River Forest Research Articles

Home Ranges of Wood Turtles (Glyptemys insculpta) in Northern Michigan

We studied a population of wood turtles (Glyptemys insculpta) along 42 km of a river in a national forest in northern Michigan. For each of 3 summers (1998–2000), 9 or 10 turtles were radiotelemetered and relocated 3–6 times per week; during one winter (2000–2001) 5 turtles were radiotelemetered and relocated once per month. Mean summer home range estimates using 95% adaptive kernel were 40.6 ha (range 0.4–354 ha); using the minimum convex polygon method, summer home ranges averaged 30.2 ha (range 0.2–390 ha). No statistical relationships were found between size of summer home ranges and turtle age, size, or sex. Summer home ranges in 2000 were significantly larger than those in previous years. Because 2 of the study years were unusually dry, we calculated drought indices for each year of the study. We report larger summer home ranges for wood turtles than have been reported in previous studies, including those that report annual home ranges, which may indicate poorer habitat quality in our study area or drought effects.

Influence of logjam-formed hard points on the formation of valley-bottom landforms in an old-growth forest valley, Queets River, Washington, USA

Field surveys and radiocarbon dating of buried logjams in the floodplain of an old-growth forest river demonstrate the formation of erosion-resistant “hard points” on the floodplain of the Queets River, Washington. These hard points provide refugia for development of old-growth forest patches in frequently disturbed riparian environments dominated by immature forest. Our surveys show that local bed aggradation associated with logjams not only influences channel patterns and profiles but leads to development of a patchwork of elevated landforms that can coalesce to form portions of the valley bottom with substantial (i.e., 1 to >4 m) relief above the bankfull elevation. In addition, logjam-formed hard points promote channel avulsion, anastomosing morphology, and growth of mature patches of floodplain forest that, in turn, provide large logs needed to form more logjam-formed hard points. Hence, our findings substantiate the potential for a feedback mechanism through which hard points sustain complex channel morphology and a patchwork floodplain composed of variable-elevation surfaces. Conversely, such a feedback further implies that major changes in riparian forest characteristics associated with land use can lead to dramatic simplification in channel and floodplain morphology.

Abundance and Production of Riparian Trees in the Lowland Floodplain of the Queets River, Washington

Riparian zones associated with alluvial rivers are spatially dynamic, forming distinct vegetative mosaics that exhibit sharp contrasts in structure and processes related to the underlying biophysical template. The productivity of riparian plants, especially trees, influences streamside community characteristics as well as the forms and fluxes of organic matter to adjacent streams – thereby strongly impacting patterns of channel morphology, water flow, sedimentation, and habitat in rivers. As part of a comprehensive investigation of riparian dynamics in coastal rain forest rivers of the Pacific Northwest (USA), we examined riparian tree abundance (density, basal area, and biomass) and rates of production (basal area growth [BAI] and bole wood biomass increase [P]) of seven common species – red alder (Alnus rubra), Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis), bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum), western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa), vine maple (Acer circinatum) and willow (Salix spp.) – in the lowland floodplain of the Queets River (Olympic National Park), Washington. Measurements were made annually for three years (1999 – 2001) in 16 permanent plots on three biophysical templates that formed a toposequence – active floodplain, young terrace and mature terrace. Stem density was highest in the active floodplain (∼27,000 stems/ ha), decreasing in the young terrace (∼2,700 stems /ha) and the mature terrace (∼500 stems/ha). Basal area and total stem biomass were lowest in the active floodplain (∼16 m²/ha and ∼18 Mg dry weight/ha, respectively) and higher on the young terrace (∼32 m²/ha and ∼134 Mg dry weight/ha) and on the mature terrace (∼69 m²/ha and ∼540 Mg dry weight /ha). Total plot-scale BAI was not significantly different among the physical templates with mean values ranging from approximately 1.4 (low terrace) to approximately 2.8 m²/ha/y (active floodplain). In contrast, P was significantly higher on the mature terrace (10.3 Mg/ha) than the active floodplain (3.2 Mg/ha) but there was no significant difference between young terrace (6.5 Mg/ha) and mature terrace. For the entire Queets River floodplain (57 km2 over 77 km of river length), the mature terrace contributed 81% of the total annual production (28,764 Mg) whereas the active floodplain and young terrace accounted only for 5 and 14%, respectively. Overall, we show that riparian trees grow quickly in this coastal Pacific Northwest system and that the older riparian forests on mature terraces are the main contributors to stem production at the plot and floodplain scales for at least 350 years after stand initiation. This suggests that, in combination with the rapid lateral migrations of many alluvial rivers, the older riparian forests on those terraces are important and sustained sources of organic matter (especially large woody debris, LWD) that, over decades to centuries, shape the character of coastal rivers in the Pacific Northwest.

