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Bernard Field Station Use Fall 2005

Research Projects

Request No.: 0517552E8E
Submitted on: 12/19/05 at 9:41 AM
User: Melinda Herrold-Menzies, Faculty member, Pitzer
E-mail: mmenzies@pitzer.edu
College phone: 77960

Number in research group: 2
Dates: 12/26/2005 to 05/10/2006
Frequency: Weekly
Time of day: Dawn, Morning, Afternoon
Areas to be used: western CSS, central CSS, pHake Lake, vernal pools, eastern CSS, oak forest, corner, infirmary, north field, south field, lower neck, central neck, upper neck
Facilities or equipment needed: None
Will any plant or animal species be studied? no
Will plants or animals be collected? no
Will vertebrate animals be collected or manipulated? no
Will markings or flags be used? no

Description of research project: Mark Acuna, a representative of the Tongva Nation, and I will be doing some plant ID work at the BFS. Mark is teaching me about Tongva uses of coastal sage scrub species. We will not be collecting any specimens.

Request No.: 05F38C3BE9
Submitted on: 10/22/05 at 12:27 PM
User: Diane Thomson, Faculty member, JSD
E-mail: dthomson@jsd.claremont.edu
College phone: 607-0029

Number in research group: 3
Dates: 10/23/2005 to 05/14/2006
Frequency: Weekly
Time of day: Varies - daytime use, depending on schedule of thesis students
Areas to be used: north field, south field
Facilities or equipment needed: None
Will any plant or animal species be studied? yes - Amsinckia mensiezii, Phacelia distans, Camissonia bistorta
Will plants or animals be collected? no
Will vertebrate animals be collected or manipulated? no
Will markings or flags be used? yes - Blocks will be flagged (see description) and plots delineated with colored plastic stakes.

Description of research project: The projects will examine the role of seed limitation, competition, herbivory and non-native plant diversity in limiting the re-invasion of native forbs into disturbed non-native grassland communities at the BFS. A series of native forb seed addition experiments will be carried out in plots that have either been cleared of non-native grasses or selectively thinned to reduce non-native diversity, as well as in unmanipulated controls. We will also test for the effects of competition from a non-native forb (Brassica nigra) on a native forb (Amsinckia mensiezii) in the presence and absence of insect herbivores.

Request No.: 05EEC3ED66
Submitted on: 10/14/05 at 6:44 PM
User: Martin G. Ramirez, Faculty member, - Loyola Marymount University - Loyola Marymount University
E-mail: mramirez@lmu.edu
College phone: 310-338-5120

Number in research group: 3
Dates: 10/25/2005 to 12/15/2005
Frequency: Other - One or two visits, depending on what we find on the first visit.
Time of day: Morning, Afternoon
Areas to be used: western CSS, central CSS, eastern CSS, corner, north field, south field, lower neck, central neck, upper neck
Facilities or equipment needed: None
Will any plant or animal species be studied? yes - Garden spiders, Genus ARGIOPE
Will plants or animals be collected? no
Will vertebrate animals be collected or manipulated? no
Will markings or flags be used? no

Description of research project: My purpose in requesting access to the BFS property is to find out whether large garden spiders of the genus ARGIOPE are present, and if so, to ascertain where they are most abundant. I have previously published two papers concerning the genetics and web orientation of one of the three common ARGIOPE species (TRIFASCIATA, Ramirez & Haakonsen 1999, Ramirez et al. 2003) and am presently trying to find an inland location where TRIFASCIATA [and/or the two other species, AURANTIA & ARGENTATA] can be easily found in anticipation of conducting further work on ARGIOPE web orientation during fall 2006. Given these goals, I would anticipate exploring most areas of the BFS site (along with two students) during one or two visits this fall, visually searching for large ARGIOPE orb webs.

Request No.: 05D5D4AD9C
Submitted on: 9/4/05 at 10:23 AM
User: Marius van der Merwe, Faculty member, JSD
E-mail: duisendpoot@yahoo.com
College phone: 909 607 0715

Number in research group: 3
Dates: 09/01/2005 to 05/15/2006
Frequency: Several-days/week
Time of day: Dawn, Afternoon, Evening
Areas to be used: eastern CSS, oak forest, infirmary, north field, south field
Facilities or equipment needed: None
Will any plant or animal species be studied? yes - Spermophilus beechyi (California ground squirrel)
Will plants or animals be collected? no
Will vertebrate animals be collected or manipulated? no
Will markings or flags be used? yes - I will use feeding stations (consisting of artificial food patches) at different points in the habitat. A food patch will simply be a plastic container filled with sand, into which food is mixed.

