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Getting All Wet at the ERI: A Study of How Riparian Restoration
Influenced the Aquatic Ecosystem in Fossil Creek, Arizona
Jeff
Muehlbauer
 Restoring ecosystems is refreshing! If water could look happy,
then this is what it would probably look like. This is Fossil Creek after the
dam was removed that kept it in check for one hundred years.
A dammed river was unleashed and nobody
went to jail - Tell Hayduke!! The Fossil Creek restoration story continues to be
one of the best environmental stories in Arizona. ERI’s Jeff Muehlbauer is part
of the tale, and here he reports on how quickly the aquatic ecosystem recovered
following the restoration of Fossil Creek.
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top.
Ponderosa Pete Arrives!
ERI
Staff
The cover of Ponderosa Pete invites
you to peel back the bark and take a look inside!
A talking ponderosa pine tree? With a tassel-eared
squirrel buddy, named Bertie? Has everyone lost it? No, it’s Ponderosa Pete
speaking to Bertie and today’s young people about the changes in the forest that
he lived through, and about ways things will have to change for the forest to
escape catastrophic wildfires. For more information about this children’s book
by two former ERI students, click here.
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Diameter Caps: Conservation Solution or Restoration
Restraint?
Dave Egan
 Is this a picture of a forest or of a
meadow that has filled in with trees? Can we restore the meadow with a diameter
cap of 16 inches? (Photo by Doc Smith, ERI)
Setting an upper limit on the size of tree that can be
cut during a restoration is favored by some and condemned by others involved in
ponderosa pine restoration. A must-read recent article by Scott Abella, Pete
Fulé and Wally Covington provides an overview of this debate. Here, we provide a synopsis of the article as well as a link
for those interested in reading it in its entirety.
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to top.
Graduating Seniors Are Off to Exciting Careers and
Adventures
Robin Long
  
 
     
To paraphrase a line from Steve Miller's 1976 song, Fly
Like an Eagle, "Our ERI graduates keep on slippin', slippin', slippin' into
their future!" To see where these bright ERI "eagles" are flying off to, click
here.
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We
Wish Them Well....
Mark Daniels
   
Soon these four "amigos" of the ERI will be riding off into
the sunset and away from the ERI (cue bluesy harmonica sounds). For brief
summaries of their careers at the ERI and what's next for them, click here.
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Denitrification in Baltimore’s Urban
Streams
Danielle Gift
Stream sampling at a Baltimore Ecosystem Study
Long Term Ecological Research site.
Danielle Gift, ERI undergraduate researcher,
expanded the scope and geographical range of our typical senior projects by
traveling to Maryland and New York to study the effects of stream restoration.
Danielle's hypothesis was, "Will riparian restoration treatments increase the
denitrification potential of degraded urban streams?" For her conclusion, click
here.
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Alumni Corner
Danielle
Gift
 
  
The quality of the activities of our alumni just
prove that our graduating seniors are not going to be "one-hit wonders!" To find
out what our graduates are doing, please click here.
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Effects of a Prescribed Burn on Breeding Productivity of
Dark-Eyed Juncos (Junco hyemalis) in Ponderosa Pine
Forests
Austin Lyons
A dark-eyed junco in southeastern Arizona
similar to the juncos Austin was studying.
Austin Lyons, ERI undergraduate researcher, has
discovered, by examining the effects of burning on breeding productivity of
dark-eyed juncos, that there is no simple "recipe" for restoring forest health.
Austin's study indicates that burning may adversely affect breeding juncos. To
find out more of the details of her study, click here.
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Kamran Mousavi Wins ADA Appreciation Award
Robin
Long
Kamran Mousavi, ERI undergraduate research
assistant, received Northern Arizona University’s first Americans with
Disabilities Act Appreciation Award. Find out which of Kamran's many
accomplishments caught the attention of the award committee by clicking here.
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Soils
as Agents of Selection: Do Different Soils Give a “Home-field” Advantage to
Various Cottonwood Species and Hybrids?
Clara
Pregitzer
This picture illustrates the differences in
leaf shape of Fremont cottonwood and narrowleaf cottonwood, and their hybrids.
Are these differences affected by the soil?
Clara Pregitzer, ERI undergraduate researcher writes
that she was daydreaming about her research, so either she has found her calling
or she needs a vacation. What Clara was dreaming about was partially the field
work itself, but also the answer to this question: "Do soils provide a
'home-field' advantage for the offspring of the cottonwood species growing in a
specific soil type?" Clara's excitment about her work is wonderfully contagious.
To share in it, read her report here.
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Jen Tsonis Selected NAU Student Employee of the
Year
Robin Long
Jen Tsonis surprised but proud while accepting
the award for NAU Stuent Employee of the Year.
Jen Tsonis was selected NAU Student Employee of the
Year, a fete that Brent Tyc another ERI employee achieved three years ago. To
learn more about Jen's award click here.
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Scholars Earn Awards
ERI
Staff
  
Three ERI graduate researchers earn scholarships. To
find out more click here.
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Please send your comments, and your story
ideas to: Judith.Springer[at]nau.edu or Dave.Egan[at]nau.edu .
If you
wish to add someone to our newsletter list or if you wish to be removed, please
contact: Linsey.Baker[at]nau.edu or Karen.Gilbreath[at]nau.edu .
Thanks for your
interest in what we are doing and thinking! Here's a parting shot for you hardy
souls who read these things right to the end!
Does size matter? This picture shows that diameter can be poorly
correlated with age in pondeosa pine. The tree cookie on the left, the smaller
one, was 60 years older when it was cut while the larger tree cookie was 55
years old. Something to think about while reading the article above about
diameter caps. Photo by Dave Huffman, ERI.
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