Category: Climate

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UBAP leader A Rahlin presents Chicagoland ornithological research

UBAP leader Anastasia Rahlin presented two talks recently.

In January Rahlin presented “Oak Masting in the Chicagoland Region” at the Cook County Forest Preserve District – Resource Management talk as part of CCFPD’s Environmental Education program.

Rahlin and collaborators have been collecting oak masting data in the Chicagoland region over a seven-year period from 2017-2023. The talk focused on data regarding northern red, white, and bur oaks and discussed the history of oak masting research, outlined potential hypotheses that explain the likelihood of mast seeding events, and explored preliminary model results linking weather factors such as temperature and precipitation to acorn masts.
This study examines the impact of oak masting on Red-headed Woodpecker populations, an acorn caching species. Preliminary analyses linking acorn masts to Red-headed Woodpecker presence/absence and whether masting influences Red-headed Woodpecker overwintering in northern Illinois sites were also discussed.
In February, Rahlin presented  “Investigating Extreme Weather Impacts on Sedge and Marsh Wren food limitation and nesting success” at the McHenry County Forest Preserve District Research Roundup talk series.
Rahlin has been examining how habitat quality and extreme weather events impact marsh and wet meadow species in northern Illinois. Her talk focused on continued efforts to monitor marsh and sedge wren body condition through wren morphometrics and blood metabolites in order to understand how the two species respond to droughts and storms. Rahlin also discussed nesting outcomes for both wren species, as well as avenues for future research.
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New paper on Baron’s mantella frog, co-authored by Devin Edmonds

frog on moss
Mantella baroni photo by Devin Edmonds

INHS PaCE Lab PhD candidate Devin Edmonds co-authored a recent paper on habitat features of Baron’s Mantella Frog. Tantely Rasoarimanana (Université d’Antananarivo) and Olivier Marquis (Paris Zoo) led the collaboration with the NGO Man and the Environment. The study aimed to identify what microhabitat features explain the presence of Baron’s mantella frog (Mantella baroni) and also estimate their population sizes in Vohimana Reserve, eastern Madagascar. We found that leaf litter depth and the number of small trees in a quadrat were important habitat features; deeper leaf litter and fewer small trees explained if M. baroni was present.

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Even small urban wetlands can support wetland birds

The landscape surrounding wetlands does not determine use by most wetland birds according to a new study by UBAP Ornithologist Anastasia Rahlin and collaborators Sarah P. Saunders (National Audubon) and Stephanie Beilke (Audubon Great Lakes).

The three researchers have been studying marsh birds in the Chicagoland area for the past 3 years, and their results indicate that even small scale wetland conservation in developed areas can be beneficial to many wetland birds.

Rahlin says, “to me, it’s a hopeful message that yes, restoration does work and is important even in small urban wetlands.”

Read the paper in Ecosphere
U of I News Release
Learn more about this research

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PACE Lab researchers awarded two Competitive State Wildlife Grants

Two projects from the INHS PACE Lab were among the 21 projects funded nationally by the 2021 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Competitive State Wildlife Grant (C-SWG) program.

The first cooperative project is with the Iowa and Illinois Department of Natural Resources, allocated at $499,797 for the joint project titled “Blanding’s Turtle Conservation in Iowa and Illinois, 2022 through 2024”.  The project team from the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) and National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGREEC) comprises Ethan J. Kessler, Michael J.  Dreslik, Andrew R. Kuhns, and John A. Crawford. The team was awarded $249,449 for their portion of the project, “Population Assessment and Space Use in a Kankakee Sands Region Blanding’s Turtle Population.” While much work has been done on Blanding’s Turtle populations in the Chicagoland region, this project focuses on lesser-known populations in the Kankakee Sands Conservation Opportunity Area.

