BULLETIN OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA

Transcription

1 BULLETIN OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA Vol. 33 June, 1952 No.2 Published four times a year durin&' March, June, October, aod December by The Ecological Society of America. Murray F. Buell, Secretary, Rutgers University New Brunswick, New Jersey Annual Subscription $Z.OI An opening or glade in the interior of a virgin stand. Trees of all ages are in evidence, as are the everpresent boulders, down-timber, and generally untidy appearance. (See following page)

2 PROGRAM WESTERN SECTION MEETINGS CORVALLIS, OREGON, JUNE 16-19, 1952 PROGRAM SUMMER FIELD M.EETINGS MARYLAND, VIRGINIA, JUNE 16-21, 1952 PLANS ANNUAL MEETING ITHACA, NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 8-10, 1952 ANNOUNCEMENT MEETINGS WITH A.A.A.S. ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, DECEMBER 1952 MISCELLANEOUS PROPOSED AMENDMENTS NEW MEMBERS Title of paper-virgin spruce-fir of the Medicine Bow Mountains, Wyoming, H. J. Oosting and J. F. Reed. Ecological Monographs, 22: Author's summary-"a phytosociological study of the subalpine Engelmann spruce-subalpine fir zone in the Medicine Bows. The paper includes a summary of all autecological work done in the past on the two species as background. The community is shown to be extremely homogeneous in the area with no differences among stands that can be correlated with site, exposure, or altitude. Its essential unity and simplicity are characteristic of what we have found true of virgin subalpine conifer forests in the Sierra Nevada and the Appalachians.'' -34-

3 OIKOS Acta Ecologica Scan dina vica An ecological journal, representing ecologists in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, published twice a year. Papers are in English, German or French. Subscription price 40 Danish Crowns (about $6.00) per annum. It is distributed solely by Ejnar Munksgaard, Publishers, Copenhagen, Denmark. University of Minnesota Lake Itasca Forestry and Biological Station Seventeenth Biological Session July 28-August 30 Courses in all Biological Fields Opportunities for Research and Independent Study For bulletin write to Dean, Summer Session 770 Johnston Hall University of Minnesota Minneapolis 14, Minnesota WESTERN SECTION MEETINGS CORVALLIS, OREGON, JUNE 16-19, 1952 The Western Section of the Ecological Society of America will hold its annual meeting in conjunction with the Pacific Division of the A. A. A. S. on the campus of Oregon State College at Corvallis, June 16-19, A very interesting program has been planned with the assistance of Dr. H. P. Hansen of the host institution. It will include two symposia and two field trips. The schedule is as follows: 1:00 P.M. MONDAY, JUNE 16: Field trip to the Coast. 1:30 P.M. TUESDAY, JUNE 17: Forestry Cabin, Peavey Arboretum; Joint Session with American Foresters, and American Nature Study Society: SYMPOSIUM. DOUGLAS FIR-ITS ECOLOGY AND ECONOMY IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST H. P. HANSEN, Chairman 1. Autecology of Douglas Fir. Leo Isaac, U. S. Forest Service, Portland. 2. Phytosociology of Douglas Fir in the Pacific Northwest. R. F. Daubenmire, State College of Washington. -35-

