Newsletter

Volume 1, Number 4
July -August, 1984

A small part of the Earth’s immense circulatory system, the Wappingers Creek flows
through the Arboretum and on to the Hudson.

Fantastic Voyage On The Wappingers

The lES Newsletter is published
bimonthly by the Institute of Eco-
system Studies at the Mary Flagler
Cary Arboretum. Located in
Millbrook, New York, the Institute
is a division of The New York
Botanical Garden. All newsletter
correspondence should be addressed
to the Editor.

Gene E. Likens, Director
Joseph S. Warner, Administrator

Editor: Marc Breslav
Copy Editor: Julie Morgan
Photographer: Emil Keller
Design and Printing: Maar Graphics
Group

The New York Botanical Garden
Institute of Ecosystem Studies
Mary Flagler Cary Arboretum
Box AB

Millbrook, N.Y. 12545
(914) 677-5343

by Marc Breslav

Imagine, for a moment, that the Earth is
one giant organism, a living, breathing
entity in which we humans are perhaps
mere bacteria. The Wappingers Creek,
which flows through backyards and villages
of our area and on to the Hudson, might
thus be a small part of the Earth’s im-
mense circulatory system. Multitudes of
rivulets and branches empty like capillaries
into a major artery — the Hudson — and
from there on to the ocean and the atmos-
phere. The blood that is the essential link
of this whole system is water, a source of
life.

The area of land from which water drains
into the Wappingers Creek is its watershed.
Every drop of rain which falls on this
watershed ultimately ends up in the creek,
or evaporates. Likewise, a quart of used oil
spilled on a driveway in this watershed, in
some small way may eventually enter the
Wappingers Creek. Whatever enters any
stream must leave it and is either trans-
ported away or processed by the stream
or its associated life. Similarly, whatever
enters a watershed, either as precipitation
or from human activity, does not just go
away.

One quart of used oil is not going to make
a big impact on the Wappingers Creek water-
shed or the creek itself. But, what goes up,
must come down, and nothing goes away
unless something else makes it go away. All
materials that enter the watershed are either
held, transported or processed. While that
quart of oil might be insignificant by itself,
what are the effects of road salt, septic
tanks or acid rain on the Wappingers Creek
and its watershed? Does lawn and farm
fertilizer affect trout fishing? How do
changing patterns of land use change the
character of the creek and of the Hudson?

How does a whole watershed work? Re-
search on this kind of question is what is
often known in science as an ecosystem
approach, a look at the whole through co-
ordinated study of its parts.

The Mary Flagler Cary Arboretum lies
along both banks of a portion of the
creek’s East Branch. There, some of the
scientists from the Institute of Ecosystem
Studies study the Wappingers Creek.

Dr. David L. Strayer, Institute Aquatic
Ecologist, makes novel use of the ordinary
flower pot. Recently, he submerged several
inverted clay pots in the creek, sealing
them and weighting their bottom. Each pot
was filled with a jello-like substance, called
agar, which had been inoculated with either
nitrogen or phosphorus, plant nutrients
which are also found in lawn fertilizer.

Since the clay pots are porous, the
nutrients can seep out into the creek water
as it rushes by. With the help of Emily H.
Stanley, a summer research assistant. Dr.
Strayer studies how many algae grow on
the outer surface of those pots filled with
nitrogen as compared to those filled with
phosphorus. He also compares growth be-
tween sites in the stream, examining if, for
example, there is greater algal growth in
upstream areas which are closer to the dis-
charge of the sewage treatment plant in
Millbrook.

There are several tangible benefits to this
flower pot experiment. It should con-
tribute to knowledge about the effects of
treated sewage effluent and fertilizer run-
off on streams. But also, by understand-
ing better what influences the growth of

Continued on page 2

Emil Keller

FANTASTIC VOYAGE . . .

(Continued from page 1)

s

Dr. David L. Strayer, Institute Aquatic
Ecologist, makes novel use of a set of
flower pots.

algae, Institute scientists can learn more
about the animals, including fish, which
depend directly or indirectly on algae as a
food source. Such knowledge will help the
Institute to develop management plans for
wise use of the creek’s resources.

Dr. Strayer also coordinates several summer
research projects on the creek. In one,
Richard D’Ermilio, a SUNY Purchase stu-
dent doing research at the Institute, studies
what happens to the phosphorus discharge
from Millbrook’s sewage treatment plant.