The grant will facilitate an intensive capture-mark-recapture study to determine population size and begin to collect demographic data. A subset of turtles will be tracked using radio telemetry and GPS trackers to monitor survival and determine space and habitat use. The data is necessary to determine the amount and extent of suitable habitat available on the landscape and address causes of mortality for this population. The work will build on previous research on Blanding’s Turtles in Illinois and further inform conservation planning.

musselsThe second cooperative project is with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources allocated at $247,892 for the joint project titled, “Regional Assessment of Widespread Mussel Declines: a Multistep Approach to Examine Potential Causes.” The project team from the INHS comprises Sarah A. Douglass and Alison P. Stodola while INHS alum Bernard Sietman will lead Minnesota’s portion. The INHS team was awarded $113,364 for their portion of the project. Freshwater mussels, an ecologically important component of river ecosystems, are experiencing widespread declines. With the award, Douglass and Stodola will investigate potential causes for these declines with the goal of informing conservation guidelines and recovery planning. Additionally, this study is an expansion of a largescale, cooperative project spearheaded by Dr. Wendell Haag, US Forest Service Research Fisheries Biologist, and American Rivers to examine causes of freshwater mussel declines across North America.

Researchers will assess pairs of rivers with similar historic mussel assemblages, comparing a river with relatively intact mussel assemblages and a river with a degraded assemblage. They will develop health metrics and assess habitat characteristics to identify potential causal factors of decline. Juvenile mussels will be propagated and used to assess health in response to potential causes of decline. Another part of the project will use eDNA and targeted sampling to update knowledge of Salamander Mussel populations in Illinois and Minnesota. The research will build on a pilot project previously undertaken by Douglass to use eDNA to detect the critically imperiled species and its host, the Mudpuppy salamander.

In granting these awards, USFWS recognizes the necessity of these two projects to further the goals of the Illinois Wildlife Action Plan to conserve imperiled species and their habitats.

 

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New paper on habitat restoration impacts on box turtles

Eastern Box Turtle growth is influenced by environmental conditions which in turn can be influenced by vegetative structure. Removal of Autumn Olive and Russian Olive at a site in Illinois occurred during a 16 year mark-recapture study allowing us to analyze impacts of removal on the growth of turtles. The data showed that removing the invasive plants may not negatively impact the growth of the turtles and that growth is variable by individual. This is attributed to reptile growth being influenced by more than just environmental conditions, including genetics.

Read the paper: Edmonds, D., A.R. Kuhns, and M.J. Dreslik. 2020. Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) growth and the impacts of invasive vegetation removal. Herpetological Conservation and Biology 15(3):588–596.

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PaCE Lab at the Illinois State Fair

Smokey Bear using snake tongs

Members of the PaCE Lab exhibited in Conservation World at the 2019 Illinois State Fair, providing information and education to over 500 visitors. In addition to displays about the research being done by the group, visitors were able to try their hand at using actual field equipment used by scientists in their daily work.

The Illinois Bat Conservation Program had a mist net deployed where visitors could untangle, identify, and measure bats, all while wearing leather gloves.

The Amphibian and Reptile Conservation group had snake tongs, hooks, calipers, and radio telemetry equipment available for visitors to try to wrangle snakes into a snake bag, measure turtles, or track a hidden turtle.

Other activities included Build-a-Bug, where people can assemble the arthropod of their dreams (or nightmares) from a variety of general and specialized appendages, Wheel of Migration, about the risks migratory birds face, and locating PIT-tagged animals.

Smokey Bear using snake tongs
Gray Treefrog picked the right tent to visit
Wheel of Migration
Build a Bug
Vin Vasive wrangling a snake with a hook
Build-a-Bug
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Snakes, fish, turtles, birds, and clams – PACE Lab at Midwest Fish and Wildlife conference

The PACE Lab was well represented at this week’s Midwest  Fish and Wildlife conference in Cleveland Ohio.  Lab members and affiliates from the INHS Herp Lab and the INHS Mollusc Lab presented 7 talks, 1 lightning talk, and 1 poster on a variety of fauna including: Massasaugas, Banded Killifish, Asian Clams, Alligator Snapping Turtles, Bigeye Chub, and Rails.

