Browsing by Author "Strelow, Desiree"
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Item Abundance and Diversity of Small Mammals Found in Forest Habitat Compared with Prairie Habitat(2010-03-10) Blake, Amy; Shaughnessy, Lorraine; Strelow, DesireeMany factors can influence the biodiversity in a particular habitat. In this study, we looked at the biodiversity of small mammals in four forested habitats and four prairie habitats. We predicted that heterogeneous habitats would be more diverse, while disturbed areas would be less diverse. We set up a 5 x 10 trap-grid in each of the eight habitats, using a combination of Sherman, Russian, and Longworth traps. We checked traps in the forest habitats once a day for three consecutive days and traps in the prairie habitats twice a day for three consecutive days. Results indicate that biodiversity of small mammals is greater in most of the forested sites than in prairie sites. We also observed that the red-backed vole and the deer mouse were present in both forest and prairie habitat while other species found were only common in prairie or forest.Item Impacts of Geomys Bursarius on vegetation patterns found in an old field in Clearwater County, MN(2010-03-10) Blake, Amy; Strelow, Desiree; Kraft, TannerThe effects of the plains pocket gopher (Geomys bursarius) mound building on plant species diversity were investigated in an old field in June 2008. Past studies have shown conflicting results that mound building negatively impacts plant species diversity or that mound building positively impacts plant species diversity. To conduct our study we compared vegetation on new mounds, abandoned mounds, old mounds, and control areas with no mounds. Our results support our hypothesis that G.bursarius activity in an old field increases plant species richness. It also agrees with historical studies that gopher mound building can generate a prairie ecosystem in disturbed areas and increase plant heterogeneity present.Item Water clarity in Lake Itasca: Bottom-up vs. Top-down theory(2010-03-11) Dube, Mark; Strelow, Desiree; Woods, RachelLake Itasca is clearer than normal for spring and expected to become less clear as the summer progresses, due to algal growth. Our research investigated the main factor that controls water clarity in Lake Itasca based on two different theoretical concepts: Bottom-up versus Top-down effects. Ultimately, we inferred that the top-down theory was the main influence, in which food web interactions were the largest driver of water clarity. We examined the abundance of zooplankton, hatching of yellow perch larvae, and algal levels in conjunction with nutrient levels to support our hypothesis. The zooplankton population declined in correlation to the presence of larval yellow perch, along with growth in the amount of chlorophyll at each site, presented evidence in food web change. Nitrate levels showed consistency and no pattern of change, further providing support towards our hypothesis. These results of our research supported our hypothesis in that the Top-down theory was the main controller on water clarity in Lake Itasca.