Newsletter

Volume 6, Number 1

January - February 1989 ’

Director’s Note

The Institute of Ecosystem Studies
recently broadened its program in
graduate education by sponsoring a
course in Fundamentals of Ecosystem
Ecology.

The need for such a course was high-
lighted last year when lES graduate
students pointed out that it was difficult
to find university courses in ecosystem
ecology. The Institute, with its staff of
scientists experienced in the study of
ecosystems, decided to help solve this
problem.

The solution: a two-week intensive
course. Our front-page story describes
this course.

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

Gene E. Likens, Director
Joseph S. Warner, Administrator
Alan R. Berko witz.

Head of Education

Editor: Jill Cadwallader
Design and Printing: Central Press

INSTITUTE OF
ECOSYSTEM STUDIES
The New York Botanical Garden
Mary Flagler Cary Arboretum
Box AB

Millbrook, NY 12545
(914)677-5343

Ecosystem Coiu*se for Ecology Students

Four of the students in the Institute’s Fundamentals of Ecosystem Ecology course, and course coordinator
Dr. David Strayer.

Institute of Ecosystem Studies graduate
students^ brought a problem to their
advisors’ attention: they felt that it was
difficult to get basic training in ecosystem
ecology. Many of their courses focused on
organisms rather than on ecosystems.

The students wanted to understand more
about the interrelationships between living
and non-living components of a natural
community.

lES scientists, a number of whom hold
university appointments and are graduate
student advisors, felt that the Institute
could provide a service to students in the
form of a course in ecosystem ecology.
Such a course would be good not only for
the students, but also for the field of
ecosystem ecology itself — the better
prepared students were, the more likely
that they would make future significant
contributions to ecological research and
education.

The scientists therefore decided to offer a
two-week intensive course over the
January intersession period. Of the
students responding to the fall 1988
advertisement, 10 graduate students and 2
advanced undergraduates were accepted
into the program. Universities represented
were Fordham University, Middlebury
College, Rutgers University, the State
University of New York at Purchase, the
University of Connecticut, and Yale
University.

There were two principal themes
considered during the course: the food
web (the network of interconnected food
chains within a community), and nutrient

cycling (the odyssey of the raw materials
needed for life as these materials move
from the environment, to the organism, to
the environment). Landscape ecology and
processes of ecosystem disturbance and
recovery were also covered. Daily, in two
two-hour sessions, the students met in the
conference room at the Institute’s Plant
Science Building for lectures and
discussions of assigned readings. These
readings consisted primarily of book
chapters and scientific journal articles
selected by the instructors. A final
examination concluded the course.

“Fundamentals of Ecosystem Ecology’’
was coordinated by Dr. David Strayer,
who was assisted by Drs. Jonathan Cole,
Gary Lovett and Michael Pace. Guest
lecturers were lES Director Dr. Gene E.
Likens as well as Drs. Charles Canham,
Mark McDonnell and Steward Pickett.

Students will be sending Dr. Strayer
evaluations of the course, and the future of
this program depends in part on the marks
the course receives. Dr. Strayer suspects,
however, that the Institute would have no
difficulty filling the course again, and that
there is even a possibility of offering an
advanced course in the future.

1. In collaboration with a number of universities
such as Cornell, Rutgers and Yale, lES scientists
serve as advisors for numerous graduate students.
These graduate students do course work at the
universities and do thesis research at the Institute.

The lES Greenhouse: Tropics in the Temperate Zone

At this time of year it becomes a tropical
retreat ... an island of bright green in the
subdued colors of winter ... a place where
Arboretum visitors can enjoy outdoor things
indoors, and learn something about current
lES research programs at the same time . . .

H/i ihi Hfi Hfi

The greenhouse, the first building
constructed at the Mary Flagler Cary
Arboretum, was completed in 1972 to
propagate seeds and cuttings for the
Arboretum collection and to be a site for
botanical research. David Bulkeley —
greenhouse manager since 1982 — was
hired as greenhouse gardener in early
1976, and in December of that year the
first seeds for an attractive visitor display
were planted: a waterfall at the north end
of Unit 5 was built and plants moved
around it for decoration.

At that time the only tropical plants grew
on a small bench that was assigned to Mr.
Bulkeley on his arrival — bird’s nest ferns,
a few Streptocarpus, but little else. As time
allowed and new plants arrived from The
New York Botanical Garden, Longwood
Gardens and various greenhouses, the
collection grew out from the fountain. The
tropical collection reached the south wall
of Unit 5 within three years. The other
units remained open for research, for
growing seeds collected abroad, and for
propagating Arboretum plants.

