W&L Biology in Yellowstone

Yellowstone Reflections

2011-05-22T09:11:00.000-07:00

Now that our class is over, it's both sad and exciting to look back at all of the things we have accomplished. We hiked, we wolfed, we soil core'd, we root picked, and we learned to work together as one big group. No single group had been able to collect as much data as we have in the past, if not purely because of our numbers. We can only hope that all of our hard work will come to fruition in a solution to the invasive species problem that Yellowstone has been fighting for years. Until then, we have our memories and our pictures to remind us of all the hard work and good times we had in Yellowstone.

Michelle

Last Day!

2011-05-20T08:55:00.000-07:00

The last day of spring term is upon us, and looking around the lab, it is incredible the amount of work we have accomplished in only a few short weeks! Not only have we collected nearly 300 samples, we have begun the process of determining the pH, basal respiration rate, root biomass, Nitrogen content, and ammonia content. Since we have finished the seed bank samples, looking at the amount of Alyssum seeds inside and outside of each exclosure, we have determined that the Cinnabar and Stephen's Creek exclosures have less seeds than that of the seed bank samples we collected outside of the exclosures, as well as Reese Creek. This is certainly promising, as these are the two exclosures that have experienced the longest time period of treatments, and our treatments seem to be on the right path! Reese Creek is the newest exclosure, so it only makes sense that we would find more Alyssum seeds in that area.

Also, we have all now written our reflection papers on the trip to the park, and I'm sure I can speak for everyone when I say, wow! This trip not only helped us to realize the true importance of Dr. Hamilton's work, we also were exposed to some of the greatest and most majestic sights in the entire world! Now that we are working on our lab reports, many key concepts have come together, and the bigger picture of the project is beginning to take hold.

A big thank you to Dr. Hamilton and Mr. Huffnagle for making this truly amazing trip possible! It was a great year!

Claire

Starting in the Lexington Lab tomorrow

2011-05-15T16:29:00.000-07:00

Now that we are all back in Lexington, unpacked, and settled, we are ready to formally begin working with our samples in the lab tomorrow morning. After sorting and weighing samples, we can now complete a full workup on each sample. It will be a little strange to work in a real lab again (as opposed to the lodge kitchen).

In the week since we've been back I've reflected on the trip and found there are some things I am missing, such as our fantastic meals and sitting a

round the table together (we al

most fit).

I miss being outside in the mountains. The picture below is from an impromtu pre-dinner walk near the lodge.

Finally, I absolutely miss the scenery. Waking up before dawn was absolutely bearable when we were greeted by this view of the Lamar valley:

Hiking Trips

2011-05-14T08:36:00.000-07:00

This Yellowstone experience has not only allowed us to learn about plant ecology and the importance of restoration, but has also given us the opportunity to explore the unique landscape and wildlife this area offers.

Hiking through the woods of Montana we’ve encountered several feet of snow, animal remains, and even a black bear (unfortunately no photo evidence).

One of the many incredible views during a hike near our lodge

The picture shows the depth the snow would reach in some locations and Luke holding bear mace, a necessary deterrent when hiking

An example of the animal remains we discovered throughout the hikes (this is the skull of a pronghorn)

More About the Trip

2011-05-08T21:58:00.000-07:00

Although I have enjoyed the beautiful scenery in Yellowstone National Park, I have also appreciated the interactions with various members of the National Park Service. John Klaptosky has been an instrumental part of the trip, assisting with much of the field work. He shares Dr. Hamilton’s concern with alyssum weed invasion of native vegetation and recently helped our group with the identification of alyssum boundaries using GPS markers. Mr. Klaptosky has some great stories from his time in Yellowstone, and it is worth meeting him to hear his encounter of six wolves in one afternoon!

Speaking of wolves, Rick McIntyre has met with our group during several early morning wolf excursions. As a volunteer for the Yellowstone wolf project, Ranger McIntyre has worked with the wolves for over 8 years. He taught our group about tracking wolves using howls and radio frequency collars. So far, we have met with Ranger McIntyre at about four of our wolf sightings!

Finally, Roy Renkin has been a major help during the permitting process for the project. He was recently appointed as the chief vegetation research scientist. I had the privilege of meeting him during Dr. Hamilton’s presentation to the Yellowstone Center for Resources, and he expressed a genuine interest in the progress inside and outside the treatment areas. Working with people like Mr. Renkin gives me a greater appreciation for the ecological research in Yellowstone.

-Luke Gergoudis

Friday, May 6, 2011

2011-05-06T20:52:00.000-07:00

After a relaxing day enjoying the sights of Gardiner, MT and Mammoth Hot Springs, WY, we came back to the lodge to continue work on some more root biomass and ammonia analyses. The data is looking good so far; there are pretty distinct differences between some sites. Hopefully the nitrate tests and further analyses will continue to show useful information. We still have a lot of samples to work our way through, but we are definitely making progress. Outside of our science work, we had a delicious dinner of bison burgers, and are celebrating Luke's birthday with a game night, brownies, and ice cream. Tomorrow begins early with another grizzlin' trip, and hopefully an outing to Old Faithful. I hope we have good luck with animal sightings tomorrow morning! In any case, I'm always amazed at the beauty of this area, so I'll be sure to enjoy any trip we take into the park.

- Kerriann

2011-05-05T21:13:00.000-07:00

Today we hiked part of the perimeter of the Gardner Basin to determine the extent to which alyssum has invaded the basin. Our basic conclusion was that alyssum is everywhere! We walked all the way to the mountains on the far side of the basin and we were still seeing patches of alyssum. I guess all the wind in the basin makes it easy for the seeds to spread. On our walk we also noted the extent of crested wheat grass, another invasive species, and poa, a native grass.

After our hike, we took soil cores through poa, alyssum, and sedge in Steven's Creek and the Remnant to analyze for biomass back in the lab.

Maggie

In Pursuit of the Grizzly

2011-05-05T19:03:00.000-07:00

Above are 3 young pronghorn we saw playing in the Gardiner Basin on our way out to the field site one morning.

A bison with the stunning backdrop of the mountains: a typical sighting on the road from Jardine, where our lodges are located, to our field site in Gardiner.

As could be expected in Yellowstone, we have seen some amazing sights so far, both landscapes and wildlife. So far we have quite a list of wildlife sightings: bison, elk, pronghorn, big-horn sheep, moose, wolves, coyotes, osprey, a red-tailed hawk, a ground squirrel, and a possible marmot sighting yesterday.

We still lack one on our list: the elusive grizzly. Our morning "wolfing" excursions have been re-dubbed as "grizzing" excursions. This morning's group came up 0 for 1, but we won't be giving up easily. We will continue to take advantage of any tip-offs we can receive from our connections in the park in hopes of getting a grizzly sighting before we have to return home. Unfortunately, it may still be too cold for the grizzlies. Yesterday we drove deeper into Wyoming in search of a grizzly, near to Norris, and found the center of the park still covered in snow. However, we saw some beautiful scenery and very interesting geology: several geothermal features and an obsidian mountain.

As far as the restoration project is concerned, we have continued taking soil cores and have been measuring ammonia levels and taking biomass samples. We have a few days left in the field before the lab needs to be packed up and shipped back to VA, where more science will await our return.

More to come, as well as some more pictures when we have faster internet back in Lexington!

--Haley

A Wednesday Night in Yellowstone

2011-05-04T20:29:00.000-07:00

We are so excited to hike the perimeter of the Gardiner Basin tomorrow! We are looking for Allysum to record which sections of the Basin it has invaded. Although we had planned to hike today, we had to postpone due to weather and other unforeseen circumstances. Tomorrow is supposed to be one of the warmest and clearest days yet. Half of our group will be hiking by the Yellowstone River, and the other half will be walking the base of the ridge. None of this has ever been done in this part of the Basin. Can't wait to see which one we get to walk!

Yesterday we created a twitter - wlu_ynp. Follow us!

Caitlyn and Louisa

Geared up for more field work

2011-05-04T05:32:00.000-07:00

In the field yesterday we collected what seemed like thousands of soil cores and brought them back to our "lab" (which conveniently converts back into the kitchen at meal times). We spent several hours prepping the collected samples for analysis. This included sieving them, de-rooting them, weighing them, and in some cases watering them. For now, they are stored in a refrigerator until we are ready to work with them again.