Case Study: Fund Raising in a Financial Crisis: Concordia University, River Forest, Illinois

Case Study: Fund Raising in a Financial Crisis: Concordia University, River Forest, Illinois

Changes in forest fragment sizes and primate population trends along the River Tana floodplain, Kenya

AbstractThe Tana River forest patches significantly decreased in total area by 1875 ha (34.5%), from 5439 to 3564 ha between 1979 and 2000. The area covered by forests outside the Tana River Primate National Reserve declined by 1246 ha (38%) from 3283 to 2037 ha. This loss was higher than that inside the reserve, where total forest area reduced by 629 ha (29%) from 2156 to 1527 ha. The numbers of Tana River red colobus (Procolobus rufomitratus) and Tana crested mangabey (Cercocebus galeritus galeritus) groups were significantly correlated with forest sizes suggesting that both red colobus and crested mangabeys are likely to be affected by forest loss and fragmentation. However, comparison of the 1974/75 and 2001 census data did not reveal any significant change in the number of groups of either the red colobus or crested mangabey. The two endangered primates may have developed strategies to cope with a shrinking habitat.

Phylogeography and species limits in the Gymnodactylus darwinii complex (Gekkonidae, Squamata): genetic structure coincides with river systems in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

Phylogenetic analyses based on mtDNA cytochrome b were performed in 42 lizards of the Gymnodactylus darwinii complex from three regions within Brazil's Atlantic Forest. Mainland regions and continental shelf islands in the south-eastern range and mainland areas from the north-east were sampled. The criteria of maximum parsimony (MP), maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian methods were explored, with the robustness for nodes assessed by bootstrapping (MP and ML) and posterior probabilities (Bayesian searches). By all methods, three distinctive phylogroups were recovered: a south-eastern clade (SE) and two clades from northern regions (NE1 and NE2). The pattern of genetic structure of the major clades coincided with the presence of river systems in the Atlantic Forest, and based on corrected genetic distances between those clades, divergence times were tentatively estimated using mtDNA rates calibrated for squamate reptiles. The putative role of Atlantic Forest rivers in generating differentiation is discussed. We present a hypothesis of species limits for G. darwinii, based on concordant lines of evidence including cytogenetic and mtDNA analyses. Two chromosome races (cytotype A, 2n = 38; and cytotype B, 2n = 40) had distributions concordant with clades SE and NE1 + NE2, respectively. These races are interpreted to be full species on the basis of a number of empirical criteria. © 2005 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2005, 85, 13–26.

Nutritional Considerations in Bariatric Surgery

Lauren Hirschfeld, MS, RD, LD/N, graduated from the University of Florida at Gainesville with a BS in Food Science and Human Nutrition in 2002. Colene Stoernell, MS, RD, graduated from Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois, in 2002 with a BS in Nutrition, Food Service Management, and Food Science. Address correspondence to Colene Stoernell, MS, RD, at [email protected] (e-mail). Both authors graduated from Rush University in Chicago with an MS in Clinical Nutrition in the spring of 2004. They completed their dietetic internship at Rush University Medical Center, where they assisted in screening and teaching bariatric surgical candidates and counseled postoperative patients in both the inpatient and outpatient setting.

Studies in African Cyperaceae 32. Cyperus rheophyticus, sp. nov.

A new species, Cyperus rheophyticus, is described from seasonally submerged habitats in forest streams and rivers in South West Cameroon (500–1350 m). Cyperus rheophyticus is most similar to C. brevifolius ssp. brevifolius (syn. Kyllinga brevifolius), a less slender species with a stronger rhizome, larger spikeiets and glumes with a spinose keel; also the anther and achene are larger in that species.

