Research

Emerging Themes:

  • Invasive Species and Diseases

  • Climate Change

  • Bluegrass Species and Ecosystems

  • Adaptive Behavior

  •  Mutualism/Symbiosis

  • Diurnal/Seasonal Rhythms

  • Urban Ecology

 

Publications, Theses, and Funding to Date

From 1998-2015, a total of 39 papers based on research conducted at ERF have appeared in peer-reviewed journals (most frequent journals: Animal Behaviour [5], Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology [3], and Evolution [3]). Over this interval, research at ERF has supplemented UK research programs mainly focused elsewhere but has provided vital opportunities to use approaches otherwise infeasible, especially semi-field studies. Of graduate student projects completed during this period, 5 MS theses and 13 dissertations included components conducted at ERF. Approximately 40 undergrads and 3 postdocs have conducted research projects there, and 5 continuing doctoral students and one MS student are making use of ERF in their work. Since 1996, 13 NSF research grants and 4 NIH grants have included studies at ERF. Of the NSF grants, 4 were Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grants ($33.3K total), 7 were regular NSF research grants ($2.0M total), one was a field-station planning grant ($25K), and one was an REU Site grant ($300K). The NIH grants totaled $2.1M. A Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant ($1.9M) supports STEM undergraduate education and makes extensive use of EREC. There were also quite a few small grants from sources like Sigma XI, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Lewis and Clark fund, awarded to graduate students in support of their ERF studies.

 

Researcher-hours at EREC by month from 2012 through 2015. Hours were estimated from daily use data (at 2.5 hours/day) for 2012 and 2013 but estimated directly for 2014 and 2015. About 15% of the total hours were logged by researchers from institutions other than UK.

 

Current Faculty Research linked to EREC

Vincent Cassone (UK Chair of Biology)

Vincent Cassone studies the molecular and physiological mechanisms by which the biological, circadian clock regulates complex behavior and other rhythmic processes on a daily and seasonal basis. Currently, the laboratory has two major research focuses. One of these is based on the main campus and investigates the role of the circadian clock in the aging gastrointestinal system, funded by the National Institute on Aging. The other, based primarily at ERF, addresses circadian and seasonal control of avian behavior and reproduction. We (former post-doc Gang Wang and graduate students Jiffin Paulose and Clifford Harpole) have found that the pineal gland, through the circadian secretion of the hormone melatonin, is necessary for the expression of circadian patterns of bird song in zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata (Wang et al. 2012) and for the temporal precision of seasonal changes in bird song behavior (Wang et al. in press) and in brain structures associated with song in house sparrows, Passer domesticus (Cassone et al. 2008; Paulose et al. unpublished). In addition, graduate student Clifford Harpole is studying the effects of timed song playback on sleep-wake cycles in zebra finches. New projects include a study of photoperiodic control of reproduction in domestic turkeys, funded by the USDA, with new post-doctoral fellow Dr. Ashli Moore; and the effects of anthropogenic light on the circadian patterns physiology and behavior in house sparrows, a project started as part of the NSF REU, and in two species of swallows, in collaboration with Dr. Caryn Cooper of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and Dr. Margaret Voss at Syracuse University.

Philip Crowley (UK Biology)

Philip Crowley Philip Crowley has 3 main ERF research projects: one considers pollinator attraction in closely related endangered and non-endangered plants; another addresses the activity and foraging behavior of honeybees; and the third investigates herbivory of tall fescue defended or not by endosymbiotic fungi. The pollinator attraction studies are a collaboration with Patrick Calie (Eastern Kentucky University, Biological Sciences) to compare volatile emissions and pollinator responses for the endangered goldenrod Solidago shortii to those of its more abundant and widespread congeners (see Calie et al. 2006), using field plots to be established at ERF. This links with the bee foraging project, in which a graduate student is characterizing bee foraging on flowers of various plants, including the two goldenrod species. The fescue study will be conducted in plots at ERF in collaboration with high-school students. We will attempt to measure rates of herbivory on plots containing different mixtures of fescue cultivars and detect shifts in composition using PCR analysis-in collaboration with Pat Calie, Chris Schardl, and Rebecca McCulley.

Stephen Dobson (UK Entomology)

The research of Stephen Dobson at ERF includes monitoring the invasive Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) and additional mosquito species using traps that capture mosquito adults and eggs. With a recent Experimental Use Permit from the Environmental Protection Agency, Lexington will be a location for open releases of A. albopictus males that are infected artificially with Wolbachia pipientis bacteria and are thus cytoplasmically incompatible (CI) with the indigenous population (Suh et al. 2013). Repeated releases of the artificially-infected males will cause CI and early embryonic arrest in the indigenous A. albopictus population (O'Connor et al. 2012, Bourtzis et al. 2013, Mains et al. 2013). Ongoing monitoring of the mosquito population during this 'species sanitation' exercise will test the predicted species shift within mosquito breeding sites. Collaboration with additional ERF researchers allows evaluation of indirect effects of these releases on non-mosquito species, including predators and competitors of mosquitoes in aquatic systems.

