Wildflowers on the Charles River

Posted by Richard B. Primack

“There is just as much beauty visible in the landscape as we are prepared to appreciate.” 

-Thoreau in Autumnal Tints

The Charles River is a natural history treasure for the people of Boston. In July, my son Dan and I went kayaking and observed the most astonishing display of rose mallow plants flowering along the banks of the Charles in West Roxbury, Dedham, and Needham. There were thousands of gigantic plants, many of them with dozens of 6 to 10 foot tall stems, and covered with huge saucer sized pink blossoms. The most impressive display of flowers was on an island in the Motley Pond region of the river. 

Tall multi-stemmed rose mallow plants along the banks of the Charles

Flowers of rose mallow are astonishingly large

Large patches of dying purple loosestrife plants could also be seen along the river. This beautiful European ornamental plant has been an aggressive wetland invader over the past 4 decades, out-competing native species. In recent years, European beetles that specialize on purple loosestrife have been released as a biological control program. And by the looks of these highly damaged plants, the beetles have won the fight. 

Stands of purple loosestrife turning brown with damage

Beetles have damaged this purple loosestrife plant

Coring the Past

posted by Caitlin McDonough MacKenzie

“I live in the present.  I only remember the past – and anticipate the future.”

 Thoreau in his Correspondence.  1848.

Last month I returned to my dissertation research site at Acadia National Park. But instead of hiking the ridge of Sargent Mountain to record this year’s flowering and leafing times, I plumbed the depths of Sargent Mountain Pond for evidence of past plant life that once fringed the granite kettle hole. I’ve traded historical ecology for paleoecology, and in my new postdoc position in Jacquelyn Gill’s BEAST (Biodiversity & Environments Across Space and Time) lab, I will focus on pollen grains trapped in ancient lake sediments.

Coring Sargent Mountain Pond: Caitlin pushes the corer into the lake sediment below the raft while Jacquelyn ties off the cable connected to the corer's piston.

I timed this fieldwork to coincide with a Sierra Club project: all week a group of Sierra Club members volunteered in Acadia. On Tuesday, they joined me and the BEAST lab as we hauled coring equipment — including giant inflatable pontoons and two 4x8’ plywood deck pieces — up to Sargent Mountain Pond. We carried in giant inflatable pontoons for a raft and two 4x8’ plywood decks: a major feat on a challenging trail. We hiked it all in, assembled the raft and inflated a kayak, and then launched our floating field site on to the pond. From our raft, we extracted cores of sediment from the deepest basin of the pond — over 11 feet deep — using a piston corer. The piston corer allows us to push deep into the lake bottom and pull up 1 m of sediment in each drive. Over the course of three days we cored nearly 9 meters of sediment. These cores represent a journey through over 4 meters of organic material under Sargent Mountain Pond, into the grey sands of a glacial landscape. We cored 4 meters deep twice: two overlapping records will give us a continuous chronicle of pollen through the last 15,000 years.

Caitlin celebrates with her first core!

We cored Sargent Mountain Pond because it sits just below treeline in Acadia and subalpine plant communities grow at its edge. As the Laurentide ice sheet retreated, Sargent Mountain Pond emerged as the “first pond in Maine”; the rest of its limnological siblings were under still ice. Previous coring research at Sargent Mountain Pond has confirmed this and sediments in the basin are over 16,000 years old.

The pollen trapped in the pond’s sediments will help us to answer questions about the history of the subalpine plant communities around Sargent Mountain Pond. How dynamic is treeline on Acadia’s granite ridges? Have Mount Desert Island’s subalpine communities persisted here since the last ice age? How have these species responded to past climatic changes?

It was lovely to be back in Acadia for fieldwork and I’m looking forward to splitting open our cores to study the long ecological history of this site.

Swimming (Illegally?) in Crystal Lake

Posted by Richard B. Primack

“Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?” 

-Thoreau in Resistance to Civil Government

It is a hot summer day, and dozens of young people and families with children are enjoying swimming and wading in the two coves of Crystal Lake in Newton Center. All this is taking place in areas with large, clearly posted “No Swimming” signs, and warnings that swimmers can be arrested for trespassing. What exactly is going on? In a recent issue of the Newton Tab, I address this topic.

For decades, Newton residents have enjoyed safe swimming in the lifeguard-supervised area of Crystal Lake. But over the last six years, adults and children have increasingly been swimming illegally in the nearby coves. The advantages of swimming in these areas are obvious: they are quiet, with a relative lack of crowds, they are available when the official swimming area is closed, there are no restrictions on food and drinks, and there's no need to pay for a permit.

