Grantee Research Project Results
2004 Progress Report: Wyoming EPA/EPSCoR Proposal - Strategic Improvement Plan
EPA Grant Number: R829426E01Title: Wyoming EPA/EPSCoR Proposal - Strategic Improvement Plan
Investigators: Bergman, Harold L. , Hall, Robert O. , Ben-David, Merav
Current Investigators: Hall, Robert O. , Ben-David, Merav
Institution: University of Wyoming
EPA Project Officer: Chung, Serena
Project Period: July 17, 2002 through September 30, 2004 (Extended to July 14, 2005)
Project Period Covered by this Report: July 17, 2003 through September 30, 2004
Project Amount: $39,269
RFA: EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) (2001) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: EPSCoR (The Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research)
Objective:
The objective of this Wyoming EPSCoR Project is to facilitate and accelerate the progress of at least two young researchers toward achievement of nationally competitive status. Further, the research project provides opportunities for enhancing environmentally related human resources through the involvement of high school, undergraduate, and graduate students. The conduct of the Science and Engineering Environmental Research (SEER) project entitled, “Influence of Bio-Pollution on Ecosystem Processes: The Impact of Introduced Lake Trout on Streams, Predators, and Forests in Yellowstone National Park,” plays an important role in the sharpening of communication with state and federal agencies concerned with the environmental sciences and natural resource management. Site visits by experts from some of the country’s top research universities and invited campus presentations by nationally recognized authorities enrich university researchers and students.
Progress Summary:
The Strategic Improvement Plan (SIP) component of the Wyoming EPSCoR Project already has met many of the goals stated in the objectives:
Drs. Hall and Ben-David obtained additional funds for unfunded components of this research project from other sources (such as the University of Wyoming National Park Service Research Center) and for other projects (including the National Science Foundation [NSF], U.S. Forest Service [USFS], and state agencies), thus enhancing their nationally competitive status. In addition, based on preliminary results from this research project, Dr. Ben-David was able to obtain seed money from the National Institutes of Health for an expansion of the research. She was invited to present results from this research project at the EPA Science To Achieve Results (STAR) environmental research seminar in Denver, Colorado, in May 2004. She also presented this research project at an invited lecture at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks in November 2004. These invitations further demonstrate the contribution of this research project to the enhancement of the careers of these two young investigators.
Through the SEER project and with support from the SIP, two graduate students—Jamie R. Crait (MSc) and Lusha M. Tronstad (PhD) continue their training. Lusha Tronstad presented results from this research project at the North American Benthological Society Meetings in Vancouver, British Columbia, in May 2004. Jamie Crait presented results from this research project at the International Otter Colloquium and The World Conservation Union/Species Survival Commission Otter Specialist Group Meeting in Frostburg, Maryland, in June 2004. He also is scheduled to deliver this presentation to the Wyoming State Chapter of the Wildlife Society in Dubois, Wyoming, in December 2004.
Four undergraduate students—Jessica Boyd, Kaithryn Ott, Christine Fisher, and Robert Eddy— have participated in fieldwork and currently are assisting with laboratory work and analyses. Two of these students—Jessica Boyd and Kaithryn Ott—also conducted their own research projects within the larger research project as independent studies. Jessica Boyd is developing methods for extracting DNA from the feces of river otters to develop population estimates for these carnivores. She presented the results from her work as a poster at the Wildlife Society’s 11th Annual Conference in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, in September 2004. Kaithryn Ott investigated the effects of otter fertilization on the growth of understory plants. She has contributed her data and analyses to a manuscript written by Jamie Crait, which currently is under friendly review and will be submitted to Ecological Monographs. One student, Christine Fisher, used her experience from this research project to obtain a position as a technician, working on an NSF-sponsored project examining the impact of fishes on ecosystem function in Venezuela. She has contributed data and writing to a multiauthored manuscript with Lusha Tronstad. Currently, Ms. Fisher is applying to graduate schools for a Master of Science degree in aquatic ecology. These students were able to obtain additional funding for their research through the NSF-EPSCoR Program at the University of Wyoming. The high number of female students recruited to work on this research project is in accord with the mission of the University of Wyoming to target underrepresented populations in student activities.
