Work is currently being conducted on the impact of Double-crested Cormorants on the Smallmouth Bass fishery within the Beaver Archipelago
RESEARCH AT CMUBS
The greatest resource available to CMUBS is the abundant natural habitat immediately accessible to it on Beaver Island and on the islands of the surrounding archipelago. The ecosystems on the islands are pristine in comparison to similar systems on the mainland or at similar latitudes elsewhere in the midwest. Textbook examples of dune succession, bogs, beech-maple climax forest associations, etc. are all less than 15 kilometers from the station proper. Such habitats are conducive to biological research on a variety of significant and relevant problems.
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Work is currently being conducted on the impact of Double-crested Cormorants on the Smallmouth Bass fishery within the Beaver Archipelago |
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Dr. John Scheide uses his SCUBA diving expertise to conduct research on Zebra Mussels in the waters of the Beaver Archipelago. |
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The existing research facilities include the lakeside research building on the shores of Lake Michigan which provides four small laboratories, a seminar room, a classroom and a natural history museum. A second research building designed primarily for aquatics analysis, fisheries ecology and microbiological/molecular research has recently been completed and is now in operation (see below). The natural history museum contains plant and animal holdings representative of Beaver Island and which have been subjected to a systematics inventory which is stored on a retrievable database. A greenhouse provides facilities for plant studies and a computer laboratory will be available for analysis (see Facilities).
Research Building #1(right) houses four smaller research labs, the natural history museum and two small classrooms.
Research building #2 (above) houses a fisheries laboratory, an aquatics analysis laboratory and a microbial/molecular ecology lab.
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During the spring of 2006, CMU purchased the old Coast Guard Station (right) located on Whiskey Point in St. James, at the north end of Beaver Island. This will now give us safe mooring for our research boats, deep water access to Lake Michigan and the potential to invest in larger research vessels. |
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Although a variety of field research equipment is available, particularly in the area of aquatic biology, advance arrangements must be made for any special equipment and supplies required for research.
Recent Publications Resulting from Research Partially or Entirely Conducted at CMUBS
Bowen, K. 2004. Geographic and size-related variation in the diet of insular populations of the northern watersnake. American Midland Naturalist 152:418-424.
Bowen, K.D. and J.C. Gillingham. 2004. Distribution of reptiles and amphibians on the islands of eastern Lake Michigan: summary and analysis. Michigan Academician 36:213-223.
Girdler, E.B. and T.A. Radtke. 2006. Conservation implications of individual scale spatial pattern in the threatened dune thistle, Cirsium pitcheri. American Midland Naturalist. 156:213-228.
Krause, M.A., G.M. Burghardt, and J.C. Gillingham. 2003. body size plasticity and local variation of relative head and body size sexual dimorphism in garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis). Journal of Zoology, London 261:1-9.
Leuck, E.E., III & D.E. Wujek. 2007. Plants of Beaver Island. Part I. Bogs and Fens. Part II. Lake Michigan Beaches and Sand Dunes. CMU Press, Mt. Pleasant, MI. 288pp
Placyk, J.S. Jr. and G.M. Burghardt. 2005. Geographic variation in the frequency of scarring and tail stubs in estern garter snakes (Thamnophis s. sirtalis) from Michigan, U.S. A. Amphibia-Reptilia 26: 353-358.
Rowe, J.W. 2003. Activity and movements of Midland Painted Turtles(Chrysemys picta marginata ) living in a small marsh system on Beaver Island, Michigan. Journal of Herpetology 37(2): 342-353.
Rowe, J.W. and K. Bowen. 2005. Diet of Midland Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta marginata) in a Northern Lake Michigan Bay. Herpetological Review 36: 382-384.
Rowe, J.W., Clark, D.L. and M. Porter. 2006. Shell color variation of Midland Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta marginata) living in habitats with variable substrate color. Herpetological Review 37: 293-298
Rowe, J.W., Coval, K.A. and M.R. Dugan. 2005.Nest placement, nest-site fidelity and nesting movements in Midland Painted Turtles(Chrysemys picta marginata) on Beaver Island, Michigan. American Midland Naturalist 154: 383-397.
Rowe, J.W., Clark, D.L., Ryan, Colleen, and J.K. Tucker. 2006. Effect of substrate color in Midland Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta marginata) and red-eared Slider Turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans). Journal of Herpetology 40: 358-364.
Seefelt, N.E. and J.C. Gillingham. 2004. New colony location for double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) and other waterbirds in the Beaver Archipelago due to a reduction in lake level. Michigan Birds and Natural History 11: 122-127.
Seefelt, N.E. and J.C. Gillingham. 2005. The double-crested cormorant in Lake Michigan: A review of population trends, ecology and current management. IN: T. Edsall and M. Munawar, Eds. State of Lake Michigan: Ecology, Health and Management. Ecovision World Monograph Series.
Seefelt, N.E. and J.C. Gillingham. 2006. Foraging locations of Double-crested Cormorants in the Beaver Archipelago of Northern Lake Michigan: Potential for impacts on Smallmouth Bass. Waterbirds 29: 473-480.
Seefelt, N.E. and J.C. Gillingham. 2006. A comparison of three methods to investigate the diet of breeding Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) in the Beaver Archipelago, Northern Lake Michigan. Hydrobiologia 567:57-67.
Seymour, R. 2004. Dynamics and precision of thermoregulatory responses of eastern skunk cabbage Symplocarpus foetidus. Plant, Cell and Environment 27:1014-1022.
Whately, C.E., Wujek, D.E. and E.E. Leuck. 2005. The vascular flora of Hog Island, Charlevoix Eo., Michigan. The Michigan Botanist 44: 29-48.
Wujek, D.E. & R. H. Thompson. 2008. A new neustonic genus and species of green algae: Chlorokremys scutella (Tetrasporales). Cryptogamie Algologie 29: in press.
Wujek, D.E. and R.H. Thompson. 2003. A new species of Chaetonema (Chlorophyceae) Michigan Botanist 42(3) 151-154.
Wujek, D.E. and R.H. Thompson. 2005. Endophytic unicellular chlorophytes: a review of Chlorochytrium and Scotinosphaera. Phycologia 44: 254-260.