4 3. Geographical Distribution of Douglas Fir in North America. W. D. Billings, University of Nevada. 4. Management of Douglas Fir. Roy A. Silen, U. S. Forest Service, Portland. 5. Postglacial History of Douglas Fir in the Pacific Northwest. H. P. Hansen, Oregon State College. 6. Economy of Douglas Fir in the Pacific Northwest. R. F. Keniston, Oregon State College. 4:00 P.M. TUESDAY, JUNE 17: Business meeting and election of officers. 9:00 A.M. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18: General Session; ROBERT R. HUMPHREY, presiding. 1. Plant Ecology Reconnaisance of the Leaf River Valley, Northeastern Canada. John W. Marr, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado. (2 x 2 projector, 15 min.) The Leaf River Valley is approximately the north limit of the foresttundra transition in Ungava. The 1948 Marr-University of Colorado Expedition to Ungava pioneered the study of vegetation of the region. The valley averages over one mile wide across its floor which is formed of glacio-fluvial deposits. Lichen (mostly Cladonia) tundra covers dry substrata; lichen-heath (Empetrum and Vaccinium) tundra, birch (Betula glandulosa) scrub, larch (Larix: laricina)-black spruce (Picea mariana) forest, and sedge-grass meadow grow on increasingly moist substrata. Concentrations of trees along drainage lines demonstrate water control of tree distribution. Valley slopes support trees where anchorage and soil moisture are adequate and snow accumulation not excessive. Geomorphic processes played a major role in developing current substrata in most habitats. Modern forest communities are young. White spruce (Picea glauca) is absent although current environment appears suitable for it. All evidence suggests that post-glacial tree migration did not reach this region until a few thousand, perhaps only a few hundred, years ago. White sprue will probably enter the region eventually. (The Expedition was supported in part by the Arctic Institute of North America with funds provided by the United States Navy Department's Office of Naval Research.) 2. Prevernal Leafing of Aspen on Utah Mountains. Walter P. Cottam, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah. (2 x 2 projector, 15 min.) 3. Postglacial Forest in the Yukon and Alasl(a. Henry P. Hansen, Oregon State College, Corvallis, Oregon. (314 x 4 projector, 2 x 2 projector, 15 min.) Pollen analysis of 74 peat sections taken along most of the accessible highways in the Yukon and Alaska reveal that lodgepole pine has been an important member of the forest complex as far as milepost 931, a few miles beyond Whitehorse. In Alaska, pollen profiles show only an occasional pollen grain of lodgepole, indicating that the postglacial range of lodgepole is no different from that of today. In the Anchorage region, an abundance of birch pollen indicates the presence of this species throughout the time represented. Little is revealed in the way of climatic trends, and the pollen bearing sections may probably be measured in terms of a few thousands of years. In many of the thicker sections, the absence of arboreal pollen and the presence of other pollen in a considerable portion of the lower sediments suggests the absence of forests for some time after the adjacent sites had been cleared of ice. -36-

5 4. Some Observations of the Birds of Canton Island. Reed W. Fautin, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming. (3~ x 4 projector, 15 min.) Observations of the bird life of Canton Island were made from October 1942 to April Canton Island is the largest of the Phoenix group, and lies about 1670 air miles south-southwest of Honolulu at ' west longitude, and 2 49' south latitude. It is a coral atoll which varies in width from 25 yards to about 600 yards. It is nine miles long, four miles wide, at its widest point, and is approximately twenty-seven miles in circumference. Fifteen species of birds were observed. These included eleven species of marine birds, typical of such atolls, and four spcies of migratory winterresident shore birds. The resident marine species included the Christmas Shearwater, Puffinus nativitatis; Phoenix Petrel, Pterodroma parvirostris; Red-tailed Tropic bird, Phaethon rubricauda; Red-footed Booby, Sula piscitrix; Blue-faced Booby,Sula dactylatra; Brown Booby, Sula leucogaster; Pacific Frigate-bird, Fregata minor; White of Fairy Tern, Gygis alba; Bridled Tern, Sterna lunata; Sooty Tern, Sterna fuscata; and Common Noddy, Anous stolidus. The migratory winter resident shore birds included the Pacific Golden Plover, Pluvialis dominica fulva; Bristled-thighed Curlew, Numenius tahitiensis; Wandering Tattler, Heteroscelus incanus; and Ruddy Turnstone, Arenaria interpres. These migrant species were still present on the island in April. 5. Effect of Pollution by a Kraft Pulp Mill on Stream Bottom Fauna. John N. Wilson, U. S. Public Health Service, Portland, Oregon. (3:14 x 4 projector, 15 min.) Two investigations were made in successive years (Summers of ) on the lower 12 mile section of the Clearwater River in Idaho and of the Snake River above and below the confluence of the two streams. During the interval between the two studies, a large Kraft pulp and paper mill began operating and discharged its waste into the Clearwater two miles above the mouth of the river. Although the effect of this discharge was not well demonstrated by physico-chemical measurements, the bottom faunal communities in the zone of influence of the mill waste were radically changed. The extent and nature of the changes are described and portrayed graphically, and damage to fish and the other aquatic organisms is assessed. A unique feature of this study is that there was opportunity for thorough examination of the environment and the communities of bottom organisms prior to the violent change wrought by the discharge of the pulp mill waste. 6. Age and Growth Studies of Eastern Brook Trout, Salvelinus F. Fontinalis, in the Snowy Range of Wyoming. Reed W. Fautin, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming. (3:14 x 4 projector, 15 min.) A total of 209 brook trout were collected during the summers of 1948 and 1949 from West Beaver Creek and the Mill Pond area on the Snowy Range of the Medicine Bow National Forest in Albany County, Wyoming. Information concerning each fish collected included total and standard length, weight, sex, and age. Age determinations were made from scale samples collected which were read by Dr. Edwin L. Cooper of the Institute for Fisheries Research at the University of Michigan. Distinct differences were found to occur in the lengths, weights, and general condition of the fish of the same age from the two areas. Averages are given in the table below for the fish collected during the two-year period. -37-