Since the initiation of the research project in the summer of 2002, two progress reports (see publications list) were submitted to the National Park Service. These reports facilitated increased communication between researchers, park biologists, and park managers on the control of the lake trout biopollution. We are collaborating actively with park scientists, and one scientist, Dr. Todd Koel, is a member of Ms. Tronstad’s dissertation committee and a coauthor of her presentations and future publications. Future research and management actions currently are being discussed. Because results of the SEER project are applicable to many aquatic systems in Wyoming and other Western states, these reports were distributed to the Bureau of Reclamation and the USFS Pacific Northwest Research Station.
In March 2003, Dr. C.T. Robbins from Washington State University was invited to the University of Wyoming to evaluate the SEER project, provide input to Drs. Hall and Ben-David, and deliver a departmental seminar. Dr. Robbins is an expert on linkages between aquatic and terrestrial systems through his work on bears in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. In March and April 2004, Drs. Mary Power and Jennifer Tank were invited to provide a similar evaluation and input and to deliver a departmental seminar at the University of Wyoming. Both Dr. Power from the University of California at Berkley and Dr. Tank from the University of Notre Dame are well-known stream ecologists. Dr. Tank has worked on how spawning salmon affect N cycling in salmon spawning streams in Alaska and provided detailed advice on the research project. During their visits, plans for future collaborations were drafted, including expansion of the otter component of the research project to the ecological research station on the Eel River in California. Their visits inspired female students because Drs. Power and Tank are excellent examples of successful female field biologists.
Future Activities:
Drs. Hall and Ben-David submitted a proposal to EPA in response to a STAR Request for Applications. The proposal was entitled, “Regime Shift in the Yellowstone Lake Ecosystem: Retrospective Comparisons of In- and Out of Lake Impacts.” This project is designed to continue the work on the effects of cutthroat declines in Yellowstone Lake beyond the funding period provided by this award. Currently, the two graduate students on the research project are preparing four additional manuscripts for publication. These manuscripts will be submitted before July 2005.
Journal Articles on this Report : 3 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
Other project views: | All 19 publications | 7 publications in selected types | All 4 journal articles |
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Crait JR, Ben-David M. River otters in Yellowstone Lake depend on a declining cutthroat trout population. Journal of Mammalogy 2006;87(3):485-494. |
R829426E01 (2004) R829426E01 (Final) R829426E02 (2004) R829426E02 (Final) |
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Crait JR, Ben-David M. Effects of river otter activity on terrestrial plants in trophically altered Yellowstone Lake. Ecology 2007;88(4):1040-1052. |
R829426E01 (2004) R829426E02 (2004) R829426E02 (Final) |
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Taylor BW, Keep CF, Hall Jr. RO, Koch BJ, Tronstad LM, Flecker AS, Ulseth AJ. Improving the fluorometric ammonium method: matrix effects, background fluorescence, and standard additions. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 2007;26(2):167-177. |
R829426E01 (2004) R829426E02 (Final) |
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Supplemental Keywords:
ecological effects, ecosystem, indicators, terrestrial, aquatic, analytical, surveys, Western states,, RFA, Scientific Discipline, Geographic Area, Water, ECOSYSTEMS, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Aquatic Ecosystems & Estuarine Research, estuarine research, Ecology, State, Aquatic Ecosystem, Biochemistry, Ecological Monitoring, Ecology and Ecosystems, bioassessment, estuaries, biopollution, Yellowstone Park, marine biology, lakes, algal blooms, strategic improvement plan, Wyoming, coastal ecosystems, environmental indicators, water qualityRelevant Websites:
http://www.uwyo.edu/enr/enrschool.asp Exit
http://www.uwyo.edu/bhall/ Exit
http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/Zoology/faculty/Ben-David/ Exit
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.