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Winter Freeze Decreases the Emergence of Fauna and Flora in - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Winter Freeze Decreases the Emergence of Fauna and Flora in - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Winter Freeze Decreases the Emergence of Fauna and Flora in California Vernal Pools Korena Hendryx Supervisor: Dr. Jamie Kneitel Department of Biological Sciences California State University, Sacramento Overall temperature slowly
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- Overall temperature
slowly increasing
- Climate still highly
variable
- Extremely cold temps
- Extremely dry
conditions
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California Vernal Pools
- Seasonal ponds/
wetlands
- Variable in size
- <10% habitat
remains
- High (>60) diversity
& endemism
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Questions
- 1. How does extreme climate variation,
such as freezing temperatures, affect species densities in California vernal pools?
- 2. How does community size affect the
invertebrates, plants, and water quality of California vernal pools?
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Vernal Pool Invertebrates
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Vernal Pool Plants
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- Twenty vernal pool
microcosms were established
- Manipulated volume
and temperature (freezing)
- Weekly sampling of
water quality and
- rganisms
Methods
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Results
p = .0078 Freeze treatment No Yes Invertebrate density
10 20 30 40
Freeze treatment No Yes ln (Plant density)
2.5 3.5 3.0 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5
p = 2.015e-08
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Results
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Summary
Freezing Invertebrates Algae (+) (-) Phosphate & Turbidity Plants (-) (-) (-) (-) eutrophication
?
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Conservation Implications
- Many of the endemic species in vernal pools are
already in danger of extinction
- Vernal pools provide many ecosystem services
including: breeding habitat for birds, nutrient cycling, groundwater recharge, flood control
- A better understanding of the environmental
complexities of temporary wetlands will strengthen the conservation and management of these unique ecosystems
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Acknowledgements
- Luis Rosas-Saenz
- Robert Brewer
- Sulie Ober
- STAR Program
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"This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program under Grant No. (grantee must enter NSF grant number). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation." "This project was supported by a grant to the STAR program from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute."
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