6 Standard Length (mm.) Weight (Grams) "K" Factor West West West Mill Beaver Mill Beaver Age Mill Pond Beaver Creek Pond Creek Pond Creek I (3)* 161 (23) II (23) 175 (50) III (41) 209 (38) IV (23) 248 (6) v (2) Ave *Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of fish in each age class. 1:30 P.M. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18: SYMPOSIUM. ECOLOGICAL PROBLEMS OF PACIFIC SLOPE GRASSLANDS H. L. SHANTZ, Chairman 1. General Consideration of Grassland Problems. Dr. H. L. Shantz, Director, Grassland Research Foundation. 2. The Sonoran Grassland, Past and Present. Dr. R. R. Humphrey, Range Ecologist, University of Arizona, Tucson. 3. The Palouse Prairie and Northern Intermountain Grasslands. Dr. E. W. Tisdale, School of Forestry, Uni,versity of Idaho, Moscow. 4. The Role of Grass in Soil Formation and Soil Conservation. Reed W. Bailey, Director, Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Region 4, Ogden, Utah. 5. Artificial and Natural Reseeding of Grassland. Gerard Klomp, Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Ogden, Utah. 6. HistOiical and Ecological Aspects of Antelope and Buffalo in Utah. Jay R. Udy, Assistant Federal Aid Coordinator, Utah State Fish & Game Department, Salt Lake City, Utah. 8:00 A.M. THURSDAY, JUNE 19: All day field trip to the Cascades. SUMMER FIELD MEETINGS IN MARYLAND AND VIRGINIA JUNE As announced in the March issue of the Bulletin, the Ecological Society is co-sponsoring field meetings with the Botanical Society of America and the Torrey Botanical Club in June. The proposed schedule is as follows: June 16 P. M. Registration, Agronomy and Botany Building, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland. The University is located on Route 1, about 10 miles north of Washington, within a short distance of places to be visited. Evening. Short business meeting and program to be arranged. June 17 A. M. Visit to Plant Industry Station. There will be a short meeting in the auditorium of the station preceding a tour of research projects in progress. Personnel of the station will accompany the group to explain the work. P. M. Visit to the Plant Introduction Gardens at Glendale. June 18 A. M. Visit to Patuxent Wildlife Research Refuge. Lunch. University of Maryland. P. M. Proceed to Chester, Virginia. -38-