Group items tagged

continuing the project on invasive plants in thinned and burned project areas, TTU will add an analysis of ant assemblages in these project areas. Ants are important dispersers and consumers of seeds of native and non-native plants, and understanding the presence of different ant species and colonies is an important facet of invasive plant ecology. Ant samples are being collected by NPS entomologists, and sorted in the laboratory. Sorted ant samples will be shipped to TTU and identified by ant specialists on campus. Data recorded will include ant species, site and trap number, collection date, and numbers of individuals of different ant castes (workers, soldiers, queens, etc.)

U.S. Geological Surveyâ¿¿s (USGS) Great Lakes Science Center is offering a funding opportunity for research on â¿¿Analysis of Piscivore Diets in Lake Huron. This research will provide insight about the forage fishes used by top predator in Lake Huron. These types of contemporary information are necessary given the continued decline of most forage species over the past few years, and the need to understand how these fish are using the limited prey base in Lake Huron. Information gleaned from these studies will be used to guide sportfish management in the study areas and across the Great Lakes.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Great Lakes Science Center is offering a funding opportunity for research to improve understanding of fish community variation in rivers of Ontario, Canada relative to multi-scale landscape characteristics. Natural resource managers in Canada are interested to understand how fish communities respond to human activities in catchments across a range of natural landscape contexts. To address this need, data collected in four river basins spanning a range of geologic, temperature, agriculture, urban, dam, and downstream connectivity characteristics will be investigated. Specifically, the research will investigate the relative importance of different scales of influence (e.g., local vs. valley section vs. catchment) on variation in fish community composition and structure.