Today, we are planning on heading back to the field site to do a perimeter scan. We will walk along the tree-line leading further into the park from the basin as well as the river-bank which denotes the park boundary. A highly accurate GPS (within 3 meters!) will allow us to mark any areas of invasive species that we find. This scan will give us a general idea of the scope of the impact that allysum has made (and consequently the size of our problem).

In other news, we've yet to see a grizzly, but remain hopeful. The warmer weather and sunny days are good signs that they are out. For our next early-morning expedition we have developed a bear playlist to lure them into sight, including favorites such as "bear necessities" and "maneater". Surely the right tunes will bring us success.

I don't want to say that we are desperate yet, but if you happen to know any tips for the best sightings....we wouldn't be opposed to hearing them!

Katelyn

Been Busy

2011-05-02T16:23:00.000-07:00

As you can see in this photo there is a new policy that some of us have to wear the new orange vests when doing research in view of the public. But anyway. We have had some good weather and are working our way into getting a bunch of science done. We have started collecting transect samples to quantify the density of the invasive mustard Alyssum desertorum (ALDE).

Above you can see Zach individually picking seedlings of ALDE from a 10 x 10 cm area. Each transect is 20 meters and we sample every 2 meters.

The NPS is in the process of releasing Bison that have been in a coral at Stephens Creek for several months. In this picture you can see in the distance yearlings that were quite excited to have their freedom.

After sampling yesterday we drove in to the park proper (Gardiner Basin is actually not within the gate controlled part of the park) and got to see many young Bighorn sheep playing, getting ready for adult hood.

Good group shot (Minus Dave but we'll get pics of him on here) at the mid section of the upper terrace at Mammoth Hot Springs.

Then it was time for dinner. Lasagna, sausage-beef and spinach mushroom. Kudos to Maggie, Kerriann and Haley.

This morning we went out at 6:15 to look for wolves and grizzlies. We were very fortunate to see two moose cows near Blactail plateau. Moose are quite rare in the northern range, much rarer than wolves (saw 2 or 3 this AM from the Agate pack on Specimen Ridge) and grizzlies (just waking up)

After are early start we got out into the field and got access to the interior of the Gardiner Basin exclosures. In the picture above you can see the winter wheat that has been planted as a part of the restoration project.

Lunch break in the GB. PB&J

First Day Video

2011-04-30T09:02:00.000-07:00

In just the first day, we had big success in terms of wildlife sightings. Watch the video to get a peek through the eyes of the first-time Yellowstone visitors- the students of Plant Functional Ecology.

Second day success

2011-04-29T14:21:00.000-07:00

Bighorn sheep near Lamar River

Yearling grey wolf from the pack in the Lamar Valley. Still need to get a name of the pack from Rick McIntyre but it is a new pack that has an alpha female that is a descendant of the original re-introduced wolves. The famous Druid pack.

Can you find the wolf laying in the snow?

Up close and personal bull bison. We got caught in several bison jams today.

First morning success

2011-04-28T09:51:00.000-07:00

A bunch of us left at 6:20 this morning to go wolfing. As you can see from the black male above we had success. Many more pics to come of baby bison (aka Red dogs) and other wolf shots.

We've landed

2011-04-27T22:02:00.000-07:00

After uneventful flights (fortunately) we spent a couple of hours in Bozeman stocking up on supplies and groceries and headed to Jardine (a gold mining town outside of Gardiner) and the Sunny Slope/Bear Lair Lodge/ Cub's Cache . After picking our sleeping quarters a group of the crew got spaghetti and sauce with cheesy garlic bread going for dinner. A much needed quick meal after a long day of travel. Tomorrow we will head out at 6AM to look for wildlife and then head into Gardiner Basin to get oriented and begin science. Stay tuned as we gear up for a great 2 weeks.
Good night.

We're off.

2011-04-27T04:00:00.000-07:00

Half of U's are in Charlotte wIting to board for Denver and the other half is in the air headed to Chicago. We all meet in Denver for the same flight to Bozeman. That's when the fun begins.

2011-04-08T13:17:00.001-07:00

Dear Federal government. Please don't shut down. It will delay getting our research permit and if you stay closed after April 27, we won't be able to work on restoring Gardiner Basin.

Fall 2010

2010-10-10T20:00:00.000-07:00

Out in the park for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem meeting. Will be talking about the Gardiner Basin invasive species vegetation restoration project. A talk that wouldn't be possible without the great efforts of the students that have traveled to YNP in the spring and worked in the lab. Things are looking good in GB. They had enough water this year for the barley and wheat to hold back the Alyssum. Eric Hellquist and I will be sampling tomorrow and Thursday (attending meeting M night T and W). I went into the park this afternoon to check out the status of ALDE at the site near the Lamar river at Specimen Ridge. Well I couldn't get to the site. Two grizzlies were hanging around. I got a good look at a tagged male headed toward Specimen Ridge and could see the other one near the Lamar. No photos. Just in my synapses.
Then on the way back I saw a Black bear sow with 2 cubs in the Yellowstone River. And then on the way back to Gardiner for dinner at the Rusty Rail I saw a bull elk bugling with a harem of cows in front of the Mammoth Lodge. Not a bad first day. YNP never ceases to amaze me. Tomorrow a quck trip to look for wildlife pre-dawn and then we will go to GB to sample.

Glad to be back, but must return soon!

2010-05-18T14:19:00.001-07:00

I must say I am glad to be back, but I most certainly must return soon! The lack of high speed internet essentially eliminated my online activity because it frustrated me- so when the internet went inactive for the last couple of days, I had no problem adjusting; where as I watched Cozy get the shakes while she detoxed from streaming scrubs.

I will miss Yellowstone National Park and the the fun we had in Montana. The last few days went by quickly, and before we knew it we were back in Lexington. The last few days were marked with one major field experiment which used potassium nitrate and ammonium sulfate labeled with the stable isotope 15-N. This experiment was designed to measure nitrification and denitrification in field. We performed the experiment in our Remnant field site and Cinnabar field site, collecting soil cores and injecting them with our labeled salts. We collected a total of 48 samples, 16 at Remnant (8 for each salt) and 32 at Cinnabar (8 for each salt both inside and outside the exclosure). Each set had samples that were brought back to the lab for immediate procedures, and also had samples allowed to incubate in the field for 24 hours. Upon our return to the labge, we extracted each sample with potassium chloride. The following day we returned to the each field site, acquired our incubated tubes, and extracted them with KCL back at the labge. Our plethora of soils was shipped the following morning so that it would hopefully arrive by Monday for class.

On Thursday during our final week, Dr. Hamilton gave a presentation to members of the National Park Service who are working on the restoration project in the Gardiner Basin. Discussion followed the presentation and then we enjoyed a lunch at a new restaurant in town- I believe the name of the place was the cowboy lounge.

We saw most of the parks unique geological features during the final days. We hiked around mammoth hot springs, visited the mud volcanoes, stood on the shore of Yellowstone Lake, pushed Wilson into the Grand Prismatic Spring, and of course, we joined hundred of people to watch Old Faithful erupt. My favorite site was Grand Prismatic Spring, not because we pushed Wilson in, but because of the motley rings formed by extremophilic archaea. Unfortunately, the best place to view these rings is not next to it but above it; nevertheless I did enjoy!

Saturday was spent traveling from Bozeman back to Lexington. We went from a cold, dry desert region to a place where the humidity was palpable. On the ride from Roanoke airport to Lexington we all relaxed listening to the radio show House of Hair. It looked like we would coast up highway 81 without an issue when all of a sudden a mad truck driver started playing slalom with the median. We got away from that truck, ASAP!

Unfortunately on Monday our samples had not arrived, and so we came up with a game plan for the week:

Tuesday- prep samples for assays

Wednesday- Conduct assays, collect data, prepare poster

Thursday- Prepare presentation

Friday- Presentation

It will be a busy week, but well worth it, and we will let everyone know exactly what we did while we were in Yellowstone.

Pictures everywhere

2010-05-17T19:06:00.000-07:00

The suburban that faithfully took us everywhere. This pic was taken on the first day at YNP. I assure you, it did not look this clean after two weeks of serious work.

Working hard or hardly working? Dr. Hamilton had to spend a while trying to explain what we were to do on this first day of soil sampling. Everyone went, "huh?" He is a patient man.

