This team conducts research on the life histories, community dynamics, and ecological functions of terrestrial and aquatic animals within bottomland hardwood ecosystems. The research is organized within an ecological hierarchy encompassing species communities/assemblages, ecosystems, and landscapes. The effects of forest management are evaluated at each level.
Emphases are:
Identifying species-specific life history attributes or strategies that affect resilience of populations
Examining patterns of animal community composition and structure in relation to habitat and biological interactions
Determining baseline habitat conditions and associated levels of variability in populations, communities, and assemblages of animals along gradients of space and/or time
Providing technology transfer of methods for evaluating and maintaining biodiversity in a multiple-resource context
Team Members
There are 6 people in the Ecology of Aquatic and Terrestrial Fauna Team
Will biofuels treatments harm the Shutispear crayfish?
Sampling for crayfish on Weyerhauser land. (Forest Service photo)
Cooperative research with Weyerhaeuser is currently underway to assess the impacts of biofuels treatments to known populations of Procambarus lylei, the Shutispear crayfish, on Weyerhaeuser land. The species is a Mississippi "species of greatest conservation need", and is listed on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List as "endangered." Early sampling efforts revealed the presence of Hobbseus yalobushensis, another crayfish species of high conservation concern under several ranking systems.
The study has been expanded to allow for more extensive sampling to clarify the distributional extent of the species on Weyerhaeuser land and to better understand the species ecology. Dr. Susan Adams is lead CBHR scientist on this project.
Is habitat fragmentation endangering the Yazoo Darter?
A Yazoo Darter with atypical blue coloring. (Forest Service photo)
That certainly seems to be the case. A recent study by Dr. Mel Warren, Mr. Ken Sterling (formerly with the Center, now Utah State University), and other university cooperators suggests that extensive habitat alteration in the form of impoundments, road, crossings, and channelized streams is creating barriers to disbursement and isolating entire populations of Etheostoma raneyi (Yazoo Darter). Recent and severe declines in contemporary migration rates relative to historical rates were also indicated. The Final Report to the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, which includes discussion of the genetic effects of habitat fragmentation as well as recommended management practices, was released November 30, 2011.
Freshwater mussels are among the longest-lived animals on Earth (up to nearly 200 years). As they grow, mussels form annual rings in their shells—much like tree rings—that can be used to determine an individual's age. Dr. Wendell Haag’s research has refined and extended techniques for studying these rings (please see our photo album "Aging Mussel Shells"), and he is investigating the many other things they can tell us about mussel ecology and aquatic ecosystems in general.
One of the first surprises was that lifespan varies greatly among species. Some are indeed long-lived (>50 years), but others may live only 4-5 years suggesting that mussels use a broad range of life history strategies. Second, growth varies considerably and predictably according to hydrologic and climatic factors. Third, even slight disturbances cause mussels to form distinctive rings that can be distinguished from normal, annual rings. Annual patterns of growth and occurrence of disturbance rings potentially provide a valuable record of changing habitat conditions over time.
Along with collaborators, Haag has published five papers on this research to date, and is currently analyzing large scale growth patterns including an effort to build continuous growth histories stretching back >100 years.
New Interactive Map Tool for Yazoo Darter Research
Screenshot of the Yazoo Darter Interactive Map.
Yazoo Darter researchers now have a new tool in their arsenal thanks to EATF team members Dr. Mel Warren and Ken Sterling.
All known collections of fish within the range of the Yazoo Darter (Etheostoma raneyi), have been compiled into a single "published" map which can be interactively explored by researchers using free ArcReader software. The data can be viewed in a variety of different ways, with and without supporting layers such as ecological levels and hydrologic unit codes, and expanded habitat attributes are included where available. For more information, contact Dr. Mel Warren.
New Book by Dr. Wendell Haag Provides First Comprehensive Review of North American Freshwater Mussel Ecology and Conservation Efforts
The cover of Dr. Haag’s book, North American freshwater mussels: natural history, ecology, and conservation
Dr. Haag’s new book, North American freshwater mussels: natural history, ecology, and conservation, uses historical and contemporary information as well as the author’s own original research to chronicle in detail the history, ecology, and conservation of the approximately 300 species of North American freshwater mussels.
(Proposal for Collection Agreement 11-CO-11330127-010) Effects of biofuels treatments on the crayfish Procambarus lylei
Susan Adams
Cerulean Warblers Populations in Bottomlaned Hardwood Forests: Distribution, Abundance, and Productivity
Paul Hamel
Characterization of Community Structure and Development of Monitoring Protocols for Freshwater Mussels in Bankhead National Forest, Alabama
Wendell Haag Mel Warren
Dynamics of Rusty Blackbird winter range as estimated by the Christmas Bird Count Land-Use History in Relation to Decline and Projected Recovery of the Rusty Blackbird: Project 2]
Paul Hamel
Ecological Interactions Between Potential Seed Dispersers and FORESTIERA ACUMINATA (MICHAUX) POIRET, swamp privet
Susan B. Adams Paul B. Hamel Kristina Connor Bryce Burke Emile S. Gardiner David Wise
Effect of a Tornado on Bird Use of Forest Understory in Two Old-Growth Research Natural Areas on Delta National Forest
Paul Hamel
Evaluation of Ecological Limitations on the Dispersal of the Endangered Pondberry, Lindera melissifolia (Walt.) BlumeEvaluation of Ecological Limitations on the Dispersal of the Endangered Pondberry, Lindera melissifolia (Walt.) Blume
Paul Hamel
Evaluation of Louisiana Black Bear, Ursus Americanus Luteolus, as a Potential Disperser of the Endangered Pondberry [Lindera Melissifolia (Walt.) Blume]
Paul Hamel
Experimental Harvest Manipulation to Improve Cerulean Warbler Habitat on Chickasaw National Wildlife Refuge
Paul Hamel
Fate of Pondberry [Lindera Melissaefolia (Walt.) Blume] Fruits
Paul Hamel
Intermediate Scale Distribution of Cerulean Warblars
Paul Hamel
Microhabitat Interrelationships of Stream Fishes Inhabiting Severely to Moderately Incised Channels of Upper Coastal Plain Streams in Mississippi
Mel Warren Wendell Haag
Movements of Louisiana Black Bear, Ursus Americanus Luteolus, on the Delta National Forest in Relation to Potential Dispersal of the Endangered Pondberry, Lindera melissifolia (Walt.) Blume
Paul Hamel
Recolonization of Streams in North Mississippi Following Severe Drought
Susan Adams Mel Warren
Response of Cerulean Warbler to Forest Harvest Treatments, A. Alternative Treatments On An Anderson-Tully Co. Tract In Desha County, Arkansas
Paul Hamel
Small Mammal Populations in the Overcup Oak, Redgum and Green Ash Research Natural Areas, Delta National Forest
Paul Hamel
Spatial, temporal, and taxonomic variation in population dynamics and community structure of freshwater mussels: Application of stochastic population models and population viability analysis
Wendell Haag Mel Warren
Status and viability of Alabama shad (Alosa alabamae) in the Pascagoula River drainage, and rangewide population genetic structure
Susan Adams
The Influence of Shelter on Catfish Predation Rates on Crayfish: an Experimental Approach
Susan Adams
Wildlife Use of Bottomland Hardwoods 50 Years After Timber Stand Improvement or Clearcutting: I. Density and Species Composition of the Breeding and Wintering Avifauna
Winston Paul Smith
Winter Bird Population on Sharkey Site
Paul Hamel
Winter raptor populations and predation on small mammal populations in relation to restoration of forest to abandoned agricultural lands on the Sharkey Site, Sharkey County, Mississippi
Paul Hamel
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