Students' work could help protect environment

Fri, September 18, 2009 |

Three Valparaiso University students who conducted summer research on an invasive shrub that is crowding out native species of plants and animals across the United States are presenting their research findings Saturday, Sept. 19, that could help protect the native environment.

The students – junior biology majors Courtney Soley of Buchanan, Mich., Dustin Houghton of West Lafayette, and senior civil engineering major Kaylene Boroski of Wakeman, Ohio – studied the environmental impact of autumn olive at Pierce Cedar Creek Institute, an ecological field station in southwestern Michigan.

Valpo's students and other undergraduate researchers will present the findings of their summer work Sept. 19 at the institute. While autumn olive was initially introduced at the institute to help bird populations, it has since spread across the entire 661-acre reserve.

Soley and Houghton worked together to examine how autumn olive affects the behavior and nesting success of American robins and northern cardinals

"As it turns out, our data shows that both species avoid spending time in autumn olive," said Soley. "We were only able to find one nest in autumn olive out of 23 nests total, and this nest later suffered depredation."

Soley and Houghton followed all 23 nests for their entire 10-week stay at Pierce Cedar Creek Institute.

Soley says that in an unexpected twist in their study results, the team did gather some evidence that northern cardinals may prefer another invasive shrub, multiflora rose, which could lead to another future study.

"We hope our data will provide a valuable baseline for future studies on PCCI bird populations as autumn olive continues to spread and is subsequently controlled by management activities on the property," Soley said.

The research of Houghton and Soley was supported by a $3,500 grant from PCCI's Undergraduate Research Grants for the Environment program, which helps undergraduate students gain experience planning and conducting environment-related studies. Their study built upon research by another Valpo student, who last summer found that some birds seemed to avoid autumn olive, while others did not.

Boroski also received a $3,500 PCCI grant to help identify what makes autumn olive such a good competitor to native plants by looking at the impact of the shrub on the availability and cycling of nitrogen-a critical nutrient- in the surrounding soil and water.

Boroski said her research the end results were not conclusive, as the tested samples did not exhibit a significant enough difference in ion concentrations to determine whether or not the autumn olive was having much of an impact.

Even without conclusive results, Boroski says conducting the field research was a valuable experience.

"As this was my first experience conducting research and since it was a fairly independent project, I learned a lot about the methodology of research, what to expect when starting a research project and what to do when problems come up," said Boroski. "In all, it was an excellent growing and learning experience."

Soley says the project was intellectually and physically challenging.

"Actually being out in the field was both amazing and intense. We had to follow the birds' schedule, which involved hiking in the very early morning and evening, since birds are most active in the early morning and in the evenings," said Soley.

Valpo's two studies are among 11 research projects involving 17 undergraduate students at PCCI this summer. In addition to the $3,500 stipend for students, the URGE program provides faculty mentor stipend of up to $3,500 that can be used for equipment purchases, general expenses, travel or training needed for conducting the research project, as well as up to $4,000 in room and board expenses for the student and faculty mentor.

Valpo joined PCCI in 2005, and students have previously won grants to support summer research projects involving methods for controlling invasive plants, air pollution in the Midwest, plant genetics and the impact of development on water quality. In addition to their research, Valpo's students attended weekly seminars on a variety of environmental topics.

Valpo is one of 13 colleges and universities belonging to the consortium that operates the PCCI biological field station – a 661-acre site with forest, wetlands, fields and lakes. The Institute, located south of Hastings, Mich., is open to the public and includes a visitor center, education building, trails and housing facilities for researchers and guests. More information about the Institute is online at http://www.cedarcreekinstitute.org.