Showing posts with label Education and Outreach. Show all posts

Friday, May 20, 2016

Diatom of the month – May 2016: Rhopalodia gibba

vivien May 20, 2016 0

by Luca Marazzi*

Rhopalodia gibba belongs to the epithemioid group, that is to say it has valves symmetric about a line (bilateral symmetry), but asymmetrical to the apical (longitudinal) axis, the raphe system is well developed, enclosed within a canal, and positioned near the valve margin¹. It is longer and more slender than other species such as the lunate R. gibberula, and the more arched R. musculus; it is found in the benthos, attached to substrata such as plant (epiphytic), or gliding more freely and opportunistically². Interestingly, R. gibba seems to have declined significantly in the United Kingdom due to agricultural intensification and associated large use of nitrogen fertilizers. In fact, this pennate (bilaterally symmetric) diatom species lives in nitrogen poor habitats, but it has evolved an endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria that fix nitrogen³. So it does not like when there is too much nitrogen around, and loses its competitive edge against other fellow diatoms and algae, but it’s quite happy with abundant phosphorus…

Rhopalodia gibba in valve and girdle view (scalebars = 10 µm; from Hebron Swamp, Cheboygan Co, MI; photos by P. Kociolek www.westerndiatoms.colorado.edu); (top right) a specimen of the lunate R. gibberula (www.fcelter.fiu.edu); R. gibba with cyanelles (inset above), its endosymbiotic cyanobacteria: https://microscopesandmonsters.wordpress.com; cell length ~ 100 µm & max width ~ 20 µm).

…such as in some areas of the Everglades, where R. gibba can tolerate high phosphorus (P) concentrations (> 800 μg P g⁻¹) in the periphyton mats⁴. This species has been found to dominate primary production in restored prairie wetlands in South Dakota that had persistent high P levels.⁵Moreover, it is well adapted to high conductivity and alkalinity, such as in boreal wetlands in Wood Buffalo National Park(in Northeast Alberta, Canada); here R. gibba lives in yellow diatom ponds (!), nesting sites of whooping cranes⁶. The diatom ponds are shallow spring-fed, alkaline wetlands with bicarbonate, sulphate, calcium and magnesium. In these open habitats, cranes can see predators well, and they find their favored nesting material, bulrush⁶. So preserving the habitats of these glass-celled algae that fix nitrogen thanks to cyanobacteria living in their cells, we end up conserving large charismatic species too (and viceversa), from the bottom to the top of the food chain.

Ponded wetland in Wood Buffalo National Park (source: www.emaze.com).

A whooping crane (source: http://cranetrust.org); this large bird uses diatom ponds as nesting habitats.

* Postdoctoral Associate in Dr. Evelyn Gaiser's lab at Florida International University.

1. Source: https://westerndiatoms.colorado.edu/taxa/morphology/epithemioid

2. M. Kelly “More about Croft Kettle” - https://microscopesandmonsters.wordpress.com/tag/rhopalodia-gibba/

3. Round, F. E., R. M. Crawford, and D. G. Mann. 1990. The Diatoms: Biology and Morphology on the Genera. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.

4. Gaiser E.E., McCormick P.V., Hagerthey S.E. & Gottlieb A.D. (2011) Landscape Patterns of Periphyton in the Florida Everglades, Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 41(S1), 92–120.

5. Mayer P.M. & Galatowitsch S.M. (2001) Assessing ecosystem integrity of restored prairie wetlands from species production–diversity relationships Hydrobiologia, 443, 177–185.

6. Tilmoney K., Zoltai S.C. & Goldsborough L.G. (1997) Boreal diatom ponds: a rare wetland associated with
nesting whooping cranes. Wetlands, 17, 539–51.

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Action to Activism

vivien May 29, 2014 0

This post was written by first-time blogger, grad student Edward Linden, of Dr. Rene Price's of hydrology at FIU (http://www2.fiu.edu/~pricer/).
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Less than a year ago, all that I knew about Everglades was its general location in Florida and the presence of alligators. Through numerous scientific talks given at FIU, my classes, and my research, I have gained a great deal of knowledge about the history of the Everglades as it relates to my field of study. The Saturday that I spent in Gainesville at UF opened my eyes to an entirely new aspect of the Everglades that I had not previously considered; the political side.

I was well aware of the detrimental anthropogenic influences that the region has experienced, so I knew that humans were intimately involved with the changes that have occurred over the past hundred years. I was also aware of CERP (Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan) and CEPP (Central Everglades Planning Project), which were created in response to all of the changes than humans have induced, but I hadn’t given thought to the initiation of these restorative measures. Without important projects like these, the Everglades ecosystem would be in much worse shape than it is today. These restorations would never have come into existence without the advocacy that past environmental activists have put forth to decision makers in government. Decision makers in government are responsible for creating the funding that allows for many of the current restorative activities that have already happened and continue to occur. If not for the advocacy of past activists, the public funding that is currently in place for projects like the FCE LTER would simply not exist.