Peter O'Donnell, trying to get the perfect picture. We took a lot of pictures, and Peter made sure they were all taken at the right angle :)

Now that we are back we can say we went, we followed all park regulations, we did science and cannot wait for you to hear all about it this coming Friday at the W & L gymnasium. Be there between noon and 2pm!

First day of school in Lex

2010-05-17T18:45:00.000-07:00

I thought leaving Yellowstone would be bittersweet but I was wrong. Keep the bitter, cancel the sweet. I miss the place, the lodge, the food and the great atmosphere the group created. Oh how could I forget the suburban?

The last day in Yellowstone spent as a tourist (after saying goodbye to Mary and Mr. Klaptosvky) went fantastic. Seeing the mild volcanoes was pretty awesome, but I have to say that this experience didnt top seeing wolves right behind a grizzly bear. Dr. Hamilton did a great job at explaining that we were right above a supervolcano and what would happen if it erupted. ScArY!

Thankfully it didnt erupt and we are back safe and sound. There were a few glitches here and there but we are fired up to do some lab work. We discovered more ALDE germinations in some of the soils. Man, that thing is stubborn!

Most of the soil samples hadnt arrived by class time today so tomorrow is the big day.Watch this space...

Last days in yellowstone

2010-05-17T18:20:00.000-07:00

It feels rather strange to be back in Lexington. The weather Saturday night was the same as when we left for Yellowstone, hot and humid. I had almost forgotten what that felt like after two weeks in the cold and dry Montana air. Also strange to have to wake up and go to class again.

During the last couple days of our stay in Yellowstone, we were kept busy packing, cleaning and being tourists. The entire lab and all soil samples were packed into boxes and shipped out to arrive in Lexington. Not an easy task to say the least, and there were some minor mishaps (aka some forgotten soil that required rearrangement of luggage), but we were ultimately victorious. When we left the Bear Lair, it was as thought there had never been any people there conducting experiments with soil.

On Friday, we did a full tour of the park. It is a day which I will certainly never forget. On our tour, we saw the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Dragon's Mouth Spring, Old Faithful, Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone Lake etc. I particularly enjoyed looking out over the iced and snow covered Yellowstone Lake. It was very calming staring into the distance at the snow covered mountains beyond the snow covered lake. Ate ramen while watching Old Faithful go off, bet not too many people can say that. Watched a mildly successful ambush by Thomas III with a bow and arrow on his father. Saw some epic bridge building.

Despite the cold, I have grown to love Yellowstone. I can now confidently say that I see why people had wanted to preserve the park. Between the long hike up Specimen Ridge and losing myself while staring at the mountains in the horizon, waking up at 4 AM to catch glimpses of wolves and grizzles, meeting and listening to the people for whom the park is more than just a patch of land and a collection of animals, or a spot on Google Maps, I will truly miss being in Yellowstone. Hopefully, someday I will be back.

Back in Lex

2010-05-16T07:20:00.001-07:00

No problems with our flight from Bozeman to O'Hare. Will and I don't remember take off. Our quick layover of 1.5 h got extended. Another plane at our gate then a delay for customer service and we took off at 6:52 instead of 6:10 and arrived at 9:15 instead of 8:46. Headed over to Enterprise and they were closed, so much for giving them flight information and calling them from O'Hare to say we were delayed. Thankfully Hertz had a Kia Sportage (a little smaller than the Suburban) and we made it back to Lexington by 10:50. I will try to get more pictures up later today.

Touring the Park

2010-05-15T06:57:00.000-07:00

Pictures uploaded in reverse order of visiting. Just about done at the lodge. Headed to Bozeman in the next 1/2 h. Old Faithful

Grand Prismatic Springs

Dragons mouth

Upper Falls of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Lower Falls of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Catching Up

2010-05-14T07:06:00.000-07:00

Between being busy with science, packing up the lab, presenting to the NPS Yellowstone Center for Resources staff and a patchy/nonexistent connection to the internet we have been slow to post.

Wednesday we collected our 15N labeled soil core tubes and in between sampling at the Mudslide Creek remnant and the Stephens Creek exclosure we had 1.5h to wait so we went up to Mammoth Hot Springs. I haven't walked the whole area like we did Wednesday since 2005. It's amazing, but not surprising, how much it has changed. I'll upload a video when we get better internet access.

After we returned to the Lodge we extracted the samples with 2M Potassium Chloride to extract NH4+ and NO3- from the soil. These samples were then shaken, decanted then frozen and will be analyzed back at W&L. We then packed up the equipment and soils we would need in the lab in Lex ready to ship back for a Thursday departure. The rest of the lab ships out Friday.

Thursday AM was spent preparing for the lunch time presentation to the YCR staff and taping up the boxes for shipping. The presentation went well and it was followed by an hour of discussion about how to get rid of Alyssum most effectively so that the cover crops (barley and wheat) can get planted and eventually the native species. We went to lunch with Mary Hektner (she is in charge of the restoration) at a new restaurant in Gardiner the Cowboy Lodge. Good interior and so so barbeque. After lunch we headed back up towards Mammoth to Joffee Lake, which is a secluded little lake behind the vehicle maintenance building and near on of my old field sites. It is also a source of water for the park to fight fires.

We got a picture of the crew at the 45th parallel. See the sunshine and blue sky!

The Food Farm's phone was down so no credit cards or cash. So we went to the Rusty Rail to play pool and eat free popcorn and chex mix. After an hour we went back to the Food Farm and got dinner fixins.

This AM the final boxes are just about packed and we will be heading out for our tour of the park. Mud Volcanoes, Sulfur cauldron, Upper and Lower falls, Grand Canyon (of YNP),Lake, Old Faithful, and the Norris Geyser basin. Then back to clean up the lodge tonight.

Bittersweet

2010-05-14T04:51:00.000-07:00

The first one up today just to make sure I got some time to try to see if the internet working. It is :)
Today is our last full day here in Gardiner and we will make the best of it by being tourists. Yah yah thats not exactly why we came here for but it is still a chance to learn (and take loads of cool pics).

Going back to W and L is definitely a bittersweet feeling. Being here has meant doing a lot of science related work, including chemistry (sigh). We now have reason to believe that restoration projects have to take moisture into consideration which, of course, is difficult to implement given the ever-changing weather.

However, I found something totally unexpected; a renewed relationship with God. This place is so amazing that sometimes it seems surreal. We can explain it in different and probably legitimate ways. I believe the science, I believe in evolution (the edge of Mammoth hot springs has literally moved in the past 2 years), but I also believe that there is someone behind it all, and the encounter with Him has been amazing.

yay fleeting internet

2010-05-13T22:19:00.000-07:00

Posting just because I can. Internet has been screwy at best, or nonfunctioning.

Science

2010-05-12T08:10:00.000-07:00

Monday afternoon we started the Alyssum germination counts. As I type (10AM Wed) the crew is finishing counts on a total of 44 plates some of which have had up to 365 little Alyssum seedlings on them. I'll update the data later.

Above: Counting Alyssum

Below: Two Alyssum seedlings

Tuesday was a day of science. We spent the morning calculating the amount of 15N (stable isotope of nitrogen 14N) we would be adding the in the form of 15N-Ammonium sulfate or 15N-Potassium Nitrate. Ammonium is the initial substrate that is produced by soil prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea) that break down organic matter which contains primarily carbon and nitrogen. After the initial step of prokaryotic decomposition takes place ammonium (NH4+) is produced and this is a plant available source of nitrogen. But there are other prokaryotes that utilize ammonium as a nitrogen source and therefore compete with plants for nitrogen. There are ammonia oxidizing bacteria and archaea that produce and release nitrite (NO2-) which in functioning soils is rapidly utilized by nitrite oxidizing bacteria to produce nitrate (NO3-) which is also a plant avaiable source of nitrogen. The process of denitrification has nitrite as the middle point as bacteria reduce NO3- and NO2- as energy sources which produces NO, N2O, and N2. We detected NO production in the invaded Cinnabar site last week but not in the Mudslide Creek undisturbed native remnant.

So back to our experiment. By using 15N-NH4 we will be able to quantify potential nitrification rates and by using 15N-NO3 we will be able to quantify potential mineralization rates. Back in the lab next week and continuing this summer we will perform laboratory incubations under controlled conditions. But this field experiment is the best way to approximate in situ conditions.

In this picture Will and Cozy (it was cold and very windy) are injecting the 15N solution into a soil core that was collected by pounding a plastic centrifuge tube that had the bottom cut off into the soil. This method gives an intact core that we can apply the 15N label to and then put back in the ground for incubation (See purple caps in the soil below).