Signs posted at Crystal Lake clearly state swimming is not allowed

In 2012, some Newton residents petitioned the city to allow swimming at your own risk in the coves; similar policies are in place at Walden Pond State Park in Concord. But the Newton government was unwilling to allow cove swimming and it remains illegal. Enforcement by police, however, is weak or nonexistent.

What are the main arguments against allowing swimming in the coves? First, swimming in the coves violates posted regulations, so it might contribute to disrespect for the law. Second, there are no lifeguards, and the city might be liable for injuries and drowning. And third, noise and parked cars disturb some local residents.

Thus far, the city and residents have been unable to develop a consensus solution to deal with cove swimming. Such a consensus would include policies that enhance swimming opportunities, swimming safety, residents’ rights, and the lake’s health. This is easier said than done, but it provides a goal to work toward. If Thoreau were around today, what would be his advice? Transgress unreasonable laws? Or head into the woods and avoid the crowds?

Morton Arboretum: Meeting an old friend

Posted by Richard B. Primack

“Nothing makes the earth so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes.” 
-Thoreau, May 22, 1843 in his correspondence

In August, I visited the Morton Arboretum in Chicago. For the past seven years, we have collaborated with Robert Fahey and other Morton researchers to monitor leafing out times, leaf senescence times, and fruiting times as part of an international network of botanical gardens. The Morton, founded in 1922 by the owner of the Morton Salt Company, is a scientific institution with taxonomic collections similar to the Arnold Arboretum and with a special focus on urban street trees. The Morton also has strong outreach to the public, as indicated by flower displays, a visitor center, and appealing exhibits such as the origami sculptures scattered around the grounds. 

Origami horses in the conifer collection

My host Chuck Cannon, Director of the Center for Tree Science, has many interesting parallels to my own career, having studied at the same universities, worked in Malaysia and China, and shifted from tropical ecology to climate change biology.

Chuck Cannon and me next to an origami sculpture in front of the visitor center

Libby Ellwood's Sept 12th @TerriersAtWork twitter takeover!

Posted by Amanda Gallinat

Libby Ellwood, Primack Lab alumna and researcher extraordinaire, will be taking over the @TerriersAtWork twitter account next Tuesday, September 12th! She will walk us through a day at her fascinating job at the La Brea Tar Pits and answer questions along the way. 

I asked Libby a few questions in preparation for her big @TerriersAtWork takeover:

Amanda: Hi Libby! What are the La Brea Tar Pits, and why are they special?
Libby: The La Brea Pits are located in urban Los Angeles, California. Technically, the tar pits are asphalt seeps. Asphalt deposits from deep underground have found their way to the surface due to tectonic activity along the San Andreas Fault. The asphalt forms viscous pools which become covered in leaves, dirt, and water. Unsuspecting animals get trapped in the asphalt, then predators attack the trapped animals and become trapped themselves. The asphalt has preserved the dead organisms, leaving us with an incredible record of plants and animals from the late Pleistocene epoch, 40,000-11,000 years ago. There are very few places in the world where this combination of geologic history has occurred to produce asphalt seeps. Also, fun fact: La Brea is Spanish for "the tar", so The La Brea Tar Pits can be translated to the the tar tar pits!

Mammoth sculptures in the La Brea Tar Pits

A: So, what is your job at The The Tar Tar Pits?
L: I'm a Research Fellow working on a National Science Foundation-funded project to reconstruct ancient food webs. For a long time, scientists were mainly interested in the saber-toothed cats, dire wolves, mastodons, and other macrofauna -- and who can blame them, those are really cool animals! In order to get a more complete picture of ice age ecosystems though, we need to take a closer look at the smaller organisms. In this project, we are piecing together smaller elements of the food web, like plants and small mammals, to better understand why species go extinct and how species cope with climate change.

My part of the project is to develop citizen science activities that engage students in sorting microfossils as they learn about food webs. With a little bit of training, non-scientists can sort through fossil materials, pull out plant and mammal bits, and therefore directly contribute to piecing together ancient food webs!

Microfossils awaiting sorting under a microscope

A: If you had to choose, what would you say is the best part of your job?
L: La Brea is an active excavation site. Every day, scientists are chipping away at blocks of asphalt and are uncovering all kinds of fossils, everything from rabbit teeth to ground sloth ribs. A short walk to the excavation area makes for a thrilling lunch break! And after excavation, I get to share the thrill with citizen scientists and volunteers, who play an important role in evaluating the massive amounts of excavated material and readying it for direct application in research.

A volunteer excavating fossils!

A: What skills from your time at BU and in the Primack Lab do you use most now?
L: My time at BU, and specifically in the Primack Lab, prepared me well for the highly collaborative and cross-disciplinary research that I am currently undertaking. I regularly work with paleontologists, ecologists, educators, geologists, and citizen scientists, to name a few. My experiences at BU provided me with a solid foundation from which I feel comfortable learning about new areas of research, working with people from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines, and collaboratively working towards a common goal.

