My student Jake Beckstead (’16) recently set up three squirrel nest boxes with web cams that are now up on three trees on the College of Wooster campus (near Kauke, Scovel and Severance Halls). It took about 3 or 4 weeks for the squirrels to get comfortable with them but all three have now been stuffed with leaves and are being used regularly. The live video (and sound) means we can peek in on them whenever we want and see what they have been up to. We’re hoping to get some females to give birth in our nest boxes, but for now they mostly do a lot of sleeping when they are not out foraging. Rest assured, we are collecting data on the secret lives of Wooster squirrels.
In the near future we hope to be able to stream the live video to the Wooster website, keep your eyes open for that!
Recently, my students and I had a paper accepted to be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Herpetology. This paper “Re-assessing the conservation status of an island endemic frog”, was based on three seasons of field work on the Caribbean island of Tobago, where we conducted surveys for an endemic species, the Bloody Bay Poison Frog (Mannophryne olmonae). This species was classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as “Critically Endangered” until our work revealed that it is actually reasonably common and widespread in suitable habitats. The conservation status of this species has now been downgraded to “Vulnerable”. Three Wooster grads contributed to this work: Travis Calkins (’12), Jess McQuigg (’13) and Aaron Novick (’12). All three are now in Ph.D. programs at Ohio State University, Miami University, and the University of Pittsburgh, respectively. Nice work folks!
Hola from La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica!
I am here with three Wooster students conducting research on glass frogs. The station is an excellent place to conduct biological research in the lowland rainforests of Central America, a region extremely rich in biological diversity. We have seen anteaters, howler monkeys, smoky jungle frogs, toucans, hummingbirds, bromeliads, palms, blue morpho butterflies and too many other species to mention. Truly a naturalist’s paradise.
Our actual quarry (glass frogs) has been somewhat elusive, but we are slowly discovering their secrets. These small frogs are nocturnal and perch on vegetation over streams and rivers. We are learning about their ecological requirements, particularly, we have been examining their abundance and diversity in primary (old growth) and secondary (re-growth) forests.
We will be hearing about the findings of this study as Taylor Bradley (’16), Stuti Sharma (’16) and Nate Weltman (’16) begin to analyze their data and write up their theses this fall. Stay tuned.
About ten years ago, I started a project with a few students to assess to conservation status of Blanchard’s cricket frog (Acris blanchardi) in the state of Ohio. The last large scale assessment of the distribution and abundance of this formerly common species was published in 1946. So, a detailed examination of its current situation was needed, especially since this species had declined precipitously in other areas.
My students and I collected field data over five summers (2004-2008) and an analysis of our findings has recently appeared in the journal Herpetological Conservation and Biology co-authored by Wooster alum Jim Witter (‘07). This work was made possible by the hard work of many other Wooster students and colleagues (Ken Fry, Danielle Lightle, Allen Skinner, Erica Kovacik, Derek Schook, Elizabeth Wojtowicz, Nate Busman, Steven Bouyack, Andrew Kordalski, Claire Paisley-Jones, Michael MacDonald, Carolyn Cahill and Gerardo Carfagno) and by funding from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the Henry Luce Foundation and the College of Wooster. The dataset involves results from a total of 1,807 listening surveys conducted in western Ohio during those five summers. Each survey took ~ 15 minutes, so that means we collectively spent about 450 hours listening for frogs! It’s really fun at first but after a few weeks, the novelty does wear off a bit. To my knowledge, this is the most extensive monitoring project ever conducted specifically for Blanchard’s cricket frog.
A fun poster Andy Kordalski came up with.
Our results suggest that Blanchard’s cricket frogs have declined substantially in Ohio, but presently they are relatively stable. We even found some evidence for eastward expansion (recovery). So, we are cautiously optimistic about the future of this species in Ohio. But what has happened out there since 2008? We have no idea. Future monitoring efforts will be necessary to answer this question.
At the beginning of December, I had the opportunity to attend a conference being held in Cartagena, Colombia. I was asked by the organizers of a special symposium entitled “Parental Care in Anurans” to give a talk on my recent work on parental care in glass frogs. Getting out of Ohio in December, to go to the tropics? How could I say no?
When I left gray Cleveland it was 29 degrees Fahrenheit. When I landed in colorful Cartagena, it was 88 degrees. The city (and my hotel) was hard on the beachfront , looking out onto the blue Caribbean. The conference itself was the IV Congreso Colombiano de Zoologia (the Fourth Colombian Congress of Zoology). It had three official languages: English, Spanish and Portuguese and had attendees from all over Central and South America (as well as a few of us norteamericanos). Though I speak a bit of Spanish, it has been long since I used it much. So, I gave my talk in English with Spanish on my slides. Many others did similarly, which allowed more people to follow the science either by reading or by listening. My talk was well-received and I heard impressive work from many other colleagues. We all went to lunch at a traditional Colombian restaurant to discuss our science further and enjoy excellent food and music.
Across the street from the convention center is the old city. And by old, I mean founded in 1533 old. The walls of the old Spanish citadel are still intact and inside are wide brick plazas, and vendors selling all manner of goods in the narrow, crooked alleys. One has to walk in through the famous clock tower and was a wonderful place to explore on lunch breaks.
Clock Tower in Cartagena
Several of the nearby parks were also interesting spots to sit and watch ordinary Colombians have their midday meal. In the parks I also found mating green iguanas, some shrieking monkeys, and birds galore (from snowy egrets to grayish saltators). A successful and enjoyable trip. I would be happy if my travels someday took me back to Colombia to explore some more of this diverse country. But for now I will just try to hold on to some of that tropical heat to help me get through the winter.