After labeling cores at the Mudslide Creek remnant site we headed to the Cinnabar exclosure site. We collected and labeled cores from out and inside the exclosure. The barley that was planted last year has added root biomass to the soil and this may have an effect on N-mineralization and nitrification when compared to cores from outside the exclosure which has a high density of Alyssum growing.

By this point in the day it was extremely windy and Wilson and Cozy set up in the Suburban to do the label injections. Not a bad portable lab.

Quick Weather Update

2010-05-10T15:06:00.000-07:00

It's 4:07 pm, I just watched the weather change from sunny, to rain, to snow! Very dynamic weather here.

Counting germinated alde

2010-05-10T13:12:00.000-07:00

After returning back to the lodge after a successful morning of wolfing, where 5 grizzlies and 2.5 wolves were spotted, we took a brief break before engaging in science. After the break, we counted the number of seeds that had germinated in the germination samples that we took from the Lamar River, Cinnabar, and Reese Creek sites. The process was not easy in some cases. While samples from the Lamar site had few germinated seeds, the germination samples from the Cinnabar and Reese Creek sites had many germinated Alyssum seeds. The sample that I counted from Reese Creek had 365 little Alyssum sprouts! At first I thought I was done at about 200 but upon further inspection, and sifting of the soil, more were hidden, curled up beneath the surface. Tricky little devils. I thought I had it bad until Prof. Hamilton said that in a previous year, someone had counted 500 of the little buggers. I thought I knew how invasive Alde was, but I didn't fully appreciate the full extent until I had to pick off hundreds of them, one by one, with a tweezer.

Grizzlies

2010-05-10T09:16:00.000-07:00

We left the Bear Lair at 4:50AM and got to the Lamar Valley by 6:05. We spotted a herd of bison with calves running and crossing the river and knew that something was up. Immediately Will and Peter spotted the first grizz which was not that close to the bison. While that grizz lumbered up the hill two grey wolves followed it into the woods. No video of the wolves but we all got to see them before they disappeared. Then the second grizz was spotted and we watched it go up the hill and rub on a tree that the first grizz had rubbed on and then it came back down the hill. It was 24F so we got back in the Suburban and pulled over at Slough (pronounced like stew) Creek. This area is the most bio-diverse in Yellowstone and has had an active wolf pack since re-introduction of wolves. The last part of the video shows a sow with two "cubs". They are pretty big and mama will probably be sending them out on their own soon.

Last Two Days

2010-05-09T21:10:00.003-07:00

The last two days have been busy. On Saturday denitrification experiments were performed on samples we collected from both our Remnant site and Cinnabar site. We also went out into the field to collect more core, tube, and germination samples from several sites: BLM (Bureau of Land Management), located in Yankee Jim Canyon; and Steven's Creek exclosure located in Gardiner Basin by are other sites there. After collecting many samples from several different sites, I am beginning to see a nice spectrum of soil types and properties, and seeing just how much of an effect the invasive species has in soil it colonizes.

Today the denitrification experiments were completed and CO2 analyses were performed on soil cores from Crystal Bench, Lamar River, and Cinnabar that were hopped up on glucose. After completing the experiments, we went on a four mile hike up Specimen Ridge to see a petrified forest. Unfortunately, much of the forest had been removed but we did get to see a few remnants.

Tomorrow we are going wolfing again, hopefully we will see a wolf, the only mega fauna we have not seen. Time for bed because we need to up and ready to leave by 4:30 a.m.

Food at the Lodge

2010-05-09T08:56:00.000-07:00

Homemade chicken parm with a side of spaghetti, salad with balsamic vinagrette, and Peter's garlic cheese bread.

A Montana short stack. I thought pancakes would get our Sunday started off on the right stomach.

After our hike up Specimen Mountain we came back and had 1/4 lb bison bacon cheddar burgers, broccoli, and oven fries. Good Eats.

Saturday Science

2010-05-08T20:35:00.000-07:00

The day started after a good nights rest (catching up from Wolfing and Grizzing yesterday) with some encouraging results from our denitrification experiment (apparatus above). We started with invaded soils from the Cinnabar site. We applied three treatments, water, Ammonium Nitrate, and Urea. Denitrification is a bacterially mediated process by which nitrogen (plant fertilizer) can be lost from soils as gaseous forms of nitrogen (NO, N2O, and N2). NO is the first step in the process and that is what we quantified using gas diffusion tubes that detect NO. By adding either ammonium nitrate or urea (simulating a urine hit from a grazer) we could determine if soils are losing N. Well the take home is yes they do. Both N treatments produced NO with ammonium nitrate producing twice as much as urea and the water treatment had no detectable production of NO. This is a great result and we can now deploy the system in the field, especially since it is finally warming up. Tonight we are setting up a run with native soils from the remnant/Landslide creek. Stay tuned.

We then headed out to a native site outside of the park which used to be the post office for the area called Carbella. It is Bureau of Land Management land that during fire season in Paradise Valley is used as a fire camp. But it is as close to an intact system that does not have invasives that has comparable soils to Gardiner Basin. The one problem is that Bison do not graze the site because they don't have access (that's another story for another time). We did find a small cluster of Alyssum by the side of the road where the road grader has disturbed the soil. We spent some time weeding what we could find.

This pic shows the native stand of grasses. They should be grazed.

Tomorrow we will check the weather and then deploy the denitrifcation chambers and start working on Nitrogen mineralization. Perhaps a Sunday hike to the Petrified forest.

Big Horn Sheep

2010-05-08T08:42:00.000-07:00

Bighorn sheep used to be ubiquitious in the the American west. Now they are relegated to National parks and forests. Currently YNP has about 200 in the Northern Range and management to increase the populations is currently underway. For more information see this NPS-YELL site.

Wolfin and grizzin + some science part deux

2010-05-07T21:39:00.000-07:00

After seeing the bison and calves we spotted 4-5 bull elk in velvet. In this pic you can see the steam rising from his nose. Just after I took this pic they all took off running. Perhaps a wolf or they were just trying to warm up it was just 20F.

Leaving Mammoth Hot Springs we spotted this Bald Eagle just hanging out on a rock.

After the morning fun, we collected bulk soils from the remnant (although invaded) never tilled site and the invaded previously tilled site. We are testing a method to quantify denitrification, the loss of soil nitrogen through the production of gaseous forms of nitrogen. In the pic below the soils (in aluminum pans) are being treated with either water, ammonium nitrate, or urea. You can also see the flasks that have soil in them for determining soil respiration and microbial biomass. The early results are interesting, stay tuned.

Below you can see the 6 inch PVC pipe chambers that we are using for the denitrification experiment. In between the tubes on the top is a "tube" that quantifies NO gas which is a by-product of denitrification. If this method works well and we have good weather we will take it to the field.

Check out all of our pics on Picasa Web

A Friday at YNP

2010-05-07T21:11:00.002-07:00

What better way to spend a Friday than to measure carbon dioxide in different soil samples, prepare to find microbial biomass and wind down with Montana fried foods? For the first time on the trip, a grizzly bear was spotted and wolves reported to be on the other side of the hill. My question was; why didn’t anyone run? Who knows, maybe bear spray works well on wolves too.

It is sad to realize that areas that were ALDE (invasive species) free three to five years ago are now swamped. What will it look like five years from now? We need to figure out what can be done to reduce the amount of existing invasives without wiping the natives out and creating bare patches.

On the bright side, the weather has been changing beautifully. I am hoping for blue skies pretty soon and maybe even a sunset. In the meantime, we shall continue doing what we do best…SCIENCE.

Wolfin and Grizzin + some science

2010-05-07T21:11:00.000-07:00

This is how the day started, seeing daybreak in the park. We headed out at 5AM after I realized the GPS was not correcting for Daylight savings time when giving sunrise data. No biggie, it gave us some extra time to caffeinate and wake up. The payoff was a park full of activity. Will spotted this Grizzly on the Lamar River just west of the Lamar ranger station. We set up the scope and got the tripod out for the long lense and watched for 1/2 an hour in 14 degree temps. We didn't realize we were cold until we got back in the Suburban. While we were watching the grizz we were serenaded by a wolf pack. No wolf sitings but getting to hear them howl is a once and a lifetime opportunity for many. Video to follow tomorow.