Description of research project: Predatory threats often vary with features of the environment, some areas favoring predators and some favoring prey. Dangerous areas may be under-utilized whereas safe areas may be over-utilized, resulting in patterns of habitat use shaped by risk or fear. Areas that differ in predation risk can be visualized as a landscape of fear, with valleys representing areas of relative safety, and peaks areas of relative danger. The foraging cost of predation can be measured at specific locations in the environment using the giving-up-density of food of a foraging animal in artificial food patches. The aim is to extrapolate from such measurements to spatial 3-D maps representing landscapes of predation cost or fear, and specifically, to gain insights into factors affecting predation risk, and therefore habitat use, of California ground squirrels (Spermophilus beechyi).

Request No.: 05B826C0CB
Submitted on: 5/19/05 at 7:10 PM
User: Daniel Martinez, Faculty member, Pomona
E-mail: dmartinez@pomona.edu
College phone: 9096077926

Number in research group: 4
Dates: 05/01/2005 to 12/31/2009
Frequency: Other - Sporadically
Time of day: Dawn, Morning, Afternoon
Areas to be used: pHake Lake
Facilities or equipment needed: None
Will any plant or animal species be studied? yes - Hydra spp.
Will plants or animals be collected? yes
Will vertebrate animals be collected or manipulated? no
Will markings or flags be used? no

Description of research project: Two hydra species inhabit pHake lake: the brown hydra Hydra oligactis and the green hydra Hydra viridissima. Both species have been included in a molecular phylogeny currently being built in the Martinez Lab at Pomona College. Hydra from pHake lake are collected sporadially for training purposes.

Request No.: 059634FD86
Submitted on: 2/3/05 at 12:02 PM
User: Nina Karnovsky, Pomona
E-mail: nina.karnovsky@pomona.edu
College phone: 607-9794

Type of use: Research
Number in group: 4
Dates: 02/14/2005 to ongoing
Frequency: Several-days/week
Time of day: Varies - Some activities are at night others in day
Areas to be used: western CSS, central CSS, eastern CSS, oak forest, corner, infirmary area, north field, south field, lower neck, central neck, upper neck
Facilities or equipment needed: None
Will any plant or animal species be studied? Yes - Neotoma fuscipes and Neotoma lepida
Will plants or animals be collected? No
Will vertebrate animals be collected or manipulated? Yes
Will markings or flags be used? No

Project description: Students will be comparing the habitat preferences of the two species of woodrats that are at BFS. I will be attaching small, removable radio collars to woodrats. The students will relocate the rats several times a week. They will map their locations and will measure vegetation characteristics where rats are found. Traps for woodrats will be placed in the evening and checked several times during the night to ensure that no rats are sitting there too long. After capture they will be weighed and sexed, fitted with the radio collar and given a PIT tag. This is a small injected tag that reads like a bar code. This method is preferable to ear tags because ear tags often get pulled out and rip the ears of the rat. All the protocols have been approved by the Fish and Game for both species. Students will be responsible for relocating the rats while they are out foraging. They will need access to BFS at dusk and at night (this is one reason why I want to use BFS, it is safer than sending them elsewhere). These are all advanced biology students who are familiar with BFS and its rules. Students will also make maps of all the woodrat houses that they can find. It is my hope that this project will continue throughout the summer and next fall. Woodrats will be recaptured to remove the radio collars when the batteries start to run out.

Request No.: 0283C72C52
Submitted on: 9/6/02 at 10:07 AM
User: Catherine McFadden, Faculty member, HMC
E-mail: mcfadden@hmc.edu
College phone: 909 607-4107, Other phone: 909 399-9260

Type of use: Research
Number in group: 2
Dates: ongoing to ongoing
Frequency: Other - 1-2 visits/month
Time of day: Dawn, Morning
Areas or facilities needed: western CSS, central CSS, pHake Lake, eastern CSS, oak forest, corner, infirmary, east field, lower neck, central neck, upper neck
Species to be studied: all birds
Will vertebrate animals be used? no
Will markings or flags be used? no
Will plants or animals be collected? no

Project description: ongoing survey of birds using the BFS with the goal of putting together a comprehensive site checklist with information on seasonal abundance and use patterns.