Dr. Diane Debinski Lab Members

Diane M. Debinski

Members of the Debinski Lab

Will Reed, Brian Olechnowski, MJ Hatfield, Sheri Svehla, Mike Rausch
Diane Debinski, Jessica Orlofske, Jennet Caruthers

Jennet Caruthers

M.S. Candidate

Thesis Title: Montane Meadow Butterfly Community Dynamics along a hydrological gradient within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

Butterfly communities have been described as good biotic indicators of environmental changes. Butterflies are generally short-lived organisms that are sensitive to the abiotic components of the environment such as temperature and precipitation. Likewise, their tight association with the plant communities due to their dependency on larval host plants and nectar makes them susceptible to biotic changes on the landscape. Through this research we have identified species of butterflies that are specific to meadows that differ based on their plant communities which is driven by the degree of moisture available in the meadow. The fidelity of these butterfly communities along a hydrological gradient allows us to monitor temporal changes as a way to study the effects of climate change on the butterfly communities within the montane meadow habitat in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

Brian F.M. Olechnowski

Ph.D. Candidate

Dissertation Title: Determining the Critical Variables Controlling Avian Diversity, Community Composition, and Habitat Selection across Natural and Restored Temperate Ecosystems in North America

Current Research:

Songbird response to willow habitat structure in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
An examination of how restored prairie and forest habitat structure shifts with time (successional change) and implications for the conservation of songbird communities at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge
Habitat needs of grassland and forest bird species and management recommendations for conservation: A meta-analysis approach
Habitat structure v. vegetative species composition: What do songbirds look for when selecting habitat in prairie and forested landscapes?

Other Interests:

Teaching, running, hiking, bird-watching, punk rock (of course)

Jessica Orlofske

M.S. Candidate

Thesis Title:: Terrestrial Arthropod Indicators of Iowa Tall-grass Prairie

Invertebrate surveys have become a useful tool for scientists and natural resources professionals concerned with aquatic ecosystem quality. These invertebrate assessments or indices of biotic integrity can provide information that would be difficult or more expensive to gather by alternative means. However, tools like these have not been developed for Iowa’s critical and vanishing prairies. By combining several broad sampling methods in a standardized protocol along a gradient of quality, or biotic integrity, we can identify potential bioindicators to develop a terrestrial index of biotic integrity. The surveys will describe the how the invertebrate communities differ at remnant, restored and recreated prairies and how we can relate invertebrates collected from these methods to a meaningful category of quality. This initial project is intended to provide Iowa scientists and professionals with a new and useful tool, as well as more fundamental knowledge of prairie invertebrate ecology.

Sheri Svehla

Ph.D. Candidate

Dissertation Title: Effects of Patch-Burn-Grazing Land Management Practice on the Tallgrass Prairie Insect Community with a Specific Focus on Ground Beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae)

My research will investigate the ecological effects of patch-burn-grazing on terrestrial prairie invertebrates. I will explore the effects of these land management practices on the insect community with particular emphasis on grasshoppers (Orthoptera), butterflies (Lepidoptera), and native grassland species of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae). Grasshoppers are important herbivores in the system, butterflies are pollinators, and ground beetles are expected to be particularly sensitive to fire because they live on the soil and have limited vagility. This study will explore changes in abundance and distribution for each of these taxa and estimate time to recovery of the insect communities after fire and grazing treatments. I will determine habitat preference of designated species, and dispersal pattern changes after treatments. I will also identify potential insect indicator taxa for restored tallgrass prairies.

MJ Hatfield

Technician

My work as a prairie enthusiast/amateur ecologist turned student focuses on insects, their prairie host plants and life cycles. For some insects a specific host plant is required, for others any number of host plants will do. If you can identify the prairie plants then you already know the food and shelter of some prairie insects. An example of this is the sunflower tortoise beetle, Physonata helianthi, always associated with sunflowers, often associated with sawtooth sunflower, Helianthus grosseserratus. Anthropomorphically speaking the beetles are cute and the larvae are clever with their protective shield of excrement and shed skins situated on their urogomphi. Another example is the cloudless sulphur butterfly, Phoebis sennae, whose gorgeous larvae eat partridge pea, Chamaecrista fasciculata.

Given the appropriate tools and examples of others working with insects, the prairie community can incorporate insects into their perception of prairie. One of these tools is the association of insects with the prairie plants they use. This association could be a means to become more involved in the wonderful, spectacular world of prairie insects.

Jenny Hopwood

Technician

Science with Practice project: Patch Burn Graze Currently I sort insects for the Iowa River Corridor and Patch-Burn Grazing projects here in the Debinski lab, and also teach biology labs here at ISU. I am interested in pollinator biology, and particularly enjoy learning about bees. My past research has included several small-scale studies involving bee catches in pan traps, including experimental manipulation of the availability of floral resources to test whether an abundance of blooms influenced the abundance and species richness of bees collected in pan traps, and also varying the height of pan trap to investigate the effect on bee catches. My master’s research, conducted at the University of Kansas, involved bee communities along roadside prairies. In the future I hope to learn more about the interactions between bees and plants in prairie reconstructions. During the summer of 2008, I hope to encourage citizens across Iowa to sample bees via pan traps in their own backyard. A statewide survey of bees would provide much needed base-line information on pollinator population sizes, as well valuable species distribution records. It will also provide landowners and land managers with knowledge of those insects that pollinate prairie plants. The proposed sampling method, pan trapping, involves minimal collector bias, requires no training, and is not damaging to land or to plants.

Will Reed

Technician

I am currently studying how songbirds and birds of prey assess habitat at the landscape scale using flyover data collected at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge.

I am also studying how avian communities change on restored prairie through stages of restoration (with Brian Olechnowski)

Flyover data, taken during traditional avian point counts, are observations of birds that fly over an area during the time a site is being surveyed. Often this data is excluded from statistical analyses because these individual birds give no clear indication that they are actually using the surveyed site where they are recorded (for nesting, foraging, etc). We are examining the relevance of flyover data of three swallow species (Barn Swallow, Cliff Swallow, and Tree Swallow) and Red-Tailed Hawks, a common bird of prey in central Iowa, at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge. Our hypothesis is that as the refuge has expanded its boundaries since 1994 (placing additional habitat in prairie restoration each year) we will see an increased abundance of these swallows and Red-Tailed Hawks. Our goal is to determine whether this flyover data can give us information about how these species are assessing habitat at the landscape scale. An increased abundance of swallows and / or hawks at our sites over time would indicate the importance of large patch sizes to these species. Data concerning the above questions are currently being analyzed and will be completed by early March. If statistically significant positive trends are present we are then able to demonstrate a useful application of flyover data recorded during point counts. In addition, this data will allow us to better understand the habitat needs (minimum patch size for nesting, foraging) of some of our bird species in central Iowa.

Mike Rausch

Technician/Independent Study Student

I work with Sheri Svehla sorting insect sweeps samples for the patch-burn grazing project in the Grand River Grassland of Iowa. This summer I plan to work as a field assistant with Sheri. I am currently a biology undergraduate in LAS.

Lisa Stream

Undergraduate Science With Practice (SWP) Student

Science with Practice project: Patch Burn Graze The Iowa DNR has provided a grant to fund the study of prairie response to burning and grazing. I work with Sheri Svehla sorting invertebrate samples collected in the summer field seasons. The 2007 Science with Practice project explored the statistical relationship between the richness of grazed versus ungrazed prairies. In 2008, the project will explore the effect of burning on prairie species richness.

Home - Publications - Lab Members - Photos - Iowa State University - Department of EEOB