There are many field research projects that have been done on Vieques. These projects include research projects I am doing, those graduate students have done, and those done by undergraduate students in biology. Here is a brief description of a selection of research projects done by UNK students and myself in the last few years. Please note that a number of other projects have been done or are under way.
- Undergraduate Students
- Heather Tracy
Insect abundance and diversity in a Puerto Rican mangrove forest - Winner, best Biology 420 Presentation, Fall 2006
- Matthew Lehechka
Freshwater fish of Vieques, a test of the MacArthur-Wilson Theory of biogeography - Winner best 420 Presentation, Summer 2008
- Graduate Students:
- Isha Alexander
The bats of Vieques - conservation and habitat preservation work is continuing with the Fish and Wildlife Service. Bats eat insects of course but some species also are night pollinators. Ms. Alexander was the first person to capture 2 of these species on Vieques. These findings explain how certain trees and plants are pollinated on Vieques. Ms. Alexander is also working on lizard trapping, tagging, and habitat studies on Vieques outside of the UNK Distance Master’s program, 2007 and ongoing.
- Russell Forsee
Population estimates and seasonal movement of the blue land crab (Cardisoma guanhumi) on Vieques. This work is part of a grant from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, 2009. Permanent tagging of crabs will help discover the numbers and spatial migration patterns of this species that is both important to the mangrove ecosystem and an economically important food resource for Caribbean people. Sharon Hyak: Distribution and habitat preferences of juvenile blue land crab (Cardisoma guanhumi). This work supported in part by a grant from US Fish and Wildlife Service, 2009. Very little is known about where and how the juvenile stages of this species survive. Our work can fill this void.
- Amanda Ford
Searching for the aquatic larvae of the blue land crab (Cardisoma guanhumi) in prospective management bays on Vieques, Puerto Rico. This work supported by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, 2009. One issue for the management of this species is where are the young recruiting? Females release eggs into the ocean while still standing on land. The location of the larvae has not been reported for this species, though there is research on other decapods.
- Faculty Research:
- Mangrove long-term growth plots
These plots have been in place since 2006. Every year the growth of black and red mangrove trees is measured. Beginning in 2009 new water connectivity structures were built allowing more water flow between two sides of a road that has cut ocean mangrove from lagoon mangrove populations.
- Genetic analysis of mangrove
With the help of UNK Distance Master’s Graduate students such as Bernice Speer, Thomas Champeau, and Nathan Barrett I have been able to collect red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) leaves from a wide geographic area. With the help of Dr. Mark Mort (University of Kansas) and Dr. John Foster the genetic comparisons of mangrove across the Caribbean is underway, 2009.
- Chemical composition of decomposing mangrove leaves
How nutrients get from mangrove forests back into mangrove lagoons and the ocean is an important part of this ecosystem. Dr. Ray Ward, a graduate and adjunct instructor at UNK is founder and president of a soil and leaf analysis laboratory. With his help the chemical pattern of leaf decomposition is being measured in an ongoing experiment, 2009.
- Mangrove Drowning Experiment
One issue with sea level rise is that of coastline erosion. Red mangrove (R. mangle) is one of the few species that builds land through trapping sediment and straight biomass accumulation. I just completed a small experiment testing the drowning tolerance of red mangrove propagules. This work may have restoration and conservation implication for this species, 2009.