On the way back from the Lamar we saw lots of spooked ungulates. Usually stoic bison cows and their very new calves (called red dogs around here) were running away from what we guess were predators of some sort, wolves, grizzlies, or not so dangerous but annoying coyotes.

Great friday

2010-05-07T21:04:00.000-07:00

The day started off early (4 AM) as we prepared to go wolfing. I definitely should have had caffeine this morning but did not and instead gorged myself on the delicious crumb cake that Peter made last night. As we left, I had high expectations for the morning and was not disappointed. While driving, a fox darted across the road and a grouse was spotted. Later, from quite a distance, Will spotted a grizzly bear. What amazing vision! I certainly would not have been able to spot it. While watching the grizzly bear we heard the howl of wolves somewhere in the distance. It was something quite special and I was not expecting it at all when I got up this morning.

After, we went out for breakfast, and I was able to get some caffeine, which was good, because I had been falling asleep in the front seat of the car. We then went to collect bulk samples and returned to the lab to sieve them. It was tiring work, but we gradually got better at it. CO2 levels were measured, and we started to measure denitrification.

Later, on our way to the Rusty Rail, we made a detour into the park and got to see big horned sheep at a close distance (spotted by Will again!). We even got to see them ram each other a couple of times. It amazes me how they are able to stand on sides of cliffs so steadily without falling. It looked like a couple of them slipped a little at some points, by they recovered themselves very gracefully. We then went to the Rusty Rail, played pool and returned to the lodge for some foodgasmic chorizos.

Great day, definitely.

AN EPIC DAY TO SAY THE LEAST!

2010-05-07T21:01:00.000-07:00

AN EPIC DAY TO SAY THE LEAST! The day was jammed packed with so much I do not know where to begin- I suppose the best place to start is the beginning. Imagine setting an alarm to wake up extremely early to complete an assignment due that day, well that is kind of what it felt like when we went wolfing! The alarm sounded at 4:00 a.m. sharp. Will was the first out of bed, then Wilson, then me... Dr. Hamilton was up and had already brewed a spectacular pot of coffee. Just before we were about to set out at 4:30 for the Lamar river, Dr. Hamilton double checked sunrise and let us know we had a couple more minutes before heading out (kind of like an extension on a project or paper).

What I saw over a thirty-minute time scale in the park from 5:00 to 5:30 am my words cannot do justice. A sunrise in Yellowstone is majestic. The colors, the images, the sounds! One must see it to believe it.

The first animal to appear was a grouse that scampered across the road. It was followed by a sly fox crossing the road with its breakfast hanging out its mouth. We passed herds of bison, pronghorn, and elk until about a mile before the Lamar River. A herd of bison was trucking across the plain, clearly spooked by something. We hopped out of the car to take a look but didn’t spot anything. We crossed over the Lamar and headed upstream to another prime location. From the back seat of the car and about two hundred yards away, Will sniped a grizzly browsing on the other side of the river. It was the first grizzly I had ever seen in the wild, and it was awesome! We photographed and recorded the grizzly from the road, and just when things couldn’t get any cooler, the silence was broken by a pack of wolves howling behind us!

We heard several cries from wolf packs, but unfortunately did not spot any this morning. We ended our expedition with a breakfast fit for kings at a greasy spoon in town. Wilson had thick pieces of French toast, bacon, and eggs; Dr. Hamilton had a large omelet with cheese, sausage, green peppers and a side of hash browns; I had a short stack that was true to its name but were the size of a bison’s face; and Will thought he’d had a light breakfast and so he ordered biscuits and gravy... the gravy definitely was not light.

After breakfast the sun was shinning in the Gardiner Basin, and the four of us went and grabbed bulk samples from the Cinnabar site and the Remnant site. Along the way Dr. Hamilton picked up some incredibly detailed shots of two ospreys in their nest near our sites.

We returned to the labge and began sieving soil. We then performed CO₂analyses on our soil core samples collected from our first day in the field. Following this, we sieved the bulk soil we collected today from both sites and in order for another assay. We prepared three pans with soil from the Cinnabar site and added a solution of water to one, ammonium nitrate to the second, and urea to the third, and then capped them with a special device designed to measure denitrification from the soil.

The icing on the cake for the day was our delectable dinner prepared by our very own iron chef, Dr. Hamilton. Tortillas filled with bison chorizo, grilled onions, grilled green peppers, fresh homemade pico de gallo, black beans and rice. This meal hit the spot after an extremely long day. Once again, my compliments to the chef!

One thing I know that constantly occurred today was learning. Will, Wilson, Cozy, and I internalized many important, educational facts today; but also many random interesting facts were also revealed to us such as: Dr. Hamilton definitely hasn’t had ten hours of sleep since February 17, 1993; and I can’t remember any more, but please post interesting facts like the one above since I’m having trouble remembering (this is why collaboration occurs in science). Anyway, check out the videos, check out the pics! Let us know what you think!

What a Day!

2010-05-07T20:56:00.001-07:00

Today has been absolutely wonderful! From the early 4 a.m. wake-up call to the relaxing downtime right now, each part of the day has really been a treat. While the morning came early, it was quite rewarding. The trip into the park included such sights as a ruffed grouse and a large gray fox for starters. Then, we came across a bit of luck: a grizzly was spotted. We had our first grizzly, and while viewing it, one of the most incredible things happened. The viewing of the grizzly was accompanied by a chorus of wolves howling. We knew that they were in the area from previous sightings of bison running nearby, but those calls certainly made me realize that I was experiencing something many people will not get to experience in their lifetimes. I felt quite privileged.

After finishing up with the morning scouting and a quick stop in town for breakfast, we decided to take some bulk soil samples. Back at the lodge, we set up some experiments dealing with plant respiration and gas levels. I must admit, some of the lab work was quite tedious. However, I am finally getting a good grasp of the work we have been set out to accomplish, more so than what one merely can read on a syllabus. The data will hopefully provide some important insight into the invasive/non-invasive comparisons within soil in the park and its surrounding enclosures.

The evening continued by going back into the park. The initial idea was to check out a potential kill site to see if any wolves would be present. What we came across, instead, was a close-up view of 4 big horn sheep feeding on the side of a ridge. A couple of instances had us watching some males ramming one another, and the entire experience was really neat! Of course, we finished the day with another wonderful meal of chorizo tacos made with fresh ingredients. I have had such a great time on this trip so far, and I can't wait for tomorrow to start!

Field- Day 2

2010-05-06T19:16:00.000-07:00

After working up yesterdays soil cores for microbial biomass we waited for the snow in Gardiner Basin to melt (using this webcam) and around 2PM we headed out to sample the Remnant (never tilled or irrigated) but invaded site next to the Yellowstone river. This site still has the native grass species Poa secunda (Sandbergs bluegrass) but has been invaded by Alyssum and crested and annual wheatgrasses the former was planted by NPS in an effort to restore the grassland, it didn't work. It started snowing and blowing when we got there. In the picture above you will Devil's Slide bechind the crew.

In the foreground of this photo is a mix of P. secunda and crested wheat grass (Agropyron cristatum) the tall yellowish grass bunches, Poa is low to the ground because it has been grazed and is not easily seen in the photo.

In this picture you see Alyssum in bloom. In most sites it has yet to germinate or is just starting to germinate but in what seems to be moister sites it is already flowering.

On our way out of the GB we saw two men using big telephoto lenses aimed in the air and I was able to spot what they were shooting. But I have no idea what it is, but from this picture I would say some kind of raptor that I wouldn't want to mess with.

Tomorow we are getting up at 4:30AM to go wolfing and grizzing. Hopefully we will get lucky. Stay tuned.

Lab morning in the lodge

2010-05-06T12:06:00.000-07:00

Despite fearing the worst from the snow yesterday, there was no snow-in. There was no snow falling this morning when I woke up. The snow covering the pine trees was rather beautiful. We stayed in the lodge this morning rather than heading out to a field sight. It was nice and warm and I was able to stay in my pajamas all morning, so you won't here me complaining about it. We were amazingly productive. Soil cores were sieved and weighted. We are on a roll today.

First Day in the Field

2010-05-05T20:58:00.000-07:00

The crew on the Lamar River near Specimen Ridge. We found a small population of Alyssum near the river. GPS coordinates came from the Montana State invasive species survey. Today we sampled this site, Crystal Bench (across the road from this site) and the Cinnabar site in Gardiner Basin. We collected seed bank samples to test for germination of Alyssum, soil cores for microbial biomass and tube cores for Nitrogen mineralization experiments using 15N (stable isotope of N) labeled nitrogen. The germination trials are underway and we will work up the rest tomorrow during the forecasted snowstorm (I'm not convinced about that but we shall see).