Globally significant changes in biological processes of the Amazon Basin: results of the Large‐scale Biosphere–Atmosphere Experiment

AbstractThe Amazon River, its huge basin, and the changes in biological processes that are rapidly occurring in this region are unquestionably of global significance. Hence, Global Change Biology is delighted to host a special thematic issue devoted to the Large‐scale Biosphere–Atmosphere Experiment in Amazônia (LBA), which is a multinational, interdisciplinary research program led by Brazil. The goal of LBA is no less modest than its subject: to understand how Amazônia functions as a regional entity in the Earth system and how these functions are changing as a result of ongoing changes in land use. This compilation of 26 papers resulting from LBA‐related research covers a broad range of topics: forest stocks of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N); fluxes of greenhouse gases and volatile organic compounds from vegetation, soils and wetlands; mapping and modeling land‐use change, fire risk, and soil properties; measuring changes caused by logging, pasturing and cultivating; and new research approaches in meteorology to estimate nocturnal fluxes of C from forests and pastures. Some important new synthesis can be derived from these and other studies. The aboveground biomass of intact Amazonian forests appears to be a sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), while the wetlands and soils are a net source of atmospheric methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), respectively. Land‐use change has, so far, had only a minor effect on basin‐wide emissions of CH4 and N2O, but the net effect of deforestation and reforestation appears to be a significant net release of CO2 to the atmosphere. The sum of the 100‐year global warming potentials (GWP) of these annual sources and sinks of CH4, N2O, and CO2 indicate that the Amazonian forest–river system currently may be nearly balanced in terms of the net GWP of these biogenic atmospheric gases. Of course, large uncertainties remain for these estimates, but the papers published here demonstrate tremendous progress, and also large remaining hurdles, in narrowing these uncertainties in our understanding of how Amazônia functions as a regional entity in the Earth system.

Population Sizes and Distribution of Primates in the Lower Tana River Forests, Kenya

We studied the population size and distribution of diurnal primates in the lower Tana River forests, Kenya. They are the only remaining habitats for 2 threatened primates: the Tana River red colobus (Procolobus rufomitratus) and the Tana River crested mangabey (Cercocebus galeritus galeritus). We conducted censuses in 73 forest patches from January through March 2001. We estimate population size of the red colobus to be 788 individuals in 82 groups and that of the crested mangabeys to be 2,070 individuals in 59 groups. The data suggest that over a 7-year period (1994-2001), there was an 18% increase in the crested mangabey population and a 5% decline in red colobus numbers. Further, the red colobus range has expanded both north and south, whereas that of crested mangabeys has only expanded south. Fifty-six percent of crested mangabeys and 46% of red colobus groups were inside the Tana River Primate National Reserve (TRPNR). Other primates encountered included 170 groups of Sykes' monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis), 70 groups of yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus) and 4 groups of grivets [Chlorocebus (Cercopithecus) aethiops]. Mean group densities of the 2 endangered primates and of baboons were higher inside than outside the TRPNR, reinforcing the importance of TRPNR for their conservation. An intervention program is required to stem further decline in the red colobus population and to protect small isolated groups in forest patches outside TRPNR.

Training as a critical component of elephant research and management in Ghana

Notes the increasing need for trained people, beyond conservation personnel themselves, to conduct elephant survey and monitoring programmes and then outlines a training programme in line with these needs undertaken by the Eden Conservation Society in Ghana under the initiative of the AfESG Small Grants Programme. The Society organized one month long course for 12 wildlife and forestry students from Kwame Nkrumah Universite: 2 weeks of theory given in Ankasa Conservation Area followed by 2 weeks of field work focused on a survey of elephant in the Dadieso and Disne River Forest Reserves. A table 'Topics covered in the Training Course for Wildlife Managers' outlines the topics covered, the skills taught and developed, and the emphasis given to aspects of the training topics. 'The course was designed to provide a continental overview of the status of elephants, problems of elephant management and human-elephant conflict, the biology of elephant populations and individuals, and census methods.' During the fieldwork phase 'the standard transect-line method (Buckland et al. 1993) was used to survey elephants and other animals on 45 1-km transects. Questionnnaries were administered in 14 randonly selected villages within 7 kms of the reserves'. The authors note that it will take some time to fully evaluate the results of the training, but they list several benefits already evident over the five months subsequent to the course including: the participants increased capability to plan/develop, execute, and report on projects undertaken since the training; their increased understanding of analytical skills; and, the confidence to work as a fully participating member of a research team on other programmes. (Ayesu. 2003)