Scott Gleeson (UK Biology)

Scott Gleeson's lab's research at the Ecological Research Facility centers on plant adaptations to multiple environmental factors, including morphological and physiological trait variation and plasticity. The current ongoing project is part of a larger study exploring the ecological characteristics of species native to the Inner Bluegrass ecosystem, about which much has been written but little is known with certainty (Wharton and Barbour 1991). Twelve native tree species are planted in a field experiment manipulating both resource competition and herbivory (bottom up vs. top down forces) to compare performance and trait expression across species. This experiment is a reduced version of a larger experiment established at the Griffith Woods site in Harrison County, conducted in collaboration with John Cox and John Lhotka (UK Forestry). The trees at ERF are important in allowing more detailed measurement and supplemental manipulations infeasible at Griffith Woods. This work tests fundamental ecological theory and provides guidance for restoration efforts in a unique but globally endangered landscape (Cox and Crowley 2007).

Rebecca McCulley (UK Plant & Soil Sciences)

Rebecca McCulley has a project at ERF exploring whether a fungal endophyte symbiont (Epichloë coenophiala) alters the ability of an invasive grass, tall fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceus), to persist and compete in native tallgrass prairie restorations. Three old fields/pastures at ERF were restored to native tallgrass prairie vegetation in 2010 and 2011. In early summer, 2012, within each of these restored prairies, we planted individuals of cultivar 'Kentucky-31' tall fescue that were either fungal endophyte infected (E+) or endophyte free (E-). Paired plots (2m ×2m) of nine individuals of each endophyte status type were planted in each prairie. These individuals were planted straight into the existing vegetation, with minimal disturbance. The following fall we planted additional paired plots of a different tall fescue cultivar ('Texoma') that were endophyte free or infected with one of two different strains of endophyte (common toxic or a non-toxic, 'novel' strain - AR584). In total, each prairie has five plots, with the three prairies being the field replicates (n=15 plots in total). We are monitoring basal area, numbers of tillers, and herbivory on these individuals, as well as mortality. Our hypothesis is that E+ individuals will compete better with the native vegetation, in part by experiencing lower herbivory, than surrounding E- individuals. This research is a natural extension of similar projects in the McCulley lab located throughout the state of Kentucky and within the tallgrass prairie region of North America (e.g., Hall et al. 2012, 2014). The project has involved two NSF-funded REU undergraduate students (Dawn DeColibus, Eric Kalosa-Kenyon), one M.S. graduate student (Ben Leffew; UK Integrated Plant & Soil Sciences), and two full-time technicians (Jim Nelson, Elizabeth Carlisle).

Craig Sargent (UK Biology)

Craig Sargent has been investigating the behavioral and evolutionary ecology of the invasive western mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis, at EREC for the past 10 years. The recent focus is on the spatial ecology of the cosmopolitan western mosquitofish versus that for the headwater endemic species G. geiseri, with extramural collaborators Raelynn Deaton (St. Edwards University, Austin TX) and Rob Hopkins (University of Rio Grande, Rio Grande OH), three NSF-REU summer interns, four UK summer undergraduate interns, and three high school interns. Over the last 5 years, we have found the following:

  1. We examined the effects of female body size on dispersal direction. Smaller first year females tend to disperse upstream, whereas larger second year females tend to disperse downstream.
  2. We examined the effects of predation and sexual conflict on microhabitat choice, and found that sexual harassment by males drives females out of refuge, and that males are more tolerant of predators than are females (see the following video).
  3. We examined the effects of female body size on personality. Larger females are less social and more likely to inspect predators than smaller females.
  4. We examined the effects of female personality on dispersal group size. We found that social predator avoiders tend to form larger dispersal groups than asocial predator inspectors, and that smaller groups tend to disperse upstream, whereas larger groups tend to disperse downstream.

Now, we are exploring further how body size and personality determine how fish assemble into dispersal groups, and how the individual personalities of group members affect group behavior. In particular, we wish to identify whether there are "keystone" individuals within groups that have a disproportionately large effect on collective behavior, e.g. dispersal direction, of the group.

David Westneat (UK Biology)

The research of David Westneat at ERF has used captive flocks of house sparrows in semi-natural conditions to study a variety of social and reproductive behaviors. The aviary studies complement and extend work done on a nearby population of free-living sparrows. Past work in the aviaries focused on the role of plumage signals in social interactions and alternative hypotheses about their development, including the effects of diet and the impact of early social experience (Poston et al. 2005, Stewart & Westneat 2010, 2011, 2013). Current NSF-funded work in collaboration with Dr. Rebecca Fox at Transylvania University aims to understand unexplored patterns of variation and covariation in parental care (Westneat et al. 2011). They have developed an assay of foraging skills that can be used on captive subjects with known histories of parental care, allowing tests of hypotheses about cognitive abilities and parental care. In the near future, teams comprised of UK and Transylvania students will conduct experiments using controlled feeders in both free-living and captive subjects. These studies will test whether heterogeneity in care is a byproduct of decisions about mean behavior or is adaptive management of stochastic variance. A novel experiment in which two hormones will be manipulated will test alternative hypotheses about the underlying endocrine mechanisms that influence phenotypic variance in parental behavior.