The greenhouse has two ranges, each
leading from a central section of
workrooms and offices. The public is
invited to explore and enjoy the units
within each range. As visitors arrive, they
are greeted by a photographic display
highlighting current scientific research at
the Institute of Ecosystem Studies.
Depending on immediate needs, the four
small greenhouse units in the range to the
west are used for controlled research by
lES scientists as well as for plant rearing.
Descriptions of the research projects,
which have included testing the effects of
air pollution on plants and growing seeds
from soil samples collected from The New
York Botanical Garden Forest in the
Bronx, are posted by each experiment.

The range on the east side has three
sections, including the tropical Unit 5.

Unit 6, kept slightly cooler, is set aside for
research by Institute ecologists. Visitors
will notice a large plastic chamber, kept
for experiments in which plants are
exposed to air pollutants such as ozone,
and a curious-looking piece of machinery
used to wash plant roots when accurate
weight measurements need to be made.
When all available space isn’t used for
research plants, plants for display and
propagation take up temporary residence.

Unit 7, still cooler, is set aside for large
operations. Each year at this time the New
York Horticultural Society relies on Mr.

Bulkeley to care for trees in such a way
that they will be at their best during the
New York Flower-Show. This year,
crabapple trees, their roots in burlap, were
delivered early in January. Temperature
and moisture conditions in the unit are
being adjusted constantly so that by the
time a heated van comes for the trees a
few days before the show, they will be
from 1 to 10% in flower. By the show’s
opening in early March, blossoming will
be at its peak. This unit is also used for
scientific experiments: several years ago,
for example, maple trees were grown here
to measure shade tolerances.

There are over 1000 types of plants in the
greenhouse collection, with more than
2000 specimens in all. (An inventory of all
greenhouse holdings was just completed,
and a copy will be available to visitors for
reference.) Interesting and unusual
examples of plants are everywhere. The
ponderosa lemon. Citrus ponderosa,
developed in the United States in the
1800s, produces grapefruit-sized lemons.
Two species of banana plant grow in a
corner of the tropical unit (bananas flower
and fruit only once, while a new plant
sprouts from the parent; the next bunch of
greenhouse bananas is expected sometime
during 1990). In the center of the unit is
Ficus retusa nitida. This tree arrived at the
greenhouse in 1976 — no one else wanted
it because it was tall, skinny and generally
unattractive. Mr. Bulkeley transplanted it,
gave it the attention it deserved ... and
now climbs and prunes it two or three

times a year to keep it within the confines
of the glass roof. Visitors will notice air
roots extending from its branches, and
should keep in mind that in nature the
Ficus canopy can cover 0.1 hectare (one-
quarter acre). Currently, hibiscus flowers
and the bird-of-paradise are blooming. One
of the world’s most ancient plants, the
cycad, is putting out a new set of leaves.

Plant collections include orchids,
flowering in February and March;
begonias (primarily donated by Mrs. Lee
Kolker), flowering in February; Hoy a
species; and staghorn ferns, epiphytes that
use their roots only for anchoring, and
receive nutrients by tunneling water down
their leaves. The cactus collection, at the
south end of the tropical unit, includes
many unusual varieties, for example
“living stones,’’ Lithops, from South
Africa.

T he IFS greenhouse ... the focus of the
Arboretum’s winter displays, but a place to
be remembered at other times of the year as
well...

The greenhouse is open year-round, except
public holidays. After picking up a free
access permit at the Gifford House Visitor
and Education Center, see the tropical
collection, research plantings and other
displays from 9 am to 4 pm Monday through
Saturday, and 1 pm to 4 pm on Sunday.
Groups should call in advance. Artists and
photographers are welcome.

David Bulkeley tends to Columnea (“Bonfire”), a plant from Colombia. He is assisted in the greenhouse by
Wendy Dembo, greenhouse gardener, and on weekends, holidays and during the summer by Tom
Lounsbury, a student at Millbrook High School. In addition, he welcomes the help of active volunteers
Edith Bancroft, Lisa Bandazian, Sherry Berman, Barbara Coggeshall, Diane Eaton, Faith Lathbury,
Ruth Melton and Kevin Tompkins.