Black bear

Bison jam on Yellowstone River Bridge approaching mammoth.

Newborn bison calf playing on the playground at Mammoth.

Here's a link to our Picasa Web album where we will post addtional pictures.
http://picasaweb.google.com/ewhamilt/YellowstoneSpring2010#

Yay for the first day

2010-05-05T17:25:00.000-07:00

What a day! We got to see a coyote, a black bear and of course I have to mention the ground squirrels. We were a little rusty at first when collecting soil samples but when things got better, it started getting colder (sigh).

My best experience today was eavesdropping. Yes, you read right! Dr. Hamilton had a conversation with a ranger on possible restoration experiments on invaded fields. The ranger was so passionate about this and I realized that it is his life. My perspective has been changed completely. This is no longer just a class, no longer just something I get to do for two weeks (and then hopefully graduate) but I am making a worthwhile contribution that even my own grandchildren might benefit from.

Now its snowing out, but we have something to do tomorrow in case we get snowed in. Hmmm, analyzing samples and drinking hot chocolate all day tomorrow does not sound too bad. Wanna join us?

First dinner in the lodge

2010-05-05T07:39:00.000-07:00

Cozy and Will heating up the jarred sauce. No we didn't make it from scratch.

Peter chopping garlic for the garlic cheese bread.

Bison and pork italian sausage made fresh daily. Bison is on the left. The pork was great but the Bison was awesome, lean and tasty.

Meatless meatballs in fire roasted tomato sauce.

For David Stancyk

2010-05-04T15:43:00.000-07:00

First day in the park.

2010-05-04T14:31:00.000-07:00

We made it out of the Bear Lair lodge by 11:30 this AM. Went to see the Gardiner Basin exclosures and then up to the Yellowstone Center for Resources to pick up the research permit. Checked out the Albright visitors center and then headed out towards the Lamar Valley. It's cold (from 26-42 depending on elevation) and cloudy with occasional breaks in the clouds to let the sunshine and blue sky show through.
Near Specimen Ridge we spotted these bison calves. This was taken with a 400mm telephoto lens. Will got 3 calves in one shot. Getting ready to unpack the boxes and set up the lab. Then decide on dinner and make a plan for tomorrow.

TWENTY-FIVE hours later.

2010-05-04T02:28:00.001-07:00

We made it. All is well. Time for bed.

Delayed in Roanoke

2010-05-03T04:05:00.000-07:00

Well it was bound to happen. This trip hasn't ever had major travel delays. Today makes up for that. Hydraulic fluid leak on plane steering controls. Waiting for it to be fixed. But we won't make our connection to Denver in Chicago. So we now have a layover until 6:45PM in Chicago and we will get in to Bozeman at 11:10PM instead of Noon.

YNP Spring 2010

2010-04-27T11:40:00.000-07:00

BIOL332 Plant Functional Ecology goes to Yellowstone National Park.
The Blog begins.
We are getting ready to ship out the lab. This year we are focusing on decompositon of plant tissue and Nitrogen mineralization (the tranformation of organic matter into inorganic NH4+ and NO3-). We need to get tubes ready for the N-mineralization experiment and make litter bags for the decomposition experiment. Below Peter is cutting the bottom off of 50 plastic centrifuge tubes, Will is cutting screening for the litter bags, and Wilson and Cozy are stapling the fiberglass screening together to make pouches to put dead plant tissue into.

"Harvesting" barley and weeds

2009-09-16T22:04:00.000-07:00

I spent the day collecting over 50 samples each consisting of digging up a plant, (barley, Alyssum, or crested wheatgrass), collecting the top 2 cm of soil for seed bank sampling, and a soil core for DNA extraction in the restoration exclosure (picture below) or in the remnant native site which since last spring has been taken over by invasive species. It's depressing from an ecological perspective to see the loss of native grass species. But that is what the NPS, W&L

students and I are working to correct.

In the picture above the light yellow/tan is planted barley in the exclosure. The area is 23 acres and you can see the edge of the fence on the left side and the trees in the front are the closest edge of the fenceline. The barley grew well only in the areas where Roundup was applied in the left half an herbicide directed at crested wheatgrass (Agropyron spicatum) was applied and Alyssum desertorum survived and the barley barely survived.

I also sampled in the area where two new exclosures are currently being constructed. The picture below demonstrates what creatures of habit Elk are. The fence is not yet finished but it was placed in their normal trail coming off of the Yellowstone river and they didn"t know what to do. So they ended up laying down and ruminating for an hour and were still doing so 2 hours later when I was done sampling. If they only knew that it was for their own good.

After sampling the now invaded "native plant species" remnant a cloud burst opened up and I got the picture below of a rainbow over Roosevelt Arch. Not a bad way to end the day.

Collecting samples and a little hiking

2009-09-15T19:35:00.000-07:00

I started out at 6:30AM to go look for wildlife. No luck. I got to the Lamar Valley just after sunrise and it was completely fogged in. So I turned around and headed to Crystal Bench to collect soils. We can use these as a comparison to invaded soils in the Gardiner Basin (~30 miles as the Raven flies). Although they have different geological impacts over time it is a dry winter range site that can be used as a benchmark for the restoration project. I got the sunrise picture below from the Crystal Bench site (Just off of the Lamar river).

Then I went to look for Alyssum desertorum using GPS coordinates from Montana State. We tried to find them this past spring but ran in to a grizzly on the Lamar and that ended that pursuit. Well unfortunately I was successful today. The site is covered with A. desertorum and it's cousin A alyssoides which goes to seed in the fall. It is patchy from the road to the Lamar river but is covering an area of about 5 acres and I suspect it will continue to spread. The picture below shows A. desertorum in the foreground as all of the short light tan stick like objects. I collected soil cores and surface soil samples for seed bank/germination estimates.

Since I was out in the park and had some time I decided to head towards Yellowstone Lake via Dunraven Pass/Mt. Washburn to look for Elk and Bison. As I got close to Mt. Washburn I decided to go to the fire outlook on the top. It's always closed in the spring so now was my chance to get to the highest point in the park. It is a 2.8 mile hike up an access road that is used by the Rangers that staff the outlook. There is a more difficult route up the front side of the mountain but it was closed due to grizzly activity. I took my bear spray and headed up at 9:50 AM and figured I could do it in one hour. After the first 1000 yds I thought I was done. Going from 1100 ft in Lexington to 8800 feet can take it out of you. But I turned it around and made it to the top at 10,243 ft in just under 1 hour. The weather turned nasty with rain/freezing rain, so I didn't spend much time at the top but I did meet a nice couple from Canada and they took my picture.

Of course a quarter of the way down the sky opened up to blue but it made for a nice descent. You can see the blue sky in the photo of fire killed trees below.

I then headed further south towards the lake into the Hayden Valley hoping to see large herds of bison or elk. I did come across a huge herd of bison ~300 crossing the road. No pictures I have plenty of those. I turned around and headed for the Gardiner Basin to start sampling the exclosure. It will be seeded with winter wheat on Thursday and I want to get a thorough sampling of the planted and now dead barley biomass, plus sample the areas where the barley didn't grow but A. desertorum did despite herbicide treatment. One interesting outcome of the fence and the planting of barley is that a pair of sand hill cranes now spend a large portion of their day feeding on the large number of grasshoppers as well as the barley seed heads. In the picture below taken at 7 this evening the male is getting a little upset with me getting too close and is letting out a loud warning call.

Tomorrow more sampling and a talk for the Yellowstone Center for Resources and USDA-NRCS.

Fall trip to YNP

2009-09-14T02:03:00.000-07:00

Big time thanks to James Dick for getting up at 3:30AM to get me to Roanoke for the 5:30 flight to Charlotte then Denver and finally arrive in Bozeman at 1PM.
I'm going out to get soil samples and give a talk on the latest data. Much of it from last spring and all of it analyzed by Maya and Camden with the technical expertise of Kelly Hemminger.
Getting ready to board.

Last day in YNP

2009-05-07T13:35:00.000-07:00

The day started halling seven boxes to the YNP supply center for FedEx pick-up. Then a quick return to the lodge to get the crew (the Doray is small so I made the trip alone) to go back to Mammoth for the presentation to the YCR. There were about 20 park employees in attendance and the data generated a good discussion about the restoration efforts in the Gardiner Basin.
We had lunch at the Sawtooth deli in Gardiner. It was snowing and raining in Mammoth so we are going back later to hike the hot springs before dinner at the Town Cafe. After lunch we cleaned up the lodge and now we are waiting to head to the hot springs. The weather still looks bad, but as we have learned it could be sunny in Mammoth and the weather will change, probably in the next 10 minutes.

That's all for now. It's been a great trip all around.

Perhaps we will get some pictures of the wolves that have denned up near Mammoth (the former Canyon Pack) and will share them later. But if not. See you in Lexington. We are leaving for Bozeman at 4:45 AM for our 7:30 flight.

May 6 Wrapping up in the field and packing up the lab

2009-05-07T06:39:00.000-07:00

Not much excitement today. We took the last soil cores today from the SBU experiment and removed our soil fungal tubes. The agar did dry out some but there was still agar in contact with the 37 micron mesh. We shall see after we return.

After field work we came back and packed up the lab and I finished the presentation for the Yellowstone Center for Resources for tomorrow.

Canyon, Yellowstone Lake and more weather

2009-05-05T21:08:00.000-07:00

We started out the morning by adding solutions to our SBU and urease inhibitor experiment. Went well and the data was collected this evening and will be sampled again tomorrow AM. The results we are finding are consistently low soil urease activity in Alyssum desertorum soils and soil respiration in response to SBU is 2 -fold greater in the remnant site by the Yellowstone river in the Gardiner Basin. Further analysis of this interesting result will be performed back in Lexington. On our way out to Canyon this morning (it was too cloudy for respiration) we spotted a group of photographers just before Roaring Mountain and there was a young grizzly tearing apart a rotten log looking for grubs, without a place to stop we kept on going.

We stopped at Mud Volcano/Churning caldron (yes correct spelling). Pretty cool geology even though it smells like rotten eggs. The video below is of the Churning caldron.

Then we headed on down to Yellowstone Lake. The road just opened May 1 and none of the services are open yet, it was pretty quiet. We got a group picture with the frozen lake in the background.

Then we stopped at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

On the way back through, and now with blue skys, we got to see the same Grizzly grazing on some fresh green grass from 100 yards. Plenty of pictures were taken.

On the way back to Gardiner we got stuck in yet another Bison jam. I took some close ups this time.

When we got back to Gardiner clouds were still to thick to do soil respiration using the solar panel so we hit main street Gardiner and did some souvenir shopping. After an hour it looked clear so we set up to do species specific soil respiration. I took half of the group back to the lodge to sieve soils for future analysis and on my return back to Gardiner (25 min later) the weather had turned quickly and put a stop to respiration after one replicate.

Within 10 minutes of leaving the field site we got to see a rainbow over Gardiner and the sun quickly came back out.

Tomorow we hope to get soil respiration done and we will take our final soil cores from the SBU experiment and remove our fungal soil tubes that we installed 10 days ago. Then it will be time to pack up samples and the lab and get them back to Lexington. Time flies.....

Not a predator in sight but a good day in the field.

2009-05-04T21:00:00.000-07:00

Today we hit Gardiner Basin to sample the restoration exclosure prior to seeding with barley and to quantify soil respiration in our field simulated bovine urine experiment. Using a solar powered pump and CO2 Infrared gas analyzer we can quantify the flux of CO2 from the soil. After a few technical difficulties and several clouds we were able to quantify soil respiration in the GB agricultural field and the native remnant (still has invasives but has not been impacted by tilling). We are starting to get data sets analyzed and things are shaping up quite well. In brief, Alyssum desertorum inhibits fungal growth and in soils in which ALDE dominates the response of soil microbes to SBU is reduced. We have layed out several experiments that we will conduct after we return to campus and several still in the works for the last few days that we are here. The video below shows the stark contrast in weather from a few days ago.

Tomorrow we will set up another lab urease incubation experiment and go back out to GB to quantify soil respiration for species specific soils.

Alyssum hunting = Grizzly

2009-05-03T20:06:00.000-07:00

We started out at noon today after "sleeping in" (it is Sunday after all) and cleaning up the lodge. We were headed out to Slough (pronounced slew like stew) Creek and the Specimen area to look for Alyssum desertorum. Using GPS data from the Univ. of Montana we had waypoints to check that had previously identified ALDE's presence. On our way out we passed a bison kill that was 10 feet off the road near Specimen, nothing was eating it but plenty of photographers were waiting for an animal to return (When we came back through the carcass was loaded on a truck to go to the carcass dump, not safe that close to the road).

The hike down the Slough Creek was nice, no ALDE, but we did see plenty of Bison a few ducks and coots and some fresh bear tracks (a little unnerving) but hiking with 7 provides safety in numbers and we had our bear spray. Slough creek is one of (if not the most, Eric?) species rich area in Yellowstone. It is my favorite place to hike. Although it can be hiked on a gravel road it gets you off of the beaten path somewhat and you can hear nature. We even heard the spring peepers today.

Just can't stop taking pictures of bison.

Above is a Bufflehead duck that was being harrassed by a Barrows Goldeneye duck (Below).

So after we finished the Slough Creek hike we headed back towards Specimen to find an ALDE waypoint. Nearly to the destination we see a load of RV's, cars and spotting scopes. We happened upon a grizzly eating an unknown (to us) kill on the Lamar river. The waypoint we were looking for turned out to be on the river bank and probably 1/4 mile from the grizzly so we didn't look for ALDE, but we got great pictures and video, once again. We are really fortunate. Seven wolves and 2 grizzlies on three different kills, all within 3 days.

Tomorrow we will be conducting another lab incubation of soils with simulated bovine urine and an inhbitor of urease. Plus we will be going out to quantify soil respiration in the field and sample soil in the restoration site prior to seeding (which may occur this week).

A quick taste

2009-05-02T14:39:00.000-07:00

On our way to Old Faithful today we got incredibly lucky and found a female wolf from the Gibbon pack on a grizzly killed bison. We are off to collect cores now but will update with all of the grizzly details, photos and video later.

After she had her fill she crossed the road and headed off into the woods.

Videoe below not for the faint of heart. Lots of rare meat.

Success

2009-05-01T08:45:00.000-07:00

This wolf crossed the road in front of us near the old Picnic stop in the Lamar valley. We then looked to the left and saw it's partner still on a kill. We couldn't see the kill but knew it was there based on all of the birds hanging around.

This is the wolf that was still on the kill and then left and gave us a good opportunity to get pictures.

Then as we were heading back we saw a large pack of spotting scopes and knew there was some action. Three wolves from the Agate Pack and a grizzly on what we think is a bison kill.

The video below is through David's spotting scope. We will get more up later but we need to get to work, the sun is actually shining. No snow!!!

Evening update: After an exciting (close to once in a lifetime) morning we came back and took a quick brek. Then we went out to set up another SBU experiment in Gardiner Basin. The weather the day before didn't make for the best 24h sampling so we started over again.

Not a bad field site (when the sun is shining)

Tomorrow we are going to head down to Old Faithful and Canyon and then sample our SBU expeiment in the afternoon.

It's snowing again....

2009-04-30T18:41:00.000-07:00

We finished setting up our lab simulated bovine urine (SBU) experiment by adding the SBU and inhibitor to the samples. They will incubate for 24 h and then we will quantify the amount of carbon dioxide produced. This will provide a comparison to the field SBU experiment we started today in the driving snow, once again. One of our soil incubation tubes was pulled out of the ground and crushed with obvious human footprints around it. Dissapointing and puzzling since this area of the park doesn't see many visitors and the cores are not visible from the road.

After getting the experiment started we headed into Mammoth to see if the Canyon wolf pack was around. No luck, but on our way back out we saw 2 doe Bighorn Sheep crossing the road. The picture below is of one of them.

Tomorrow we plan to get up early and go looking for wildlife, we still need to see grizzly and black bears. Then we will finish sampling our lab SBU experiment and then count fungal plates. The bacterial plate counts were actually too successfull. Most of the plates had too many colonies to count. We will repeat this experiment when we return to W&L. But our control plates are still clear as day, not a single colony, so it is possible to perform sterile microbiology at 6,300 feet in a lodge.

