Research, from front page
Gene Stoermer
Not only was Dr. Voss an internationally renowned scientist, but also a devoted conservationist and educator. Whether his students were undergraduate, graduate students, or dedicated amateurs, he shared his passion for botany with them with an equanimity of zeal. He will also be remembered for his ready wit, timely and clever puns, relevant comments in meetings delivered with an economy of words, and command of every nuance of the English language. He is survived by his devoted sister, Eleanor (Elly) Hendricks (Tom) of Dayton, Ohio, and nephews: Andrew Stephen Hendricks of Tempe, Arizona, and James Edward Hendricks of Dayton, Ohio. A fuller version of this obituary, as well as an article about the coincidence of Dr. Voss's death and the release of the new Field Manual of Michigan Flora is available at our website, www.lsa.umich.edu/
The number of species peaked in 1999 with 22. Ovenbirds and redeyed vireos have consistently been the most abundant species. By the time of his 2011 mapping, much had changed. Dead birches, having reached the end of their life cycle, lay rotting on the ground. The aspen canopy was approaching 60 feet. For the first time, James recorded evidence of forest succession: several species of pine saplings were present, as well as oak and beech saplings. He counted 53 territories (almost tying the record of 54 in 1999). He also noted evidence of large mammalian predators – bear, wolf, and mountain lion tracks – for the first time. Despite the many changes, he says, “Some of the wooden stakes [from 1947] are still there.” Lind began sampling Douglas Lake in 1971 when he was teaching limnology at the Station. He sampled three locations at multiple depths – focusing on the hypolimnion, the cool, lowest layer Owen Lind sampling in South Fishtail of water that does not mix with Bay surface waters – for a minimum of five times over several weeks. He was measuring the rate of eutrophication, a condition in which thriving organic matter uses up the water’s available oxygen. He sampled every 10 years thereafter, most recently in 2011, with help from Eastern Michigan University Professor Kristin Judd. He enlisted another EMU faculty member, Steve Francoeur, to collect an additional set of data in 2007, after zebra mussels arrived in the lake. Originally, Lind wanted to determine the impact of lakeshore land use eutrophication. His goal now is to assess how much the mussels affect both the lake’s eutrophication rate and its deep-water microbial ecology. James says the 2011 field season was his last with the project. Yet he is not finished with it. “The bird data has been analyzed and is complete. I now need to analyze the final vegetation data.” He then plans to submit his findings to a journal. Douglas James Lind published his Douglas Lake research in 1993. He will write another article on his post-zebra mussel findings, now that he has two seasons of data to include (a 2007 manuscript was rejected because it was based on only one year).
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