That is how science goes, I suppose

 Post by 2022 student Ivy Bryan

The last section of this summer prairie ecology CI was based around wildlife, and it was by far my favorite that I had the opportunity to contribute to. It consisted of first, our rest trip to Wyoming to go camping and visit Yellowstone National Park, followed by data collection at the ranch in the forms of exclosure and game camera set up, vegetation surveys, and woodpecker cavity nest surveys.

The day after Dr. Jachowski arrived, we packed up all the camping gear and drove to Cody, Wyoming, where we spent the day looking around and attending their (pre)Fourth of July festival. From Cody, we went to our campsite at the Clearwater Campground, which was not far from Yellowstone National Park. There were technical difficulties (i.e. we left the tents at the ranch), but luckily we were able to figure it out and Dr. Jachowski ran by Walmart. I attended the Cody Wyoming Rodeo with some of the class and we had an excellent time. The next day, we drove to Yellowstone National Park and I got to celebrate my first visit on America’s birthday in the first ever National Park - needless to say, it was an amazing day! At Yellowstone, we visited numerous fan-favorite sights and witnessed lots of species that I hadn’t seen often or at all. There was a large number of bison, a few black bears, ravens, and cow elk. Jocelyn even saw a grizzly bear, which I am still envious of. Seeing all of these species surviving in a place with large human interaction was interesting, as I had never seen coexistence quite at this scale. I was surprised by the amount of signs, merchandise, and social media posts regarding leaving the bison alone. It completely makes sense to me to stay a safe distance from these large wild animals; I was simply surprised that people needed to be told so frequently not to approach these dangerous animals whose home we occupy as park visitors. There are no state parks that I have visited with such abundant animal safety caution signs, aside from Edisto Beach State Park in regards to turning off lights at night in regards to the sea turtles. It was a neat experience, the caution signs and comical merchandise related to the bison (as well as elk and grizzlies). We also discussed the controversy regarding wolves and bison in the park. The effect of the wolves on the bison population as well as the overall effect of the wolves on the Yellowstone National Park ecosystem as a result of their reintroduction in the 1990s is a trending conversation with Montana wildlife professionals. We briefly discussed the bison and wolf issue with the wildlife biologist, Tony, from DNRC and Rebecca Newton from the Bureau of Land Management. Tony expressed how bison were affecting the elk mostly and he spoke to us about brucellosis and its effect on the elk, and its spread to cattle. I had learned previously that the elk seemed to have a larger brucellosis impact on cattle, but hearing it from Tony was interesting and eye-opening. We had seen so many bison and hardly any elk while at Yellowstone, and while, yes, they have different habits both in behavior and patterns of abundance, it was still interesting because I know that bison are the animals taking the heat from farmers regarding brucellosis. Speaking with Tony on our way back from camping was a further exploration of Montanian issues, as was our visit with Rebecca in the field.

Our last few days in Montana were spent collecting data on the ranch. We split into two groups, taking turns conducting the cavity nest surveys, and setting up exclosures and carrying out vegetation surveys of these exclosures. I was excited to gain this hands-on experience in particular because wildlife biology fieldwork is something that I want to be a part of. Experience like this is beneficial to my gaining knowledge of wildlife biology practices, but it also prepares me for future research and job opportunities. I loved doing the woodpecker cavity nest surveys. The surveys consisted of lots of hiking, as each of the 12 plots had 4 two-hundred meter transects that we searched along for cavity nests. It was particularly rewarding finding the active nests. We found several active nests, Northern Flickers, Redheaded Woodpeckers, and Downy Woodpeckers. It was an exciting few days of data collection. On the days my group wasn’t doing the cavity surveys, we helped Dr. Jachowski set up 3m x 3m exclosures, with game cameras in their centers. In each exclosure, we did a vegetation survey in regards to the diverse species and their abundance within the exclosures. Both the cavity nest surveys and the exclosure set-ups furthered my practical knowledge. For example, I can confidently use a compass now, and semi-confidently use a GPS device. When we collected the bat acoustic detectors and small mammal, reptile, and amphibian cameras, we were surprised to find there were absolutely no bat calls and very little small mammal, reptile, and amphibian appearances. We were particularly interested in the lack of bat vocalizations, as it told us the habitat may not be at a stage of recovery to support bats. From the cameras, we recorded a bobcat, several mule deer, a few house mice, and a toad. It was interesting seeing this diverse number of species, although I believe we all had hoped to record more activity, but that is how science goes, I suppose.

I’m excited to look further into the data we collected regarding the presence/absence of species, amount and location of cavity nests, and types of vegetation we collected from the various treated plots (i.e. unthinned and burned, unthinned and unburned, thinned and unburned, thinned and burned, and the control plots on the state land). The wildlife section of the Clemson Montana Prairie Ecology program provided me with further practical and technical knowledge, but it also genuinely peaked my interest and has me eager to learn more.