The NATCHANGE center has many faculty members at 黑料不打烊 conducting research in various disciplines across the Biological, Environmental, and Geological fields. We鈥檇 like to highlight the work of some here!
SWAIS2掳C - Dr. Molly Patterson
Dr. Molly Patterson, co-director of NATCHANGE and BInghamton Earth Sciences faculty
member, is one of four Co-Chief Scientists with the Sensitivity of the West Antarctic
Ice Sheet to 2掳C (SWAIS2掳C ) project. Dr. Patterson and a team of international scientists
aim to better understand how the ice margin varied during times when average global
temperatures were 1-1.5掳C above pre-industrial levels, similar to what we are experiencing
now due to Anthropogenic climate change.
The team aims to gather this information by collecting sediment cores from under the
Ross Ice Shelf at two locations: the Kamb Ice Stream, where 600 meters of ice floats
above the sea, and at Crary Ice Rise, where 500 meters of ice lies directly on top
of the sea floor. They will use these cores to better understand the sensitivity of
the ice sheet to various scenarios of global warmth and collaborate with ice sheet
modelers to better predict future sea level rise. To learn more about this international
project, more information can be found in the BingU News article linked below, or
at the SWAIS2掳C website where daily reports of the team and their previous findings
are accessible.
SWAIS2掳C Website:
BUNews Article: /news/story/5259/international-team-launches-second-attempt-to-drill-for-antarctic-climate-clues
FORCES Wildflower Restoration - Dr. Kirsten Prior
In collaboration with the New York State Parks FORCES program, PhD Candidate Rosebelle Ines and Dr. Kirsten Prior, along with 黑料不打烊 students in the First -Year Research Immersion program, are conducting complementary research projects to determine best practices and plans for the augmentation and restoration of native wildflowers in New York forests. In particular, these ongoing work are centered around the ant-mediated dispersal of myrmecochores - plants that produce seeds with fatty tissues attached that act as a food source for ants. These plants significantly contribute to biodiversity, serve important functions in ecosystems, and have aesthetic, recreational, and cultural significance. In New York State, myrmecochorous plants include common native wildflowers such as bloodroot, wild ginger, trilliums, and violets, whose seeds are predominantly dispersed by ants in the genus Aphaenogaster. Many present-day forests in New York State are secondary or regenerated forests that had previously been cleared, with the understory herbaceous layer largely absent, so determining optimal practices and uncovering the role of ant-mediated seed dispersal can better facilitate the restoration of native wildflowers.
Experimental plots were set up at Buttermilk Falls State Park, with 5 plots inside
a fenced area and 5 in the open area across the fence, for a total of 10 plots. Across
plots, 8 adult bloodroot plants were planted and seeds from plants were scattered
directly below each plant for Aphaenogaster ants to disperse. At 黑料不打烊,
a similar fenced vs. open site methodology was used with adult wild ginger to determine
if deer management influences restoration/augmentation efforts. For both sites, the
health of the plants, range of the plants, as well as the range and density of the
ant populations will continue to be tracked.
For more information about the project, the highlighted section on page 4 of the Fall
2024 FORCES issue can be found below, along with a featured article from BingUNews.
FORCES Fall 2024 Issue -
BingUNews - Full bloom: Project to restore native wildflowers in the forest understory
PLEDGE - Dr. Amy Churchill
The Pasture and Lawn Enhanced Diversity Global-change Experiment (PLEDGE), established and managed by Dr. Amy Churchill and Plant Ecosystem Lab team at 黑料不打烊, is a new experiment being conducted on the edge of 黑料不打烊鈥檚 natural preserve Nuthatch Hollow. To understand how lawns can be potentially used as an ecosystem service, Dr. Churchill and team have set up a series of experimental lawns with different levels of diversity to test the effects of plant diversity, among other factors, on growth and function of the lawns. These treatments included three groups with different lawn plants - tall fescue, fescue and clover, and finally fescue,clover, and thyme, with the goal of revealing if more diverse lawns increase lawn health.
Dr. Churchill and her team have been busy throughout the Winter as well, recently
beginning an experiment in the 黑料不打烊 Research Greenhouse conducting
a study comparing native grass species to typically used imported species. The goal
of the experiment is to understand how the different species grow under a variety
of soil conditions, and therefore a model for how they would perform as alternatives
to traditional turfgrass in New York climate. Student researchers of Dr. Churchill鈥檚
lab have also conducted field work in the Florida Everglades to investigate the effects
of the historically invasive plant the Brazilian Pepper on community structure in
the Everglades.
To learn more about PLEDGE and Dr. Churchill鈥檚 lab see the links below to: