Remembering in Thankgiving |
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November is a month of remembrance and of thanksgiving. Here at the EIC, we are grateful for gifts of remembrance for special friends who held the Environmental Study Area close to their hearts. Their gifts will allow us to continue the important mission of the EIC. |
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Mike Teeley and his son Brendan recently visited from Boston and New Jersey to initiate a park bench that was installed in the Natural Area in memory of Mike’s late wife, Christine. Mike was a student in the first ever field biology class taught by Orin Gelderloos 50 years ago and he helped organize the first environmental teach-in on campus. |
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He and Christine lived in the student apartments on campus (now the CASL Annex) and they spent a lot of time enjoying the outdoors in the Natural Area. Mike vividly remembers an encounter with a den of foxes close to where the memorial bench is now located by the pergola foundation on the north end of the rose garden. Mike and several other students also built a bridge across Fair Lane Lake for easier wildlife viewing. Unfortunately, it fell victim to vandals and only small traces remain. Mike has maintained a close connection to UM-Dearborn over the years and his daughter Amanda is also an alumna. |
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Frequent visitors to the Environmental Study Area may have noticed a new park bench on the north end of Fair Lane Lake. Family and friends contributed to a memorial bench for Ken Nietering who enjoyed photographing dragonflies and damselflies over Fair Lane Lake, like the Spotted Spreadwing pictured on the right. Ken graciously shared his photographs with the EIC and we have showcased them in some of our educational materials. The new bench replaces a simpler Leopold bench that Ken’s son, Kevin, built as part of his Eagle Scout Project. Ken’s wife Emily also has close connections to the EIC. She most recently shared her love of nature as the instructor for botany for our inaugural Michigan Master Naturalist Class.
Kevin Nietering's Leopold bench was moved to the landscape “room” south of the rose garden where the Nietering family had planted several American Chestnut trees. We invite our visitors to take a rest and enjoy the beautiful landscape.
We are thankful for the Parkhurst and LaBarge families who established the Kenneth and Marion Parkhurst Natural Areas Fellowship in in 1999. The recipients must demonstrate a strong interest in and commitment to a lifelong pursuit of knowledge and discovery about the natural world, communication of this knowledge, and values which provide for the preservation of natural areas and biodiversity.
We also want to express our gratitude for the generosity of Karen Holland and her late husband, Frank Cooper, who endowed two internships for UM-Dearborn students working at the EIC, the Holland Family and the Cooper Family internships.
Finally, we fondly remember the Postell family whose contributions in memory of their son, Norbert, laid the foundation for an EIC endowment fund. We are grateful for all of the support from these families and the many others who have supported the EIC over the years as we work to ensure that "their love of this natural sanctuary be passed on to all who study here."
-- Claudia Walters
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Cacophony:
[ kuh-kof-uh-nee ]
harsh discordance of sound; dissonance: a cacophony of hoots, cackles, and wails.
Have you been hearing something that fits this description from your neighborhood trees lately? This cacophony of hoots, cackles, and wails are likely emanating from flocks of assorted blackbirds dispersed throughout the spreading branches of tall, mature trees with ample space for all these birds.
The most numerous summering species, such as Common Grackle, Red-winged Blackbird, and Brown-headed Cowbird, begin gathering, also called staging, in large flocks in late summer, and their numbers may increase during September and October before they start to drop off in November as they migrate south. Rusty Blackbirds, uncommon migrants from the north, move through mainly during late October and November, with some staying through the winter.
In the fall, blackbirds flock together before migrating to locations in the southern US. This is when they display their avian acrobatics. Perhaps you’ve driven along great undulating flocks of blackbirds and marveled at the way they’re able to all change course instantly. These movements are called murmurations. Murmurations and mathematics go together as an adaptation to avoid predation and aerial collisions!
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EIC Deer Exclosures Reveal How Excessive Maple Munching by White-tailed Deer is Stalling Forest Development |
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In 2010, a local Boy Scout constructed and installed 4 deer exclosures in a forested portion of the Environmental Study Area (ESA). This was intended to assist the EIC and also UM-D faculty in studying the impacts of browsing by an ever-increasing population of White-tailed Deer in the ESA. As this recent video footage shows, the impact of deer browsing on the growth rate of Sugar Maple and/or Black Maple trees outside of the exclosures compared to the protected maples within the exclosures is quite dramatic and pronounced.
A bit of background: The White-tailed Deer in the UM-D campus Environmental Study Area (ESA) seem to favor a number of native tree species as browse in the seedling as sapling stages. Two of those include the closely-related Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) and Black Maple (Acer nigrum).
Currently, a very high population density of deer in the ESA has created a situation where hundreds of these plants have been suppressed from growing above the browse-reach of the deer. This is actually preventing certain portions of the ESA forest from maturing in a manner that is consistent with a natural process known as forest succession.
If not growth-suppressed by the deer, the maples would likely replace many of the other native trees around them. The maples that are able to grow tall enough eventually create a dense canopy that allows only shade-tolerant species of trees to grow underneath, which happen to be more Sugar Maples and Black Maples.
This transition from mid-successional forest to late successional forest will eventually give way to a steady state “climax” forest and, unless opened up to more sunlight, will replace itself as time goes by. An excellent example of this type of forest in the ESA can be seen along the Sugar Maple Trail in the Rouge River floodplain. It represents the only known intact remnant of this forest type in Dearborn that is accessible to the public.
Managing for healthy native forests includes maintaining and/or restoring natural processes, such as forest succession. At the EIC, we continue to interpret and assess the impacts of overbrowsing by deer in our ongoing stewardship efforts in the ESA.
--Rick Simek
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Characteristics of an overbrowsed New Jersey forest (left) include an empty forest floor, lacking the subcanopy, shrub, and herbaceous vegetation layers typical of a healthy forest (right). Without young trees and shrubs, a forest cannot regenerate itself.
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In this unusual time, venturing outdoors and encountering nature is even more important. Our trails are accessible, so please visit our Environmental Study Area. Check out our Remote Learning Activities & Resources page for ideas to create a “Neighborhood Nature Journal” and “Family Nature Walk” activities! |
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Please stay safe, stay tuned, and stay engaged in learning activities while we eagerly wait for the opportunities to share experiences together. In the meantime, watch for our new online activities to satisfy your curiosity about the natural world. |
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Please remember...
The EIC Environmental Study Area is open daily from sunrise to sunset. We would like to remind nature-goers that fishing on site is prohibited and to leave bikes and dogs at home because they cause disruption and stress to the EIC wildlife.
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