Mr. D’Ermilio tests the phosphorus con-
tent of creek water at several sites down-
stream from the plant. He analyzes how
far downstream this phosphorus travels
before it is completely taken up by stream
processes, and thus is no longer found in
the water. Because phosphorus is present
in sewage and fertilizer, this study should
give further clues as to how streams re-
spond to changing land use.

With this spring’s torrent fresh in mind,
area residents certainly will agree that
floods are major events for streams. But,
who would have considered that such
floods wreak havoc among the tiny
organisms which inhabit the stream bottom,
grinding them to death or moving them
far downstream? Dr. Jerzy Kolasa, a Sum-

mer Research Fellow visiting the Institute
from Poland, set cartons of sterilized
stream-bottom sediment into the creek,
reproducing the condition of the creek
bottom after a major flood. He studies how
fast tiny animals return to the stream bot-
tom in the wake of this theoretical flood.

In a related project, Texan Dr. Robert
Short, another Summer Research Fellow
at the Institute, puts jars variously con-
taining sand, gravel or stones into the creek.
Water circulates through the jar with the
help of a pump similar to that in an
aquarium. The gases given off by the
growth of plant and animal life in the jar
are retained within the glass. Dr. Short
analyzes the changes in oxygen content, a
measure of the productivity of the life
within the jar. He hopes to determine if
sand, gravel or mud is the area of the
stream where bottom life is most prolific.

Dr. Strayer plans another study of the
creek’s interstitial life — the microscopic
organisms which live in the spaces between
soil particles — on the stream’s bank and
bottom. His study will examine inter-
stitial animals at points where groundwater
enters the creek. Almost no research has
been done on these organisms in North
America, yet they may be useful as an
indicator of the kinds and amounts of
contaminants in groundwater. The pres-
ence or absence of certain organisms may
actually indicate whether contaminating
chemicals are in the groundwater, leading
to more inexpensive and rapid ways of
identifying and analyzing toxic waste
movement in our waters.

Research is also planned on the effects of
acid rain on various aspects of the water-
shed. What effects do the acids and other
chemicals in rain and snow have on the
soils, the plant life and the fish of the
Wappingers Creek watershed?

The Wappingers Creek provides recreation
for area residents. It carries away our
wastes, enhances the value of our real
estate and irrigates our farms. Its banks
and waters are home to an abundance of
diverse wildlife and plants. Its power has,
along with the movement of glaciers and
other geologic processes, shaped our land-
scape, from times well before the presence
of humans. And, it will flow on long after
we are gone.

This is the cycle of water. Descending from
the skies upon the watershed, it moves
then to the Wappingers Creek or evaporates
again to the atmosphere. The creek water
rolls on to the Hudson, and from there to
the ocean and skies. All are interconnected,
like the circulatory system of our bodies.

In the book Fantastic Voyage, scientists
were shrunk and injected into a person’s
blood so that they could heal him. Re-
searchers at the Institute of Ecosystem
Studies, in their own version of this voyage,
are studying one tiny part of the giant cir-
culatory system of Earth, the Wappingers
Creek.

Summer

Researchers

Flourish

by Julie C. Morgan

Editor’s Note: Four of the large cast of
researchers associated with the Institute
this summer spoke to Julie Morgan about
their experience here. The four are among
those studying plant /insect interactions at
the Institute.

Dr. Alcinda Lewis, a graduate of the
University of Texas in Austin, is one of the
three Summer Research Fellows at the In-
stitute (see article on the Wappingers Creek
for profiles of Dr. Jerzy Kolasa and Dr.
Robert Short.) She and her three volunteer
assistants from Pace University are exam-
ining whether butterflies, whose ecology
and social structure are very different from
that of bees, exhibit a similar ability to
recognize specific flowers as sources of
nectar. Dr. Lewis notes that the congenial
working environment at the Institute and
the great variety of habitats on the Arbo-
retum property are key aspects to her
success in this summer’s work.

James S. Coleman, a graduate student in
the Department of Forestry and Environ-
mental Studies at Yale is conducting
doctoral research at the Institute this
summer, in collaboration with Dr. Clive
Jones, Institute Chemical Ecologist. He is
investigating whether or not the resistance
of cottonwood trees to a rust and a leaf
beetle is changed by a pollutant, ozone,
and whether this resistance is related to the
defensive chemistry of the trees.

John L. LeGuyader and Steven J. Compton
are roommates in the new Bacon Flats
Lodge and undergraduate research fellows
working with Dr. Jones. Their funding
is provided by the Research Corporation.
This is Mr. LeGuyader’s second summer in
residence; he was awarded an undergraduate
research fellowship in 1983 to examine
the distribution and abundance of the insect
community associated with sweet fern.

Next autumn he will begin graduate studies
in the Department of Ecology and Evolu-
tion at SUNY/Stony Brook, and he believes
that this summer’s experience, besides
building up his background in entomology
and statistics, will help him choose an area
for future specialization in ecology.

A resident of Anchorage, Alaska, Mr.
Compton just graduated from Dartmouth
College with a major in chemistry. Through
his thesis work on Caribbean sea sponges
he became interested in ecology, and this
summer is developing a method for
chemical analyses of plant proteins avail-
able to insects. He hopes this new method
will be useful in many areas of ecology.

Mr. Compton finds the Institute a relaxed
and friendly place and says he certainly
prefers his lab work to last summer’s em-
ployment — scraping the slime off salmon
in Alaska!

Vegetation Analysis Underway

Daniel M. Spada, a summer research assistant, measures a plot as part of the vegeta-
tion analysis of the Arboretum.

by Marc Breslav

Researchers at the Institute, in an
attempt to learn more about their own
“backyard,” have begun an analysis of
vegetation of the Arboretum.

Preliminary findings show an unusually
high mortality rate among two tree
species. Most of the flowering dogwoods
encountered throughout the property
are dead or have many dead branches.
Extensive mortality among hemlocks
has also been observed.

The study, which scientists call a vegeta-
tion analysis, seeks to systematically
measure and analyze the types and abun-
dance of the plants and their habitats
throughout the entire Arboretum. This
process is a basic starting point for the
kind of long-term ecological research
planned on Arboretum grounds.

The project is a natural outgrowth of
the research interests of Dr. Charles D.
Canham, Plant Ecologist, and Dr. Mark
J. McDonnell, Terrestrial Ecologist at
the Institute. The two designed and co-
ordinate the study, with field support
from summer research assistants Daniel
M. Spada, from the New York State
College of Environmental Sciences and
Forestry at Syracuse, and Carolyn J.
Wilczynski, from Rutgers University.

Using an existing grid system that
divides the Arboretum into more than
950 blocks, the researchers are initially
concentrating on forest habitats. They
randomly select one out of every three
grids that are entirely composed of
forest, and move in to the chosen one
with an array of tape measures, com-
passes and other equipment. A circular
plot is set up within the grid, and Mr.

Spada and Ms. Wilczynski then go about
the business of identifying, counting
and measuring the vegetation.

Mr. Spada and Ms. Wilczynski also note
various topographic aspects of the plot,
and take four soil samples. They ob-
serve conditions that may give clues to
the history and past human uses of the
area, such as the presence of burned
stumps or stone walls. Finally, they
remove a small core from the largest
tree in the plot. Thus, without cutting
down or damaging that tree, they are
essentially allowing it to “tell” its life
story. The cores will be aged by Drs.

Canham and McDonnell back in the
laboratory, in much the same way as
they might age a stump by analyzing
its tree rings.

The researchers will move on from
analyzing forests on the Arboretum,
and begin to sample its wetlands and
fields. In addition to its benefit as the
starting point for long-term ecological
research on the Arboretum, the
analysis will give clues about how past
land use and environmental conditions
have influenced the vegetation of the
Millbrook area.

Weather Station Installed

by Marc Breslav

A full-scale weather station has been in-
stalled at the research field within the
Arboretum.

While the Institute’s weather station does
not report directly to any weather data
monitoring network, its data will be useful
as a baseline for long-term ecological
research and educational programs planned
at the Arboretum, and as a reference for
current studies. The information collected
wiU also be used for horticulture purposes,
and by the local media.

Most of the equipment is attached to a
32-foot tower in one corner of the field.
Wind speed and directional sensors cap
the structure, along with a lightning rod.
About midway down the tower are instru-

ments which record the air temperature
and relative humidity. Toward the base is
a device known as a tipping bucket rain
gauge which records the amount of rain.
During the winter months the device is
heated so that snow is melted and
measured in liquid form.

Solar radiation is measured in several dif-
ferent ways by devices near the bottom of
the tower. Research on the effects of light
intensity and quality on plant growth is
one of the many studies which make use of
solar radiation data.

A recording computer, also located at the
base of the tower, scans each weather
sensor every 10 seconds and, after per-
forming certain calculations, transfers the

information to a standard cassette tape.
The tape is brought to the Institute labora-
tory once a week to be read into a com-
puter and stored for later use.

For some time the Institute has been col-
lecting precipitation using equipment
that is not part of the weather tower. The
material collected then undergoes labora-
tory analysis for acidity and the presence
of about a dozen chemicals, such as sulfur,
nitrogen and aluminum. These analyses are
useful in studies of acid rain and its effects
on natural ecosystems. For example, the
average pH of precipitation falling on the
Arboretum over the first half of the year
was 4.03, which is more than ten times
more acid than unpolluted precipitation.

Inside the
Institute

by John Bakke

PEARL GOES TO GREAT BRITAIN

Alexander M. Pearl, Institute Nursery
Foreman, is attending “Liverpool ’84,” the
annual International Garden Festival that
this year takes its name from the British
city. The exposition, held in a different
city each year, represents more than 30
countries, and covers nearly 200 acres. His
three-week trip in August is being made
possible by a grant from Vassar College,
where Mr. Pearl teaches a course in horti-
culture. The annual grant, drawn from the
Andrew W. Mellon Fund for Faculty Re-
newal, is given to a Vassar faculty member
to help improve his or her instructional
abilities.

WARNER RECEIVES AWARD

Joseph S. Warner, Institute Administrator,
recently received a special commendation
from the Bethany, Ct. Conservation Com-
mission. Before taking his post at the In-
stitute, Mr. Warner lived in Bethany and
served on the commission from 1 974 to
1980. The award recognized his work
during that period toward the preservation
of Bethany’s open space and natural re-
sources.

BIRD SEED

Arboretum Members will be receiving
forms for ordering bird seed in the mail.
Others may obtain forms by calling the
Gift Shop at (914) 677-5358. The last day
for ordering the seed will be Oct. 2, 1984,
and orders may be picked up on Oct. 13,
also known as Bird Seed Savings Day. The
Gift Shop also needs volunteers. Those
interested should call Peggy Taft at the
above number.

<

Autumn Calendar

Sunday Programs

Programs begin at 2 p.m. All pro-
grams meet at the Gifford House
unless otherwise noted. Members
are admitted free of charge; ad-
mission for others is $ 1 for adults
and 50^^ for children under 13.

Oct. 7 Interpreting the History of
New England Woodlots
Oct. 14 Ecology of A Woodland
Stream

Oct. 21 Greenhouse Tour

Meet at Greenhouse.

Nov. 4 Tour of the Institute
Laboratories
Meet at Plant Science
Building.

Nov. 1 1 All About the White-tailed
Deer

Nov. 18 Liverpool ’84

Courses

Course dates, lengths and fees vary.
Some are part of longer certificate
programs. Descriptions and registra-
tion information are highlighted in
the Fall Brochure. Members will re-
ceive this by mail; non-members
should call to request a copy.

Identification of Higher Fungi

Fundamentals of Gardening
Pruning Trees and Shrubs
Wildflower Cultivation
American Indian Traditions in
Herbalism

Horticulture as a Tool for Therapy

Landscape Design Theory
Landscape Design I: Analysis
and Schematic Design
Graphics

Dried Flower Workshop
Turkey Hunting and Calling in
the Fall

Sketching for Landscape Design
One Day Herb Workshop

Large Wired Pinecone Wreath
Stenciled Stationery
Corn Husk Wreath
All Season Wreath and Candle-
stick Greenery
Evergreen Wreath
Centerpiece

Scientific Seminars

The Institute’s weekly program of
scientific seminars resumes on
Sept. 7. The seminars feature
presentations by visiting scientists
or Institute staff, and take place at
the Plant Science Building on
Fridays at 3:30 p.m. Admission is
free. For a schedule, contact Julie
Morgan at (914) 677-5343.

Arboretum Hours

Mon. through Sat., 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.;
Sun., 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Closed on
Labor Day, Columbus Day, Election
Day and Thanksgiving Day. All
visitors, including Members, must
obtain a free permit at the Gifford
House for access to the Arboretum.

For more information, call (914) 677-5359.

I

The New York Botanical Garden
Institute of Ecosystem Studies

Mary Flagler Cary Arboretum
Box AB, Millbrook, New York 12545

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