Presentations

  • Tracking recovery goals for the conservation reliant Eastern Massasauga rattlesnake. M. Redmer, M.J. Dreslik, and E.T. Hileman

  • Monitoring Eastern Massasauga populations within the Carlyle Lake region. M.J. Dreslik, J.A. Crawford, S.J. Baker, and C.A. Phillips

 

 

  • Combating threats to the Eastern Massasauga with directed conservation actions in Illinois. C.A. Phillips, S.J. Baker, and M.J. Dreslik
  • The epidemiology of Snake Fungal Disease in Eastern Massasaugas over the last 10 years. M.C. Allender, E. Haynes, M. Kelley, and S.J. Baker

 

  • Rapid expansion of Banded Killifish (Fundulus diaphanous) across northern Illinois: dramatic recovery or invasive species? J.S. Tiemann, P.W. Willink, T.A. Widloe, V.J. Santucci Jr., D. Makauskas, S D. Hertel, J. T. Lamer, and J.L. Sherwood

 

  • Testing the role of stream flow eDNA abundance using the invasive Asian clam Corbicula spp. M.A. Davis, J.S. Tiemann, S.A. Douglass, and E.R. Larson

Ethan Kessler presenting

  • Can we use environmental DNA to detect Alligator Snapping Turtles (Macrochelys temminckii) at the edge of their range? E J. Kessler, K.T. Ash, S.N. Barratt, E.R. Larson, and M.A. Davis

 

 

Lightning Talks

  • Using environmental DNA to determine Rail occupancy and track migration. A.A. Rahlin, M.A. Davis, and M.L. Niemiller

Posters

  • Recovery of Bigeye Chub (Hybopsis amblops) populations in Illinois. J.L. Sherwood, A J. Stites, J.S. Tiemann, and M.J. Dreslik
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Snakes in Central Illinois

snake on log

PACE Lab leader Mike Dreslik was interviewed by the News Gazette to answer a reader’s question: “After reading the article about Snake Road in southern Illinois, I started wondering what species of snakes are found here in central Illinois? Have any new species been found over the last few years, with the milder winters?”

In addition to listing off species found in the area, Dreslik said, “Although it seems the winters are getting warmer, especially as spring approaches, we have not seen any new species of snakes moving into Illinois, we just see snakes emerging from their winter slumber sooner.”

Read the complete response at the News Gazette

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Rising temperatures could benefit the Snapping Turtle

Rising temperatures could benefit the Common Snapping Turtle.

CHAMPAIGN, ILL. — A recently published study of snapping turtle nests at Gimlet Lake in Garden County Nebraska from 1990 – 2015 found that warmer fall temperatures positively correlate to larger eggs and larger numbers of eggs, while warmer spring temperatures are negatively correlated with egg size and number.

Nesting females were observed and after depositing eggs, captured, measured, marked, and released. The nests were excavated and eggs were counted and measured before being reburied.

Maximum egg size is limited in many turtle species by the size of the female, specifically the pelvic aperture, thus surplus resources are used to develop a greater number of eggs rather than larger eggs. Although this limitation is present in many species of turtles, it was clear a different pattern existed within Snapping Turtles (Chelydra serpentina). Large adult snapping turtles are not restricted in the size egg they can produce and in warmer years, produced larger eggs but the same number. Small adult snapping turtles, on the other hand, did not increase the size of their eggs, but produced larger clutches in warmer years.

Most temperate zone turtles begin developing their embryos in the fall, suspend development over the winter, and complete development in the spring. Snapping turtles complete the majority of their development in the fall, which may reduce the impact of winter and spring climate conditions.

Forming the eggs in the fall may enable snapping turtles to lay their eggs earlier and provide their young an advantage over other species. Herpetologist Michael Dreslik said,“Generalists like the Snapping Turtle tend to be more adaptable. The added benefit from warmer temperatures could allow Snapping Turtles to gather more resources for larger eggs or larger clutches.”

The mechanisms by which warmer temperatures influence egg and clutch size are unknown. Turtles are ectotherms, thus metabolism and physiology are impacted by environmental conditions.

“Warmer temperatures increase metabolism, but could result in greater food availability and more efficient processing of the food. Warmer temperatures could also affect the physiology of embryo development,” said lead author Ashley Hedrick. “Alternatively, in the spring, increased metabolism before food is readily available may require females to divert energy from egg development.”

While rising temperatures are generally considered problematic for most species, they could play in favor of the Snapping Turtle.

The paper “The Effects of Climate on Annual Variation in Reproductive Output in Snapping Turtles (Chelydra serpentina).” is available online from the Canadian Journal of Zoology.

Corresponding author: J.B. Iverson email:
To reach Ashley Hedrick, email arhedri11@gmail.com
To reach Michael Dreslik, email dreslik@illinois.edu
Photo by Jason P. Ross