Wisconsin's natural communities: how to recognize them, where to find them

Wisconsin's Natural Communities is an invitation to discover, explore, and understand Wisconsin's richly varied natural environment, from your backyard or neighborhood park to stunning public preserves. Part 1 of the book explains thirty-three distinct types of natural communities in Wisconsin - their characteristic trees, beetles, fish, lichens, butterflies, reptiles, mammals, wildflowers - and the effects of geology, climate, and historical events on these habitats. Part 2 describes and maps fifty natural areas on public lands that are outstanding examples of these many different natural communities: Crex Meadows, Horicon Marsh, Black River Forest, Maribel Caves, Whitefish Dunes, the Blue Hills, Avoca Prairie, the Moquah Barrens and Chequamegon Bay, the Ridges Sanctuary, Cadiz Springs, Devil's Lake, and many others. Intended for anyone who has a love for the natural world, this book is also an excellent introduction for students. And, it provides landowners, public officials, and other stewards of our environment with the knowledge to recognize natural communities and manage them for future generations.

Ring-Tailed Lemur Home Ranges Correlate with Food Abundance and Nutritional Content at a Time of Environmental Stress

In order to determine whether ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) adapt their ranging and select an optimal diet at a time of food shortage, we observed two adjacent troops in Berenty Reserve, Madagascar for over 250 h. The troops, created by a recent fission, ranged through closed canopy gallery forest next to a river and open forest away from the river. We conducted the study in September–October, 2000, normally a time of seasonally low resource availability, which was intensified by damage from a previous windstorm and recent drought. To examine the impact of environmental stress, we mapped their ranging patterns, intertroop encounters, feeding patches, siesta trees, and sleeping trees. We then correlated their ranging and feeding behavior with nutritional analyses of leaves and fruit from tamarind trees located in different parts of their ranges. One of the troops, D1A, ranged farther into open forest than previously. However, the range for troop D1B and the closed canopy portion of D1A's range were located in traditional positions for historical troops D and E. Both troops ate significantly more mature leaves from the tamarind trees in the closed canopy forest, where the leaves had significantly higher nutritional content (water and protein) than that of open forest samples. They fed on tamarind fruit significantly more often in the open forest away from the river, where it was more abundant. The lemurs selected a diet that maximized leaf water and protein and ranged where fruit was most abundant but at high energetic costs for troop D1A.

IMAGES: Join an Expedition

Who said the age of exploration is over? We might have mapped the physical contours of the planet, but taxonomists still have plenty of work to do because millions of species remain undescribed. Click on the photo essays prepared by the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis and you can tag along with botanists and other scientists as they collect specimens in exotic places. Stand alongside a forest river in Madagascar, home to two-thirds of the world's chameleons, or voyage into southern Venezuela, where the carnivorous plant Utricularia quelchii awaits its prey on mountaintops. More than just pretty pictures, these essays supply background info on natural history, geology, the origins of various species, and the human impact on local biodiversity.

Online Distance Learning with Cataloging Mentors: The Mentor's Viewpoint

SUMMARY Cataloging experts from across the United States were asked to critique assignments from students enrolled in Professor Gertrude Koh's classes at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois through the use of an Internet bulletin board (WebBoard™, O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.). This paper examines the mentors' perspective on teaching cataloging and their experience in teaching future colleagues via the WebBoard.

Classification of estuaries in the Ciskei and Transkei regions based on physical and botanical characteristics

