SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
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Cranberry Lake Biological Station Research Symposium, Session A
Get PDFEcological Monitoring and Biodiversity Assessment (EFB202) is the one of the keystone courses in the Environmental and Forest Biology curriculum. Students enrolled in this immersive course live at the Cranberry Lake Biological Station for three weeks. During the first two weeks of the course, students study a wide variety of taxonomic groups of organisms, and are introduced to a broad range of field, laboratory and analytical methods. Students then complete a group research project during the third and final week of the course. The research projects require proficiency in field sampling methods, basic experimental design and statistical analysis, and the ability to cooperatively solve problems.
The course culminates in a research symposium during which groups present their findings to their peers and a panel of judges. The top three research projects are recognized with the Shields Research Award, named after Dr. Bill Shields, a retired EFB faculty member who conducted many years of research at Cranberry Lake Biological Station
Toward a New Erie Boulevard East in Syracuse and Dewitt, New York: Bus Rapid Transit and Urban Forestry in a Time of Climate Challenge
Get PDFErie Boulevard is a major corridor that runs east-west in the City of Syracuse and Onondaga County. It is a corridor that lacks sufficient multi-modal transportation options and pedestrian infrastructure. This study looked at design and design analysis to test the viability of: bus rapid transit and biophilic urbanism, to identify impacts on ecological systems, economy, and social well-being of communities and residents. The design was evaluated through i-Tree programs, Design, Canopy, and Hydro. The results revealed an increase in ecological and economic benefits. This project is important because it is relevant to many mid-size cities with major streets that are both urban and suburban in nature, have lost their design coherence, and need major revitalization that offers the opportunity for the application of new design concepts
Plant Species Richness and Diversity of Northern White-Cedar (Thuja occidentalis) Swamps in Northern New York: Effects and Interactions of Multiple Variables
Get PDFNorthern white-cedar swamps have been shown to have relatively high plant species richness. The northern-white cedar swamps on Fort Drum in northern New York, have no known study of understory plant richness. My interest was in the abiotic and biotic conditions that promote richness in these wetlands. A survey of the herbaceous and woody plant species under 10.16- centimeter dbh in the 10 northern white-cedar swamps revealed 211 plant species, 26 of which were on the New York state protected plant list. Standardized swamp richness ranged from 78 to 99 vascular plant species. Multiple regression analysis revealed that soil conductivity and depth to water table most influenced the richness. Results of relative deer density estimates revealed that higher relative deer density swamps had lower species richness than lower relative deer density swamps. Swamps closer to the Fort Drum Impact Area were found to have lower deer density than those further away
Growth and molecular responses of Solanum lycopersicum (Tomato) to Enterobacter sp. 638
Get PDFBacterial endophytes colonize total plant tissue without harming their hosts. One specific endophyte, Enterobacter sp. 638, is known to produce plant hormones which result in increased biomass (Taghavi et al., 2011). This study examined the effects of E. 638 inoculation and stress on growth of tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum). Stressed inoculated plants produced significantly more fruit, and flowered, set fruit and ripened earlier than uninoculated plants. Stressed inoculated plants also had 30% larger root mass; however inoculation had no significant impact on unstressed plants. In addition, qPCR was used to measure the effects of inoculation on relative expression of certain genes in tomato root tissue. Inoculated plants had significantly higher transcript levels of ethylene signaling protein (EIN2), cytokinin receptor protein (CRE1) and cell wall relaxing protein (EXPA4) compared to uninoculated controls. These results may have major implications to agriculture by potentially enabling sustainable crop production under stressful conditions
Session D, 2017 First Place: Under the Sphagnum: An Observational Analysis of the Relationship Between Distance and Ectomycorrhizal Morphotype Diversity in Larix laricina Within Wetland Ecosystems
Get PDFEctomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) form a mutualistic symbiosis with host plants by increasing plants’ uptake of nutrients and water. Many tree seedlings are dependent on EMF for successful establishment in nutrient poor areas, such as wetlands. It was hypothesized that EMF morphotype diversity should decrease as the larch saplings get closer to the center of the bog. Larix laricina was chosen as the EMF host of choice due to its abundance in wetlands around Cranberry Lake. Three sample sites were used and a total of nine trees were sampled from three transect lines at each site. The sites were Forsaith’s Bog, Lost Pond Bog, and an unnamed fen. The distances used consisted of trees from the upland-wetland boundary, trees from the wetland interior, and an intermediate zone. These sites were selected because they possessed abundant stands of Larix laricina and met the DBH requirement of our transects. Twenty root tips were taken from each host sapling. EMFs were classified based on morphological features. EMF diversity was calculated for each tree. A regression analysis on the relationship between distance and diversity of morphotypes showed no significant difference (p=0.051). ANOVA analysis revealed no significant difference between the three sites (p=0.060)
Performance Evaluation and Modeling of Spiral-wound Nanofiltration Membranes During Processing of Pilot-plant Produced Hot-water Extracts of Selected Hardwoods
