December, Simpson’s Index (Ss) of
Similarity was used to determine similarity
between waterfowl communities for each
month surveyed, and Shannon Weiner
diversity indexes were used to determine
diversity between waterfowl communities
between months surveyed.
Results
I found for the three months sampled, that
there was a total of 11 species of waterfowl
using the Lake Reba during fall the months
(Table 1.). I observed that there were four
dominating species that were using Lake
Reba which were Mallards, Pied-billed
Grebes, Geese, and American Coots.
Simpson’s index showed a value of 0.55 for
waterfowl surveyed October, 0.61 for
November, and 0.6 for December. The
Shannon Weiner values for the three months
were 0.96 for October, 1.11 for November,
and 0.98 for December. In this case Shannon
Weiner having statistical value between 0-5,
5 being high diversity and 0 being low in
diversity, I found that populations at Lake
Reba during the fall months are extremely
low in diversity. I also found while
conducting the surveys that many residents
visiting the lake were feeding waterfowl on
a regular basis.
Discussion
We see from the results that throughout all
months sampled, both Shannon Weiner’s
Diversity Index and Simpsons Index of
Similarity show that there is low diversity of
waterfowl species using Lake Reba during
months October, November and December.
According to the Sibley Field Guide all the
dominating species recorded in the study
except for the American Coot use this part
(Madison Co.) of the Mississippi Fly Way
year round for habitat. These species include
the Canadian Geese, Mallard, and Pied-
billed Grebe. When compared to a similar
study done in 1984 by Brad Andres in
Lexington, KY, (approximately 45km north
of Madison Co.) at a local city reservoir, he
found that during the early months of fall
that mallards and coots were the dominating
species in his study. Upon comparison
between these two studies a trend arises in
that, Mallards and American Coots are
found to be the dominating species of both
studies in early fall. Andres also noted that
the greatest diversity waterfowl in the
Lexington reservoir took place in December
5. Henry 4
which could resemble the peak of waterfowl
species migrating through this area and shed
light on why Lake Reba showed low
diversity since only a portion of December
(3 days) was surveyed for waterfowl.
Therefore, further surveying would be
needed to conclude if Lake Reba would
become more diverse in waterfowl during
fall/winter migration.
Table 1. Number of waterfowl surveyed during months of October, November, and December at
Lake Reba, Madison Co., KY, 2013
Waterfowl Species October November Dec (1st – 4th) Total
Geese 116 236 71 423
Pied-billed Grebe 86 127 28 241
Mallard 348 405 0 753
American Coot 336 741 87 1164
Great Blue Heron 13 16 0 29
Hooded Merganser 0 2 0 2
Ring-necked Duck 0 6 0 6
Double-crested Cormorant 0 1 0 1
Bufflehead 0 21 0 21
Northern Shoveler 0 6 0 6
Lesser Scaup 0 3 0 3
6. LITERATURE CITED
Baldassarre, G.A., E.G. Bolen, T.R., Sayre.
2006. Waterfowl migration fly ways. Pages
252-270 in Water Ecology and Management
2nd Edition Mississippi Alluvial Valley.
Sorenson, L. G., Goldberg, R., Root, T. L.,
Anderson, Michael G., 1998. Potential
effects of global warming on waterfowl
populations breeding in the Great Plains.
Volume 40, Issue 2
Sibley, D. A., 2003. Bird distribution in
North American. Pages 1-10
Dahlgren, Robert B., and Carl E.
Korschgen. 1992. Human disturbances and
their impacts on waterfowl: an annotated
bibliography. Us Fish and Wildlife Service
Resource Publication 188. Jamestown, ND:
Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Online<http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resourc
e/literatr/disturb/index.htm> Accessed 24
Sept. 2013
Naugle, David E., et al. 2001 A landscape
approach to conserving wetland bird habitat
in the prairie pothole region of eastern South
Dakota Wetlands. 21.1:1-17.
Andres, Brad. 1989. Fall and winter use of
the Lexington Reservoirs by waterbirds. The
Kentucky Warbler 65:56-60, Accessed 10
Oct. 2013.
Ducks Unlimited: Mississippi Flyway
Project." Weblog post. DU Projects:
Mississippi Flyway. Accessed 24 Sept.
2013. <www.ducks.org/conservation/where-
wework/flyways/du-projects-mississippi-
flyway>
Pimm, S. L. 2000. Impacts of humans on
biodiversity. Nature Publishing Group.
Accessed 10 Oct. 2013. <
City of Richmond, Lake Reba. Web. 25
Sept.
2013.<http://richmond.ky.us/index.php/2012
-07-31-17-46-27/lake-reba>
Nichols, James D., Fred A. Johnson, and
Byron K. Williams, 1995. Managing
waterfowl of North America JSTOR.
Accessed 06 Dec. 2013.
Kulm Wetland Management District.
Productivity of the Prairie Pothole Region.
U.S Fish and Wildlife Service Accessed. 20
Dec.2013<http://www.fws.gov/kulmwetland
s/pothole.html>.