Birds over the Blue Ridge. A $25,000 grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is sending Museum Bird Collections Manager John Gerwin into the North Carolina mountains this summer to study the Appalachian yellow-bellied sapsucker. According to Gerwin, the Appalachian population is disjunct, or physically separated, from northern populations of yellow-bellied sapsuckers. If Gerwin can show the Appalachian is a distinct species, as he suspects it is, management of the bird will “stay on the Federal radar screen,” and have a better chance for long-term survival, he said.

Gerwin is working with biologists in Tennessee and Virginia to study the bird, employing traditional methods such as banding, as well as modern methods such as radio telemetry, genetic testing and computer comparison of vocalizations.

“With new computers, we can see things we can’t hear,” Gerwin said. “Sapsucker vocalizations are a lot more complex than we thought.” In the months of fieldwork ahead, these researchers will gather information about the bird’s breeding, foraging and nesting habits. For more information about the project, visit the group’s Web site at Biology.MHC.edu/ybsa/

Educators at sea. In search of new teaching resources for North Carolina schools, Liz Baird, coordinator of student outreach and distance learning for the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences, is willing to travel to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. This August, Baird will use the power of the Web to bring students along with her.

From a research vessel in the Gulf Stream, Baird and a team of researchers representing five agencies will work around the clock for 10 days to collect, document and share data not only with each other, but with teachers and students across North Carolina. One North Carolina schoolteacher, selected from a list of Educators of Excellence Institute participants, will accompany the research team and develop lesson plans based on the data being collected.

Collection tools include nets, trawls and a submersible capable of taking four people 3,000 feet below the ocean surface. Team members will provide daily research updates, post images, and respond to questions submitted via the Web. Part of the trip may be broadcast live online.

The mission, dubbed “Islands in the Stream: Exploring Underwater Oases,” is funded by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Ocean Exploration with the goal of increasing knowledge of life surrounding deep-sea reefs off the continental shelf of the southeastern United States. This is Baird’s second year of participation.

“Teachers and students loved the information we provided last year,” she said. “Now it’s time to take it a step further.” Art Howard, a videographer, will add to footage gathered last summer for a high-definition movie about North Carolina’s deep-sea life. For more information about the mission, visit the Museum’s Web site at NaturalSciences.org, or OceanExplorer.NOAA.gov.

Mussels in the streams. With a nearly half-million-dollar grant from the N.C. Department of Transportation, Art Bogan, Museum curator of aquatic invertebrates, will spend his next two summers crawling around culverts of the lower Piedmont. The project, headed by Jay Levine of N.C. State University, will compare the specific impacts of culverts versus bridges on stream habitat and aquatic fauna.

Generally, when building a road across a stream, bridges are considered less harmful to stream ecology, but culverts are less costly to construct. Bogan and colleagues from NCSU have studied the environmental impact of bridge building for the past two years. For this study, they will comb the streambeds surrounding culverts using a snorkel and mask or a glass-bottomed bucket, looking for mussels, fish and aquatic insects. The fieldwork is tedious, Bogan said, taking a full day per site with as many as 45 sites planned. Population studies, along with water quality and toxicology tests, will help determine the extent of the impact and exactly “what sorts of nasties” have been introduced to these streams.

Bogan and his collaborators will pay special attention to the distribution of freshwater mussels, one of the most endangered animals in North America and, as filter feeders, key indicators of water quality. The ultimate goal of the study, Bogan said, is to recommend to the DOT environmentally safe ways to cross streams. With 17,000 bridges and an untold number of culverts in North Carolina, Bogan suspects the impact of the study could be significant.

The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, in downtown Raleigh, documents and interprets the natural history of the state of North Carolina through exhibits, research, collections, publications, and educational programming. Hours: Mon.-Sat., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sun., noon to 5 p.m. Admission is free. Visit the Museum on the web at www.naturalsciences.org. The Museum is an agency of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, William G. Ross Jr., Secretary.

Home	What's New?	Visitor Info	Calendar	Exhibits
	Education	Research	Museum Store	Join Us!
Search	Fun Stuff	Site Map	Staff Directory	Links
North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources