SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
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Session A, 2016 Cranberry Lake Director\u27s Choice Award: Cryptic Shade and Hue Gradients of Anaxyrus americanus from Stream to Forest Habitats
Get PDFCamouflage is a form of protection deployed by a wide variety of species to render themselves to prevent detection. We examined how the background substrate of the environment, in this case being the transition from streams to deciduous forests, affects the coloration of the American Toad (Anaxyrus americanus), a noxious and cryptically colored amphibian found across the Eastern United States. The general color transition from streams, with a prevalence of lighter colors, to deciduous forest, consisting of red leaf debris and dark tree shadow, should be seen in this cryptic coloration of A. americanus. Six-mile creek, Chair rock creek, East creek and Sucker brook located at Cranberry Lake, NY were selected to survey American toads. Three 100x10m belt transects, each 100m apart were run perpendicular to each stream, and the dorsal coloration of toads found inside these transects were recorded using the Munsell soil color chart. Hue and darkness of each specimen were recorded along with the distance away from the stream it was found. The distance away from the stream will be categorized into ranges and colors will be place within these ranges, so that a chi-square test would be conducted. We hypothesize that A. americanus is darker and redder as distance away from streams and into deciduous forest increases. Preliminary results have found support of this hypothesis in regards to darkness however, no significant difference in hue has been found. This indicates that toads are ecologically adapted to their respective habitat types in regards to cryptic coloration
Session D, 2016 Third Place: The Response of American Toads (Anaxyrus americanus) to The Urine of Distressed Conspecifics
Get PDFThe American toad (Anaxyrus americanus) utilizes alarm pheromones to communicate most prominently in the larval stages of life (Chivers et al 1999). This is also a developing subject of study on adult A. americanus and other anurans (Woodley 2010). This method of communication between adult A. americanus, in regards to danger, was the objective of our study. We collected A. americanus and coaxed them into urinating in a jar with toilet paper and then put them in the experimental tank (one side had toilet paper with toad urine, and the other side had toilet paper with tap water). A different toad was then measured, sexed, and placed in a container with a hole on top and allowed two minutes to acclimate in the tank. The container was then lifted, and the toad’s behavior and distance traveled was recorded during a two-minute period. After running a two proportion t-test, the results showed that A. americanus did not prefer water over the urine of a distressed conspecific. A Chi-square test was performed which showed that there was not a significant difference in the distance traveled away from the urine between large and small A. americanus. Another Chi-square test was done and showed that there was no difference in the distance traveled away from the urine between male and female A. americanus. The results of our study do not allow us to draw any significant conclusions in regards to the presence of alarm pheromones in the urine of adult A. americanus
NC Brown Center Annual Report 2015-2016
Get PDFHighlights of the year July 1, 2015- June 30, 2016:
• A proposal was awarded by the National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation Program for a new transmission electron microscope, Principal Investigator, Susan Anagnost. The proposal MRI: Acquisition of a Cryo Field Emission Transmission Electron Microscope sought financial support for the acquisition of a cryo field emission scanning transmission electron microscope (FES/TEM) to replace the current 30 year old transmission electron microscope in the NC Brown Center for Ultrastructure Studies at SUNY-ESF. The award of 1.6M.
• Teaching: Microscopy course offered were: MCR 484, MCR 783, MCR 480, MCR 570, MCR 683, MCR 685, MCR 785.
• Offered NC Brown Ultrastructure Center expertise and services to the following businesses: Car-Freshner Corp., CSArch, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Schoder Rivers Engineers.
• Class demonstrations of the scanning electron microscope were provided by Dr. Anagnost for ENS 132.
• Changes in management of microscopes. Provost Bruce Bongarten made the decision that Analytical and Technical Services would manage the use and maintenance of the electron microscopes
Session C, 2016 First Place: Avian aggression levels in response to the Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) alarm call in edge habitats around Cranberry Lake Biological station
Get PDFMobbing is an anti-predatory combination of various aggressive behaviors employed by birds to protect themselves and kin through expulsion of threats, as often seen by Black-capped Chickadees. We hypothesized mobbing bird species in edge habitats will exhibit more occurrences of aggressive behaviors, including high frequency calls and physical contact, in response to Black-capped Chickadee alarm calls than playbacks of Chickadee song, Blue-Jay (Cyanocitta cristata), and Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus) alarm calls. We further hypothesized there would not be significant differences in bird aggression levels, measured by average fly-ins, between selected edge habitats. We used block sampling to construct three transects, containing four circular quadrates with 10-meter diameters, separated by 200-meters. Playback order was randomly selected for each quadrate, with one playback per day, over four days (n=48). We designed an exhaustive ethogram to log behaviors performed over 5-minutes of playback and 2.5-minutes of additional observation. We used a chi-squared test, for homogeneity of proportions to demonstrate differences in behavior from playbacks. It was determined there is a significant difference between playbacks. Furthermore, we performed an ANOVA test for homogeneity between habitats, which determined there was no significant difference between edge habitats. Data suggested Black-capped Chickadee calls elicit more occurrences of aggressive behaviors around Cranberry Lake Biological Station edge habitats
F. Franklin Moon Library Annual Report for 2015-2016
Get PDFThe Annual Report serves to record the efforts and accomplishments of F. Franklin Moon Library over the past year. It serves to assess your unit’s progress in meeting Faculty and College goals. It also serves to assess the contributions of unit personnel
Scanning Electron Microscopy Laboratory Portfolio
No full textThe MCR 484 course is designed to provide students with the skills and knowledge to properly operate a Scanning Electron Microscope. In this collection are some of my best pictures from the course, as well as pictures that demonstrate the skills I have learned
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
Session D, 2016 First Place: Mighty Moss: The water-holding capacity, heat retention, and debris content of local moss genera in relation to its use as a traditional diaper material
Get PDFIn the Adirondack region, mosses were one of many plants gathered and utilized by indigenous peoples. However, there is a limited amount of literature available that connects traditional moss usage with Western scientific methodology. Sphagnum moss was a popular resource among communities and was utilized for food preservation, cradles, insulation, furniture stuffing, and infant diapers (Harris, 2008). An effective moss diaper would be insulating, absorbent, and easy to prepare. This study attempted to verify indigenous knowledge by assessing heat retention, water holding capacity, and debris contained in four local moss genera: Sphagnum (peat moss), Polytrichum (haircap moss), Dicranum (carpet moss) and Leucobryum (pincushion moss). Processed Gossypium (cotton) was used as a control for heat retention and water-holding capacity experiments. These attributes were assessed to determine which moss was most likely used as an effective diaper material by native peoples in the region
Hunting Behaviors and Foraging Success of Winter Irruptive Snowy Owls in New York
Get PDFThe snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) is a charismatic raptor that exhibits irruptive movements to exploit unpredictable resources in the Arctic tundra. During irruption years, many owls migrate past the southernmost extent of their traditional wintering grounds and must adjust to entirely unfamiliar habitats. The conditions associated with these new habitats may impact aspects of snowy owl behavior, and may influence snowy owls’ abilities to adapt to their wintering grounds during irruption years. I analyzed the hunting success, hunting behaviors, and diurnal activities of winter irruptive snowy owls in New York, USA, from January-March, 2015, and assessed how environmental factors (temperature, time period, cloud cover, snow depth, habitat type, etc.) influence snowy owl hunting success and behavior. I used an online citizen science resource, eBird, to locate snowy owls and I observed them from an automobile. Snowy owls were successful in 45.1% of 51 prey capture attempts. Adult owls were 30% more successful in capturing prey than were juveniles. Snowy owls used variants of the sit-and-wait technique to capture mammalian prey. Owls executed hunting attempts more frequently at low temperatures than at high temperatures. Snowy owl hunting activity peaked during the morning and late afternoon. Snowy owls were more successful in capturing prey at 50-100% cloud cover than at 0-50% cloud cover. All other environmental factors had no detectable influence on snowy owl hunting success. When compared to previous studies, winter irruptive snowy owls were equally adapted to their wintering grounds as were wintering snowy owls during non-irruption years
A Sensitivity Analysis on Oil and Gas Prices and How This Affects Sustainable Energy Implementation
Get PDFA sensitivity analysis was performed to determine how variation of oil and gas prices affects the Net Present Value of sustainable energy technologies. The economic analysis was developed to determine if variations in fuel prices would alter a recommendation in a prior study of sustainable energy technology. Twenty five years of data was analyzed to determine the mean and to develop a sensitivity range of current fuel prices plus/minus one and two standard deviations. This created a range of five fuel prices in which the economic analysis, specifically Net Present Value, was performed. The results showed that most of the sustainable energy technologies that were recommended had Net Present Value responses proportionate to the change in fuel prices. In some cases, specifically a geothermal heat pump that was suggested in the prior study, this increase in fuel and gas prices increased the Net Present Value to become positive thus demonstrating that if we saw prices increase one standard deviation we would expect the geothermal to be a positive Net Present Value. This sensitivity analysis reflects how risks of errors in the forecast could be modelled to account for risks when performing an economic analysis, in turn making sustainable energy technologies more favorable to implement