References
  • Borgatti, S.P., Everett, M.G. and Freeman, L.C. 2002. UCINET for Windows: Software for Social Network Analysis. Harvard, MA: Analytic Technologies. https://sites.google.com/site/ucinetsoftware/home
  • Bourtzis, K., S.L. Dobson, Z. Xi, J.L. Rasgon, M. Calvitti, L.A. Moreira, et al. 2013. Harnessing mosquito-Wolbachia symbiosis for vector and disease control. Acta Tropica. doi:10.1016/j.actatropica.2013.11.004.
  • Calie, P.J., R.F.C. Naczi, C. Shackleford, and J. Caicedo. 2006. High levels of seed inviability among seven populations of the endangered Short's goldenrod (Solidago shortii: Asteraceae). SIDA 22: 735-748.
  • Cassone VM, Bartell PA, Earnest BJ, Kumar V. 2008. Duration of melatonin regulates seasonal changes in song control nuclei of the house sparrow, Passer domesticus: independence from gonads and circadian entrainment. Journal of Biological Rhythms. 23: 49-58.
  • Cox, J.J., and P.H. Crowley. 2007. The Bluegrass Restoration Program at Griffith Woods (Kentucky). Ecological Restoration 25: 72-73.
  • Hall S.L., R.L. McCulley, and R.J. Barney. 2012. Restoration of native warm season grassland species in a tall fescue pasture using prescribed fire and herbicides. Restoration Ecology 20:194-201.
  • Hall, S.L., R.L. McCulley, R.J. Barney, and T.D. Phillips. 2014. Does fungal endophyte infection improve tall fescue's growth response to fire and water limitation? PLoS ONE 9(1): e86904. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0086904.
  • Klar, N.M., and P.H. Crowley. 2012. Shelter availability, occupancy, and residency in size-asymmetric contests between rusty crayfish, Orconectes rusticus.  Ethology 118: 118-126.
  • Mains, J. W., Brelsfoard, C. L., Crain, P. R., Huang, Y., and Dobson, S. L. 2013. Population impacts of Wolbachia on Aedes albopictus. Ecological Applications 23: 493–501. doi:10.1890/12-1097.1
  • O'Connor, L., Plichart, C., Sang, A. C., Brelsfoard, C. L., Bossin, H. C., and Dobson, S. L. 2012. Open release of male mosquitoes infected with a Wolbachia biopesticide: Field performance and infection containment. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 6(11), e1797. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0001797
  • Poston, J. P., D. Hasselquist, I. R. K. Stewart, and D. F. Westneat. 2005. Dietary amino acids influence plumage traits and immune response of male house sparrows (Passer domesticus), but not as expected. Animal Behaviour 70:1171-1181.
  • Stewart, IRK and Westneat DF. 2010. Dietary calcium negatively affects the size of a status signal in juvenile male house sparrows (Passer domesticus). The Auk 127:549-557.
  • Stewart, I.R. K. and D. F. Westneat. 2011. Production of melanin-based plumage traits in male House Sparrows: no effect of dietary copper. International Studies of Sparrows 35: 4-15.
  • Stewart, I. R. K. and D. F. Westneat. 2013. Dietary calcium, but not glutathione, affects bib size in juvenile male House Sparrows. The Condor, in press.
  • Suh, E., and Dobson, S. L. 2013. Reduced competitiveness of Wolbachia infected Aedes aegypti larvae in intra- and inter-specific immature interactions. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology 114: 173–177. doi:10.1016/j.jip.2013.08.001
  • Wang G, Harpole CE, Paulose JK. The role of the pineal gland in seasonal control of bird song in the house sparrow, Passer domesticus. Horm. and Behav., in press.
  • Wang, G, Harpole, CE, Trivedi, AK, Cassone, VM. 2012. Circadian regulation birdsong, call and locomotor activity by pineal melatonin in the zebra finch. Journal of Biological Rhythms 27: 145-155.
  • Westneat, D. F., M. I. Hatch, D. P. Wetzel, and A. L. Ensminger. 2011. Individual variation in parental care reaction norms: integration of personality and plasticity. The American Naturalist 178: 652-667.
  • Wharton, M.E. and R.W. Barbour. 1991. Bluegrass Land and Life. University of Kentucky Press, Lexington KY.

 

Undergraduate Research

Many undergraduates at Transylvania University and the University of Kentucky have participated in research at ERF, with some projects currently in progress. Most of these enroll in an independent study research course, such as BIO 395 at UK. The research itself can then be conducted in whole or in part using the EREC facilities, with faculty guidance and often with co-mentorship by graduate students. The opportunity for undergraduates throughout the region to participate, gather and analyze their own data and build models where front-line research is being conducted is an opportunity not to be missed. Interested students should contact faculty affiliates of EREC and other faculty members in the region interested in collaborating on research at EREC.

Teachers and K-12 students

Teachers interested in conducting summer research, possibly including some of their own high school or middle school students, should contact the EREC office to express interest. Highly motivated high school students will also be considered for research opportunities during the academic year or the summer through contact with the EREC office.