Do bears know when trash pickup day is?

Amber Elving, Wildlife Undergraduate Student

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

This project aimed to answer whether or not bears frequented homes more often on trash pickup day. I placed 20 trail cameras around Humboldt County and was able to capture thousands of photos. Through the collaborative efforts with homeowners and myself, I was able to capture seventy photos of bears, of which 42 were independent events and 48% of the bears were actively foraging on trash.

Do bumblebees pollinate when they are scared? The Effect of Simulated Danger on Bumblebee Foraging Habits

Audrey Fowler , Wildlife Undergraduate Student

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

A study looking at how bees perceive danger, and if it affects their foraging behaviors. This was determined by the use of simulated dangers, in this case artificial black capped chickadees. These dangers were placed in bushes and the number of bumblebees that visited each bush (either with or without dangers) was counted. The research finds that the presence of danger is significant to bees when choosing which flowers or bushes to forage.

Do Dabbling Ducks Forage More in the Morning or at Night?

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

My research project looked at if dabbling ducks forage more in the morning or afternoon. My hypothesis was that they would forage more in the morning than afternoon.

Do Shorebirds Exhibit Mixed-Species Flocking Preferences?

Mason Levy, Wildlife Undergraduate Student

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

This study analyzed flocking behavior of shorebirds present at the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary, examining if any two (or more) species significantly selected to flock with each other over other species, and what may have led to such a flocking preference (similarities in size, foraging behavior, etc.).

Do Song Sparrows Alter Song in Noisy Natural Environments?

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

This project studied the minimum song note frequencies of Song Sparrows in two different environments. Our results suggest that vocal plasticity arose as an adaptation in response to loud ocean surf, rivers, and wind.

DOC Sampling from Little River and Mad River

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) is a fraction of organic carbon with size less than 0.2 micrometers. DOC comes from decomposed plants, bacteria, and algae. Abundant in marine and freshwater systems, it serves as the primary food source for aquatic webs. Generally, rivers have higher concentrations of DOC than the ocean does. In the estuary, a linear relationship between salinity and DOC indicates that the DOC concentration is fully due to mixing of freshwater and saltwater, and not any significant additional source or removal terms. DOC concentrations decreased from river to ocean. Scholarly articles have pointed this to be normal. Interpretation of data will continue.

Does Juvenile Life History Affect the Marine Survival Rate of Coho Salmon?

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

I created a full life cycle model for Coho Salmon in Freshwater Creek in an effort to estimate separate overwinter and marine survival rates for two distinct juvenile life history strategies.

Dragon Ecology

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

Research focus is the resources and abiotic requirements 3 dragons ( from TV series Game of Thrones) need in order to survive different environments around the world.

Duff accumulation around legacy sugar pines in the Russian Wilderness in northwest California

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

Fire suppression over the 20th century has created dangerous conditions in many western forests. Removing fire as a natural disturbance has brought about increased fuel loading and extreme fire behavior in many areas. This study researched the accumulation of duff mounds (decomposed plant material) around legacy sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana) in the Russian Wilderness Area of the Klamath National Forest. Large amounts of fuel beneath trees poses the potential risk of tree mortality, even in a low intensity fire By assessing the dimensions, volume, distribution and physical properties of duff mounds, we can better the variability of how and where duff mounds accumulate.

Dymaxion Projection

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

An exploration of various spatial phenomena using the Dymaxion Projection (aka Fuller Projection).