Transcript Edge Effect

THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN
ECOLOGICAL PROBLEMS
Pre colonial Slash & Burn Land
Management
1650-1750
Sustenance Farming & Commodification of Land
1775-1850
Monoculture of Tobacco South
1850-1890
Monoculture of Cotton South
1840-1940
Western Water Reclamation
1890-1910
Urban Pollution
1945-1965
Atomic Power & The Baby Boom
1950-1970
Biomagnification
1980-Present
Invasive Species & Sprawl
Edge Effect
• Change in biotic
relationships along
the margins of
ecosystems that have
been fragmented
• Often shown as
changes in rates of
predation, parasitism
and interspecific
competition
Lab: Assessing Edge Effect In
Mixed Woodlot Ecotones
• Purpose: To determine if (and potentially,
to what degree) the ecological
phenomenon of edge effect is impact the
community of secondary and tertiary
consumers on the DHS Campus
• Method: Longitudinal study of contacts
between sham nests and
predators/scavengers
Protocol
• 1) All members handling eggs or nest
materials should put on gloves
• 2) Travel to the three margins (high
contrast, medium contrast, low contrast)
and build sham nests of natural materials
• 3) Place egg in nest and observe the
position and location of the egg
• 4) Return next week and record evidence
of any potential contacts/predation