No full textIn this study, four hardwood hot-water extracts were studied by using one nanofiltration (NF) and one reverse osmosis (RO) membranes. The operating conditions used were: transmembrane pressure was gradually applied from 150 psi to 550 psi, while temperature was kept to no greater than 50°C. During the process, the change of the concentrations in both retentate and permeate flows were determined by 1H and 1H13C Heteronuclear Single Quantum Coherence (HSQC) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). For individual components, a simplistic model based on mass balance was established to evaluate the overall rejection of each species. With the overall rejections over 95% for all sugars, most of the desirable components, i.e. sugars, are preserved. However, most of the fermentation inhibitors, such as acetic acid, furfural, hydroxymethylfurfural, formic acid and methanol, are effectively removed with rejections ranging from 20% to 80%. What’s more, by calculating individual rejections for each species each point, it was found that acetic acid, furfural and methanol sometimes even had negative rejections. Besides, the NF membrane was shown to be the better choice in terms of removing inhibitors and enriching sugars, due to the fact that the NF membrane had a lower rejection for inhibitors compared to the RO ones as well as that both feed flux and permeate fluxes for NF membrane are higher than the RO ones. It was also found that the dilute alkali solution used to clean the membrane could slightly increase the permeate flux of the NF module while it couldn’t effectively reverse the fouling that the RO module suffers. By extending the Spiegler-Kedem model into n solutes scenario, an irreversible thermodynamic model (Extended Spiegler-Kedem model) was established and the corresponding parameters were estimated by means of non-linear parameter estimation function with Matlab. By taking the solute-solute interactions into consideration, the estimated parameters were proved to be useful for explaining the negative rejections found in acetic acid, furfural and methanol
Methylmercury and Isotopic Analysis of lnvertebrates from a Lime Treated Tributary of Lake Honnedaga
Get PDFSession A, 2017 Third Place: The Effects of Anthropogenic Noise Disturbances on Anuran Mating Calls
Get PDFAcoustic signaling is an integral part of anuran behavior for mating and territorial defense amongst conspecifics. Anthropogenic noise interferes with the detection and discrimination of crucial signals, having consequences on individual fitness and overall population levels. We hypothesize intensity of frog calls will decrease in response to an increase in anthropogenic noise and that the time it takes for anurans to return to their control intensity will increase as we increase the decibel of noise stimulus. Whoosh Pond, Beaver Pond, Beaver Meadow, and Pigs Ear Flow were tested twice over a period of four nights. Each night, we played two cycles of three decibel levels of noise treatments in random order (50 dB, 70 dB, and 90 dB), using a recording of a motorcycle. We then recorded the change in calling intensity using the Decibel 10 App, and recorded the time that it took for the frogs to return to their initial decibel level. We had eight experimental units and sixteen sampling units per treatment. We used a regression analysis to measure the relationship amongst the stimulus intensity and the dependent variable (mating call intensity change and length of time before returning to control intensity). The findings will be presented and discussed during the CLBS symposium. We anticipate that our hypotheses will be supported, providing evidence that noise pollution is a significant factor contributing to the world decline of amphibians
Cranberry Lake Biological Station Research Symposium, Session D
Get PDFEcological Monitoring and Biodiversity Assessment (EFB202) is the one of the keystone courses in the Environmental and Forest Biology curriculum. Students enrolled in this immersive course live at the Cranberry Lake Biological Station for three weeks. During the first two weeks of the course, students study a wide variety of taxonomic groups of organisms, and are introduced to a broad range of field, laboratory and analytical methods. Students then complete a group research project during the third and final week of the course. The research projects require proficiency in field sampling methods, basic experimental design and statistical analysis, and the ability to cooperatively solve problems.
The course culminates in a research symposium during which groups present their findings to their peers and a panel of judges. The top three research projects are recognized with the Shields Research Award, named after Dr. Bill Shields, a retired EFB faculty member who conducted many years of research at Cranberry Lake Biological Station
Experimental Reintroduction of American Hart’s-Tongue Fern (Asplenium scolopendrium var. americanum): Factors Affecting Successful Establishment of Transplants
Get PDFThis study analyzed biological and microclimatic factors affecting the post-reintroduction survival and growth of laboratory-propagated American hart’s-tongue ferns (Asplenium scolopendrium var. americanum, AHTF), a rare and threatened fern species with a fragmented distribution across the eastern United States and Canada. In total, 1,925 AHTF transplants, representing four life history stages (protonemata, gametophytes, sporelings, and immature sporophytes) were reintroduced into three sites determined to be ideal habitats within Onondaga County, New York. Factors that resulted in higher rates of survival included more rigorous acclimatization of transplants, better transplant vigor at the time of transplanting, and higher humidity at reintroduction sites. Analysis of wind speed and direction provided implications of low spore dispersal, and therefore low gene flow, between extant AHTF populations. Insights from this research contribute to a growing, yet still understudied, body of knowledge regarding fern species reintroductions and inform best practices for future AHTF reintroductions