The workshop began with an introduction by Senator Bob Graham, during which he communicated its goal: to create a bridge to apply personal experience to a larger challenge using the emotional and physical attachments that concern you to action. His introduction was followed by a superb overview of the natural and anthropogenic history of the Everglades, with talks given by UF and FIU faculty, the USGS, and the Everglades Foundation.

Talks included a general physical history (Stephen Davis, Everglades Foundation); an examination of the pulsed, natural and managerial cycles (Marc Brown, UF); a discussion of the challenges and difficulties of science and monitoring with respect to everglades restoration (Vic Engel, USGS); the predicted impacts of climate change and sea level rise (Tiffany Troxler, FIU); the convoluted legal history of everglades water quality litigation (Richard Hamann, UF); the difficulties of communicating issues to policy makers (Dawn Sheriffs, Everglades Foundation); and an introduction to the friction between agricultural interests and restoration efforts (Katrina Schwartz, UF).

The second part of the workshop began with an impromptu play. In the play, Chris Hand (the senator’s assistant and co-author of their book) acted as a congressman and willing participants that the senator had recruited during the lunch break played the parts of environmental advocates, demonstrating some of the common pitfalls that many advocates endure. The play was used as a segue into a discussion of the their book: America, the Owner’s Manual: Making Government Work For You. Senator Graham and Mr. Hand then discussed the process of building coalitions and persuading decision makers, making each of the components very approachable and understandable.

The final portion of the workshop consisted of a pair of breakout groups that focused on advocacy techniques and sea level rise; topics selected based on the audience’s choices. These productive groups presented their discussion results afterwards as the conclusion to the workshop.

There are many people interested in advocating for various causes, but few know how to achieve their goals. Regardless of what background a person may have, the advocacy tools taught in the workshop and the history of the Everglades that was presented combined to produce an excellent foundation for making one’s ideas heard by decision makers. I hope that the workshop can be held soon at FIU, where there are a large number of students interested in advocacy for the Everglades.

Tags # Conferences # conservation # Education and Outreach Continue Reading

Thursday, March 20, 2014

My Recapture Story for the Everglades

vivien March 20, 2014 0

The following link is to an article written by Jessica Lee, FIU graduate student in Dr. Jennifer Rehage's aquatic biology lab (http://www2.fiu.edu/~rehagej/index.html).
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In February I had an opportunity to fish with my favorite group of anglers from the Keys. For the past 30 years this group of fishermen has faithfully made it every month to the backcountry to fish. They were the inspiration for the Coastal Angler Science Team (CAST), the “original-members” before CAST officially came to be. For the past two years they have been regularly scanning their catches for “recaptures” (previous fish we tagged with internal microchips, “PIT-tags”). This group alone has caught over 30 recaptures, about half of the current CAST totals.
To read more, please go to http://cast.fiu.edu/index.php/my-recapture-story-for-the-everglades/ .

Tags # animal movement # conservation # Education and Outreach Continue Reading

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Urban visitors

vivien January 09, 2014 0

This post was written by Mike Bush, a grad student in the aquatic ecology lab (http://faculty.fiu.edu/~trexlerj/) at FIU and an avid natural historian.

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Male hooded warbler

In this post we’re going to move away from the Everglades proper and move to its borders, which in this case means the highly urbanized Miami/Ft Lauderdale megalopolis that lies immediately to the east of all that wild space.
Even in areas of high human density, wildlife can still be found everywhere. Most of you probably have had a raccoon snoop through your garbage or have a highly diverse mix of smaller creeping beasts that live underneath your shed. We can also be visited by wildlife that is just passing through the area, say, on their way to Brazil or to Hudson Bay. A bird banding station is just the place to see such ephemeral critters.

Orb weaver eating an anole. Awesome.

I spent this last Fall devoting my Saturdays and a couple of other random days to helping out the National Audubon Society (http://www.tropicalaudubon.org/) and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (http://myfwc.com/) operate their bird banding station out at the tip of beautiful Key Biscayne. The station lies on the point of an island just a little east of downtown Miami, making it an ideal spot to capture birds that are flying south along the Atlantic coast to their winter homes. A few dozen mist nets (nets that are 25’ or 50’ long and 8’ tall with a fine mesh) are placed in different locations in some preserved areas during fall migration. These nets are checked every twenty minutes and if a bird is tangled up in the mesh, it is carefully removed and brought back to the station. From here every bird has a metallic band placed around its leg that has a unique identification number. Life history details of the birds are also recorded, included sex, juvenile or adult, and condition of animal. Birds are then set free to continue on their long journey, or not so long if they happen to be residents or are sticking around for a few days.

Male painted bunting

The station is noted for its abundance of black-throated blue warblers, though many, many other species also frequent the area, including always-angry northern cardinal and the rapidly-defecating gray catbird. A number of very dedicated and helpful volunteers have kept this station running for several years now, and these data, in conjunction with other bird banding stations as well as Christmas bird counts, help give us a nation-wide view of bird abundance and movement patterns at a spatial scale that would just be too great for even a number of universities and agencies to accomplish. Furthermore, these data have been gathered for years, and in some cases, decades. Combining such information with changing land use patterns, population growth, and a changing climate can help us glean information on how different animals are responding to the presence of humans. Valuable data gathered at a low cost that gets the public involved. That is what science is all about. Also, please go to http://capefloridabandingstation.wordpress.com/ for some great information about the banding station.