Manager of Laboratory Facilities

water for chemical analysis and studying
alpine ecology. The data she collected in
this pilot study gave rise to the Cloud
Water Project, the first nationwide study
of cloud water chemistry. Co-investigators
Dr. Gene E. Likens and Yale’s Dr. F.
Herbert Bormann hired her to run the
project, at lES, from February 1984 to
September 1986. The study showed that
cloud water is more acidic than rain from
the same location, and that polluted cloud
water has significant potential to cause
damage to forests and agricultural areas in
some parts of the United States.

In 1987, Ms. Weathers enrolled in a
doctoral program in ecology at Rutgers
University, with lES Director Dr. Likens
as her major professor. During this time
she began a research project to study
cloud water deposition in the Catskill
Mountains. High elevation forests are
frequently exposed to whatever toxic
chemicals may be present in those clouds.
The Catskill Mountain ecosystem is of
interest as an experimental site because of
its proximity to a major urban corridor and

thus to potentially higher concentrations
of airborne pollutants, and because it is
part of the watershed that feeds reservoirs
supplying water to New York City. Ms.
Weathers chose as a field site a red spruce
stand near the summit of Hunter
Mountain, and is collecting samples both
in the forest and at the forest edge in order
to learn how deposition rates vary with
respect to vegetation and topographical
features. Her hypothesis is that the forest
edge will receive greater deposition than
the deep forest. Since forest gaps, created
by fallen trees for example, act like an
edge, she expects these to form pockets of
high pollutant deposition within forests.
This research, in which she works closely
with lES plant ecologist Dr. Gary Lovett,
has been supported by funds from the
National Audubon Society and from the
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

In addition to fulfilling her many
responsibilities as laboratory manager,
Ms. Weathers plans to continue her
research on the chemical composition and
deposition of cloud water.

KATHLEEN C. WEATHERS is the

new manager of laboratory facilities at the
Institute. The lES laboratory is a state-of-
the-art facility, where all samples from the
Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study are
analyzed and where Institute ecologists
bring their research samples to be
processed. Ms. Weathers’ responsibilities
include overseeing all lES laboratory and
computer equipment and facilities, setting
up analytical methods and laboratory
procedures, and overseeing chemical
analysis of the samples collected for
numerous research projects.

Ms. Weathers earned a master’s degree in
forest science at Yale University’s School
of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
While at Yale she spent two summers at
Mount Washington, N.H. collecting cloud

Promotion

JUDITH L, LANE has been promoted
to research assistant III. Ms. Lane has a
master’s degree in ecology from the
University of California at Davis. Since
May 1986 she has been working at lES
with aquatic ecologist Dr. Jonathan Cole
on his research into the role of the trace
metal molybdenum in nitrogen cycles in
aquatic ecosystems. Recently she has been
doing some of her work at the Marine
Ecosystem Studies Research Laboratory
at the University of Rhode Island, where
outdoor seawater tanks permit her to
study factors limiting production in
Narragansett Bay.

Each year The New York Botanical Garden
honors staff members at an Award and
Recognition Ceremony held in the Bronx. At the
December 22nd, 1988 ceremony, three from the
Institute of Ecosystem Studies received Special
Recognition Awards: Carol W. Boice, custodian;
Michael J. Fargione, research assistant 11, who
has been doing studies of canine predation on
sheep; and Barbara }. McPeck, confidential
secretary and receptionist.

In addition, the following lES employees
received recognition for their years of service...
10-14 years: Henry J. Behrens, Stephen A.
Biabusz, David W. Bulkeley, Marvin C.

Chadwell, Janice B. Claiborne, Marcia T.
Davis, Phyllis M. Haight, Allan E. Kling, Jay
B. McAninch, William R. Newkirk, Roger T.
Powell, Owen W. Vose, Raymond J.
Winchcombe ... 15-19 years: James W. Boice,
Ralph L. Elliott, Bonnie E. Fiero, John W.
Olson, Bradley H. Roeller. Only three employees
of The New York Botanical Garden were
honored in the 35-39 year category. One of them
was Richard A. Livellara, lES supervising
maintainer, who joined The New York
Botanical Garden staff as a laborer in January
1953 and moved north to work at the
Arboretum in November 1972.

Left to right: Dick Livellara, Barbara McPeck, Mike Fargione and Carol Boice, are
congratulated for their awards by Institute Administrator Joseph S. Warner.

Local Weather

Data collected at the lES Weather Station
provide background information for
ecological research at the Institute and
serve as a standard against which long-
term trends in weather and air quality may
be compared.