A: We are very excited for your Terriers@Work twitter takeover! What will your main message be?
L: In the twitter takeover, I'll have a few related messages. I'll be tweeting about La Brea and the awesome research that takes place here. I'll also be providing information about our food webs project, the amazing researchers involved, and our plans for the work. And I'll be tweeting about the citizen science aspects of the work at La Brea. More broadly, I'll be encouraging people to take part in citizen science projects near them. Contributing to scientific research is a great way to be active and make a difference in your community. I'll be answering questions along the way, so please ask away!

To hear more from Libby Ellwood, and to ask her your questions, follow @TerriersAtWork on twitter to catch Libby's takeover, all day on September 12th!

National parks in China and the United States: Different paths to protection

Posted by Abe Miller-Rushing and Richard B. Primack

“Every town should have a park . . . where a stick should never be cut for fuel, a common possession forever, for instruction and recreation.” -Thoreau in his Journal, 1859

You may have missed some big changes happening in conservation in China. While the international media focuses on China’s difficulties with pollution, the government is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in improving and expanding its system of national parks and other protected areas. This is a huge and welcome change for one of the world’s largest and most biodiverse countries.

Chinese authorities are investing in their protected areas in a characteristically Chinese manner—with big infrastructure investments, strong top-down control, and an emphasis on economic development. Will this approach be good for the conservation of biodiversity?

To answer that question, in a recent article in Biological Conservation, we compare the development of protected areas in China to their development in the United States, where the concept of national parks originated. We take a particularly close look at Wudalianchi National Nature Reserve in northeastern China and Acadia National Park in the northeastern United States. 

Wudalianchi National Park in China has a magical landscape of volcanoes and lakes

Despite the huge investments, a suite of obstacles make it difficult for protected areas to truly protect the natural resources within their boundaries in China. The situation is better, although not without problems, in the United States, which has a much longer history of creating and managing protected areas. Of most consequence, financial investments are insufficient to meet the needs for protected area science, management, and education in both China and in the United States. 

The Chinese government has undertaken massive economic development in the area, including tourist facilities and hotels

Both countries are, however, experimenting with techniques that could improve things. For example, in places the Chinese government is working to improve relationships with local communities through formal agreements with displaced people or cooperation among local, provincial, and national governments. The US government is using citizen science and volunteerism to engage new audiences.

Infrastructure includes an elaborate system of boardwalks around the rim of craters and across lava fields, allowing access for large numbers of tourists

In the end, we conclude that each country's approach to protected areas has strengths and weaknesses, but that the Chinese and US protected areas programs have structural deficiencies, particularly related to the allocation of funding, that undermine their ability to achieve their stated missions over the long term. We hope that both countries continue to work to improve their conservation programs and protect their rich natural resources.

Newton’s Lost Wetlands and Buried Brooks

Posted by Richard B. Primack

“As in many countries precious metals belong to the crown, so here natural objects of rare beauty should belong to the public.” -Thoreau in his Journal, 1861

Until about 120 years ago, Newton, MA, was filled with wet meadows, marshes, and swamps, connected by miles of brooks. Where did they go? In an article published June 7 in the Newton Tab, I explain how over the past two centuries, as Newton changed from farming to industry, and then to a Boston suburb, developers and town workers buried brooks in culverts or put them into channels. Wetlands were filled in and became the sites of playgrounds, schools, other public buildings, and residential neighborhoods. The forgotten brooks and wetlands of Newton are periodically remembered when basements, streets, and playgrounds become flooded after heavy rains. 

Modified 1892 drainage map showing the main brooks and associated wetlands, with the current position of some schools and village centers and the Newton Library. Map by Matt Rothendler.

Many New England towns are revisiting past decisions to bury and channelize brooks. Some towns are uncovering buried streams and removing the vertical walls of channels, allowing streams to re-integrate with wetlands. Restoring brooks to something closer to their original condition and adding natural vegetation could help clean the brook’s water, reduce flooding, provide natural water features, and improve the recreational value of playgrounds, parks, and neighborhoods. 

Cheesecake Brook appears wild and well-integrated with the surrounding forest along Fuller Street.

Returning brooks to their natural state is expensive in the short term, but in the long run the economic, environmental, and recreational benefits to the people and businesses of Newton might be worth it. After a long history of channelizing and burying brooks and filling in wetlands for development, Newton’s future could benefit from undoing some of its past. 

Cheesecake Brook is channelized and separated from natural habitat along Albemarle Road.