For the first time a comprehensive botanical survey has taken place in the Ciskei and Transkei estuaries, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. In total 54 plant species were found in the 92 estuaries surveyed. These plants could be divided into the following five habitat complexes; reed and sedge beds (23 species), salt marsh (20 species), mangrove forest (4 species), macroalgal assemblages (3 species) and swamp forest (4 species). Ordination showed that salinity and depth were important in influencing the distribution of species. Salinity separated salt marsh from reed and sedge species and depth separated mangrove and associated species (e.g. Zostera capensis , Halophila ovalis and Acrostichum aureum ) from reed and sedge species. Based on the plant species composition the estuaries could be divided into those that were permanently open versus those that were temporarily open/closed. The characteristic habitat complexes for the permanently open estuaries were intertidal salt marsh and mangrove forest. This region is a transition between the warm temperate and subtropical biogeographic zones and both permanently open and temporarily open/closed estuaries showed divisions at the Great Kei and Mngazana estuaries. In permanently open estuaries mangrove forest occurred north of the Great Kei Estuary and swamp forest north of the Mngazana Estuary. In temporarily open/closed estuaries reed and sedge beds occurred north of the Great Kei River and swamp forest, reed and sedge beds occurred north of the Mngazana Estuary where they replaced the salt marsh. The temporarily open/closed estuaries in the Ciskei were characterised by salt marsh and macroalgae. Submerged macrophytes such as Ruppia cirrhosa and Potamogeton pectinatus were also common. Salt marsh occurred because of high water column salinity and wide intertidal and supratidal zones. These estuaries were characterised by seawater washing into the estuary over the berm at the mouth and thus had high salinity. The variation in physical environment, changes in climate and transition between biogeographic regions has resulted in regions of high biodiversity. Mangrove, salt marsh and swamp forest species are found in the same region.

Forest disturbance and river proximity influence chameleon abundance in Madagascar

Many chameleon species are thought to be restricted to primary rainforest where they are threatened by the continued fragmentation and degradation of natural vegetation. We surveyed chameleon abundance in forest subject to high disturbance, low disturbance and in a riparian zone in Madagascar. Four Calumma species and Brookesia thieli were present in all habitats, but B. minima was not recorded from the high-disturbance forest. Chameleons were more abundant in rainforest subject to low-disturbance (e.g. selective timber extraction) than in patches of high-disturbance forest that was recovering from burning. Riparian zones within low-disturbance forest provided linear patches of high chameleon abundance and are therefore an important conservation resource because they also protect a range of other endemic and threatened species. Carefully designed management plans are needed to conserve biodiversity and allow the sustainable use of forest products by people in Madagascar.

Controls on the size and occurrence of pools in coarse‐grained forest rivers

AbstractControls on pool formation are examined in gravel‐ and cobble‐bed rivers in forest mountain drainage basins of northern California, southern Oregon, and southeastern Alaska. We demonstrate that the majority of pools at our study sites are formed by flow obstructions and that pool geometry and frequency largely depend on obstruction characteristics (size, type, and frequency). However, the effectiveness of obstructions to induce scour also depends on channel characteristics, such as channel gradient, width:depth ratio, relative submergence (ratio of flow depth to grain size), and the calibre and rate of bed material supply. Moreover, different reach‐scale channel types impose different characteristic physical processes and boundary conditions that further control the occurrence of pools within a catchment. Our findings indicate that effective management of pools and associated aquatic habitat requires consideration of a variety of factors, each of which may be more or less important depending on channel type and location within a catchment. Consequently, strategies for managing pools that are based solely on single‐factor, regional target values (e.g. a certain number of wood pieces or pools per stream length) are likely to be ineffective because they do not account for the variety of local and catchment controls on pool scour and, therefore, may be of limited value for proactive management of complex ecosystems. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Birds of a Grumeti River forest in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Birds of a Grumeti River forest in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Diel variations in physical and chemical parameters in a semi-arid stream in Spain (Chicamo Stream)

Rivers and streams fluctuate both spatially and temporally. Diel, seasonal and annual variations are well documented for temperate forest rivers (e.g. CHESTERIKOFF et al. 1991, REBSDORF et al. 1991), for desert streams and pools (e.g. SCHOLNICK 1994, JONES et al. 1995) and prairie streams (e.g. ZALE et al. 1989) but few data exist on diel variations in arid and semi-arid streams in the Mediterranean region (e.g. MARTI et al. 1994, GUASCH et al. 1998). However, these fluctuations are important for the aquatic community (e.g. JACKSON 1988) and may influence their life cycle. This study focused on diel variations in some physical and chemical parameters in a Mediterranean stream, as part of a major project, the principal objective of which was to examine some aspects of the metabolism of the Chicamo Stream, a semi-arid Mediterranean stream located in south-east Spain. The objectives of this study could be summarized as: (1) the analysis of diel variations of seven physico–chemical parameters in six sampling sites of the Chicamo Stream, during winter, spring, summer and autumn, and (2) a comparison of the seasonal and diel fluctuations with the variations obtained during an annual cycle.