November and December, 1988

Highest temperature: 19.1°C(66.4°F)
on November 5th

Lowest temperature: -20.3°C(-4.5°F)
on December 12th

Daily average temperature: 1.6° C
(34.9° F)

[Normal*: 1.1°C(34°F)]

Precipitation: 19.59 cm (7.7 in.)

[Normal: 17.63 cm (6.9)]

Average rainfall pH**: 4.51

Strongest wind gust: 66 km/hr (41
m.p.h.) from the west-northwest (285°)
on November 21st

Prevailing wind direction: West-
southwest (252°)

Average wind speed: 9 km/hr (5.6 m.p.h.)

* “Normal” values are taken from data
collected for a 30-year period at theMillbrook
School

* * Degrees of acidity or alkalinity are
indicated using a logarithmic pH scale. On
the scale of 0-14, vinegar — an acid — has
a pH of approximately 3, and “neutral” is
7.0. The pH of “normal” rain is 5.6 or
higher.

Spring Calendar

CONTINUING EDUCATION
PROGRAM

Catalogues describing lES landscape design,
gardening and botany courses, as well as the
following workshops and ecological excursions, are
available at the Gifford House.

Workshops

Mar. 22 Aerial Photography Workshops:
and 23 Airphoto Interpretation & Land Use
Remote Sensing with Color and Color-
Infrared Aerial Photography
Remote Sensing for Assessing Landfills
Apr. 29 Ecological Design and Landscape
Restoration

Ecological Excursions

May 9 Ethnobotany and American Indian
Heritage

May 13 Ecology and Earth History: the Taconic,
Housatonic and Berkshire Highlands
May 19,20 Spirit of Northern Waters

SUNDAY ECOLOGY PROGRAMS

Free public programs are offered on the first and
third Sunday of each month, except over holiday
weekends. All programs are from one to two hours
long, and begin at 2:00 p.m. at the Gifford House on
Route 44A unless otherwise noted.

Tentative schedule (please call (914) 677-5358 to
confirm the day’s topic):

Apr. 2 On Safari in Kenya (Jill Cadwallader) —
Talk

Apr. 16 Reading the Rocks (Dr. Alan Berkowitz)
-Walk

May 7 Life and Death in a Stream: Fish,

Insects, Plants & , Pollution (Dr. Lars
Hedin) - Walk

May 21 How Do We Know What Our Environ-
ment Brings Us? ... A Walk Through the
lES Environmental Monitoring Station
(Kathleen Weathers) — Walk

For ecology walks, dress according to the weather
with long pants, socks and sturdy, waterproof
footwear. Talks are slide presentations held indoors.
In case of inclement weather, call (914) 677-5358
after 1 p.m. to learn the status of the day’s program.

GREENHOUSE

The lES Greenhouse is a year-round tropical plant
paradise as well as a site for controlled-environment
research. The public is invited to explore both
aspects during Arboretum hours. There is no
admission fee, but visitors should first stop at the
Gifford House for a free permit. (See article on page
2 of this Newsletter.)

ARBORETUM HOURS
(October 1 - April 30):

The Arboretum is open Monday through
Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday 1 - 4 p.m.

The Gift and Plant Shop is open Tuesday
through Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday 1 - 4
p.m. (closed weekdays from 1-1:30 p.m.).

The Arboretum and Shop are closed on public
holidays. Roadways and trails are closed when snow-
covered.

All visitors must obtain a free permit at the Gifford
House for access to the Arboretum. Permits are
available up to one hour before closing time.

MEMBERSHIP

Become a member of the Mary Flagler Cary
Arboretum. Benefits include a special member’s rate
for lES courses and excursions, a 10% discount on
purchases from the Gift Shop, free subscriptions to
the lES Newsletter and Garden (the beautifully
illustrated magazine for the enterprising and
inquisitive gardener), and parking privileges and free
admission to the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory at The
New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. Individual
membership is $25; family membership is $35. For
information on memberships, contact Janice
Claiborne at (914) 677-5343.

For more information, call (914) 677-5358 weekdays from 8:30 - 4:30

INSTITUTE OF
ECOSYSTEM STUDIES
The New York Botanical Garden
Mary;,Flagler Cary Arboretum
Box AB, Millbrook, New York 12545

Newsletter

Volume 6, Number 1
January - February 1989

Nonprofit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID

Millbrook, N.Y.
Permit No. 16

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