2009-04-29T22:53:00.000-07:00

Today we went to a native remnant site to collect soil samples and that went well, but then the weather went south quickly. More photos tomorrow. The video below sums up the change while we were sampling soils to determine the seed bank of A. desertorum and annual wheatgrass.

After returning at 2PM we warmed up and set up an experiment that will investigate the effects of simulated bovine urine (SBU) on microbial biomass in soils collected from the 4 species of interest. By using inhibitors of urease (the enzyme that breaks down urea into CO2 and NH3)and bacteria we will be able to quantify the response of soil bacteria to SBU and the effects of invasive species on soil urease levels. Urease is an extracellular enzyme produced by plants, fungi and bacteria that is functional in the soil matrix but is also excreted in response to urea addition to the soil.

Colonies are beginning to grow on the bacterial petri plates that we poured yesterday (Tuesday) and we will count them in the morning. We plan to get out in the field tomorrow to do a companion SBU application in the field (we had planned to do this today but the snow and low temps made it impossible).

Snowed in

2009-04-28T13:38:00.000-07:00

We woke up to 3-4 inches of powder with plenty still falling maye 6 inches total. It is starting to clear now at 2:40PM and the snow is melting. Up to now we have been making bacterial and fungal petri plates and then plating soil extracts containing microbes from Gardiner Basin soils. We are testing for effects of the A. desertorum on microbial growth. A total of 90 plates were prepared and innoculated in 5 hours. A bunch of work and now we wait. We are going to head out looking for wildlife this afternoon and have a late stir fry dinner. The video below sums up the morning. Hopefully we can update later with some grizzly and wolf pics.

Getting field science started

2009-04-27T21:31:00.000-07:00

Today began with light snow and 20F temperatures.
I had a meeting with Mary Hektner. Mary works for at the Yellowstone Center for Resources-National Park Service and is the coordinator of the restoration project in the Gardiner Basin. We scheduled our coffee break presentation to YCR staff for May 7 at 10:30 where we will present the data we have collected and our plans for follow up experiments after we return to campus. While I was in the meeting everyone else went to the Albright Visitors center at Mammoth Hot Springs and watched a movie about the park (still 2 more to watch, they let you choose). We then returned to the lodge to finish our soil incubation tubes. This method is based on a paper published in 1940 in which soil bacteria and fungi (collectively called soil microbes) are collected by burying a glass tube that has thousands of small holes and is filled with nutrient agar. After a period of time the tube is removed and the agar is removed for the determination of diversity and abundance. We modified this method by cutting out channels in plastic centrifuge tubes and gluing on a 37 micron nylon mesh through which fungal hyphae and bacteria could pass but most, if not all, roots cannot. We filled them with agar and an extract of soil collected from one of the four species of interest (A. desertorum, P. secunda, E. triticeum, or, A. cristatum) . This will allow us to investigate changes in soil organic matter quality and any possible anti-microbial properties of the soils. In the video below Becca, Camden and Brittany are pouring agar into the soil incubation tubes. While we don't have a sterile lab to do this work in we do have an alcohol lamp, low humdity and low temperature on our side.

Becca, Camden and Maya installing the soil incubation tubes.

David, Brittany and Mackenzie installing tubes.

The tubes installed (we put in 36 total)

Not a bad view for a lab.

Tomorrow we will be plating out soil bacteria and fungi for most probable number counts (a measure of abundance) and collecting soils from a reminant native grassland in the Gardiner Basin and surface soils in the GB to determine the seed banks of the 4 species of interest. We may take a dusk trip out to look for wildlife. Still need to see a grizz from a safe distance. Today we saw a coyote try to take down a yearling Elk. It wasn't going to happen, but fun to watch nonetheless.

Picture post

2009-04-27T08:08:00.000-07:00

Quick post of a link to pictures: We will update them each day.
http://picasaweb.google.com/ewhamilt/PlantFunctionalEcology2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCOXEho6ekqOSPg#

Early morning = No wolves or grizzlies

2009-04-26T12:01:00.000-07:00

Our early start began on schedule but with snow falling. We pulled out of the driveway at 5:20AM. On our way out to Lamar we passed a kill at Specimen which had obviously been an active sight in the past couple of days. Cones were up and one lone photographer was still hanging out. But nothing to see but ravens. At Slough Creek we saw a very new bison calf, still quite wobbly in the legs. Lot's of snow covered bison in the road.

In picture above from left to right: Becca, Brittany, Maya, Mackenzie, Camden and David

The lab at the lodge.

Back to the lodge by 9:45AM and then back to working on making soil culture tubes and making soil extracts for bacterial and fungal counts.

Snow has stopped now (4:15PM) but the forecast looks tough for the rest of the week, but we have plenty to do. Tomorrow we will install the soil culture tubes in Gardiner Basin and collect soils in the exclosure in Gardiner Basin that is the site of the restoration project. Barley seeds will be planted this week in the exclosure to act as a cover crop, stablizing the soil and increasing soil organic matter in preparation for future seeding with native grass species.

First full day and we got a wolf (on film).

2009-04-25T21:18:00.000-07:00

The day started with 12F temps but blue skies. The birds were still quite active near the lodge and David is giving us all a tutorial.

We went to Gardiner Basin to start our field work. After an introduction to the area and plants we took soil cores from the native grass Poa secunda (Sandberg's Bluegrass) and 3 invasives: Alyssum desertorum (desert alysum/madwort), Eremopyrum triticeum (annual wheat grass) and Agropyron cristatum (crested wheatgrass). The invasive species in Gardiner Basin have sigificantly reduced grassland productivity and we will be investigating their impacts on soil nitrogen cycling and organic matter decomposition. After collecting at GB we heade to Mammoth Hot Springs to look for Centaurea stoebe (aka maculosa) (spotted knapweed), we found very few, but on the way we spotted a lone wolf.

There was a kill (probably an elk) nearby that the park rangers were "guarding" and we figure this wolf was trying to get a meal. We spent a good 20 minutes using David's spotting scope and the 400 mm lens on my camera taking pictures and letting other interested passers by take a look. There are many more pictures (I took over 100 myself) and the video below is taken with a Flip MinoHD through David's scope, not easy to do, but when it is lined up the picture is awesome.

We also saw Bighorn sheep from a distance and plenty of elk, bison and pronghorn antelope.

Tomorrow we are getting up at 5AM to go "Wolfing/Grizzing". It's a 45 minute drive to the best wolf territory and we need to be there by sunrise for the best chance to see wolves or grizzlies.

It was a great first day, we all worked well together, got our research going and got to see a wolf.

Time for bed.

We've landed

2009-04-24T21:07:00.000-07:00

After a successfull departure at 3:45AM from the parking deck and prompt arrival at 4:40AM (Thanks John) we cleared check in and security before the early AM airport rush. Three uneventful flights later we landed in Bozeman at 1:15PM MST. After receiving our not so "Large" Dodge Dorango from Enterprise we jammed in the luggage and made our way to Walmart. We bought a tarp and some bungees and managed to get the groceries in the Doray.

Then after a blue sky ride to Gardiner we then made it to the Bear Lair Lodge in Jardine (More on this great lodge later).

After settling in we took a quick trip into the park. We had a quick look at a juvenille bald eagle, rocky mountain bluebirds, and a pronghorn antelope.

Lab all packed and on it's way.

2009-04-22T11:01:00.000-07:00

We packed up the lab supplies today, six boxes filled with all kinds of good research stuff.
We are ready for just about anything the soil can throw at us. Hopefully I got it right. The mobile lab should be waiting for us when we arrive in
View Larger Map'>Jardine Friday evening. Next step is to pack the right mix of clothing for teens to hopefully 70 degree weather. We will be getting there in time for a below average temperature swing after an above average week prior to our arrival. Cany you say Climate change? Or is that how you get the monthly average temperature to work out right?
Back to menu planning. Need to be ready for Wally world when we land.

Getting ready for YNP

2009-04-13T17:16:00.001-07:00

We will be blogging our trip experiences from the moment we get on the van at 4AM on April 24 until we are done analyzing the data at the end of Spring term. I'm new to this and if anyone has experience I could use a hand. Otherwise we will learn together. I want to use photos and video as well as personal updates about our experiences in YNP beyond the research we will be doing. Each time I go to YNP I amazed by something new that either I hadn't seen before or hadn't been there previously. I'm looking forward to the trip. Good luck on exams and have safe travels to and from break.