Tags # animal movement # conservation # Education and Outreach Continue Reading

Thursday, August 29, 2013

7 Ways to Make to Most Out of Your First National Conference

vivien August 29, 2013 0

A few weeks ago, I attended my first national conference, Botanical Society of America’s Botany 2013 Celebrating Diversity! (BSA) in New Orleans, LA. Here are 7 lessons I learned along the way:

1 ) Go to the big conferences, even if you don’t have a lot of data yet

I just finished up my first year of my PhD program, and I didn't have a lot of “real” data to speak of. So I did what I could, and presented a poster outlining my doctoral thesis proposal. Unexpectedly, I got so much valuable, constructive feedback from experts in my field. I really valued this experience, because at this stage in my program, that feedback provided me with new perspectives on my project before I execute it. Plus, I got to know PI’s, post-docs, and graduate students from other universities that expressed interest in collaborating with me in the future.

2 ) Attend the student professional development luncheons, mixers, etc.

At BSA, there were ample opportunities provided to us as students, to get involved with the society, network with colleagues, and mentor undergraduates. One event that really stood out was the Student Involvement Luncheon, at which they set up a speed-dating style session with professionals that work in various aspects of Botany. Students rotated through tables of natural history museum curators, small liberal arts university faculty, and full-time researchers from Monsanto, large research universities and various governmental agencies. Talk about an opportunity to network—asking questions regarding everyday work environments and get advice on how to succeed in graduate school from successful professionals.

PLANTS Mentors and Mentees at BSA 2013, photo courtesy of Ann Sakai

3 ) Do your homework

Even though it seems daunting, read through all the titles (abstracts, if you are really good!) of presentations and names of presenting authors before you get to the conference. I recommend this for a few reasons: first so that you can create a personal conference schedule for yourself, second to maximize the talks you attend, and so you are aware of which researchers will be at the conference who work in your field. If you are brave, which you should be because everyone at the conferences loves talking to graduate students, plan which researchers you may want to approach to discuss your research throughout the conference.

4 ) Session-hop, but pace yourself

It seems that there are a couple approaches to conferences. You can sit in a session and stay for most of the presentations or you can hop between rooms all day dipping in and out of different sessions all day. Since this was my first time at BSA, I opted for session-hopping on day one and two-- that way I could get a better understanding of the breadth of the conference. I attended talks on paleobotany, taxonomy, tropical botany, ecology, science education, plant-animal interactions, to name a few. Especially since there are other national conferences that I am interested in attending annually, this method helped me better understand what types of research BSA represents. However, by the end of day two, I had racked up 3-4 talks every hour for 8 hours each day. You do the math--I was exhausted! The third day I opted to sit in on entire sessions. This approach worked really well for me because that was the day that the sessions particularly related to my thesis work. Also, I saw presentations that hadn’t piqued my interest in the agenda—some of which ending up being my favorite of the conference.

5 ) Come prepared with an “elevator speech”

Luckily I had a professor who made a point of getting us all to practice describing our research in an interesting and informative way in thirty seconds or less. Make sure that before you go to the conference, you can do this. Practice with you lab-mates, fellow graduate students, your non-science friends, family, or whoever you can get to listen. Make sure it is fast and doesn’t make eyes glaze over or create temporary memory loss. Also by practicing it, you will be less likely to stumble over your words and more likely to sound clever and confident while you are talking to that researcher whom you have been “stalking” all conference long.

6 ) Find ways to fund your trip or at least make it affordable

Most of the larger societies hosting national conferences have student grants available. These grant cycles are usually early, so make sure to check the website well before the conference. Also, some societies allow students to volunteer at the conference in exchange for reimbursing their registration fees. Your department or university graduate school may also have small grants available for travel or professional development. I got a grant from FCE (THANK YOU!) and a couple other smaller grants that helped offset the cost of my trip. Finally, two of my lab mates and I shared a hotel room, which made a huge difference! An alternative to that is staying in a nearby hostel instead of the conference hotel, but try to find one that is within walking distance to the conference.

7 ) Make time to enjoy the location of the conference

Lastly, there is nothing worse than going somewhere for four days and never leaving a hotel conference room. Make time during lunch or the evening to get out and experience where you are. Especially since I am a plant-geek and a field ecologist, I really can’t be inside all day without going a little stir crazy. But beyond getting some fresh air, it is important, because conferences may be some of the only times throughout graduate school that you get to go to visit new places (for free, if you’ve followed tip 6!). BSA was in NOLA, so my lab-mates and I made it a point to go out to eat lots of gumbo, crawfish etouffee, po’boys, muffalettas, and jambalaya. We also made the required trip to Café du Monde and even got to hear a jazz and a brass band! Also, we went with our advisor to the Audubon Insectarium--all without missing a single presentation.

I hope these tips help you in planning your next conference experience.

-Julia

Tags # Botany # Conferences # Education and Outreach Continue Reading