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.
Learn more about Rahlin’s Marsh Bird research
