LABORATORY DENIZENS Green frogs. During a recently completed
Salamanders. The Nature Preserve supports
Blackbirds. The redwinged blackbird, one of
three-year study, doctoral student Victor
stable populations of two species of sala-
the most abundant of the 172 bird species
Lamoureux surgically implanted small, wax-
mander, the red-backed salamander,
living in or traveling through the Binghamton
coated radio transmitters into 35 green
Plethodon cinereus, and Ambystoma
University Nature Preserve, is the focus of
frogs, formally known as Rana clamitans, and
maculatum, more commonly known as the
ongoing research by evolutionary biologist
tracked them day and night through the
spotted salamander. Both species are the
and animal behaviorist Anne Clark.
Nature Preserve to study their pre- and over-
subjects of ongoing research by Binghamton
wintering behavior.
biology professor Dale Madison.
Her research focuses on parenting behaviors, specifically on how parents resolve their conflicting needs to forage for food and
What Lamoureux discovered is that
Among the interesting facts Madison has
common assumptions about where frogs
discovered is that older spotted salamanders,
spend the winter—most people think they
which can live 18 or more years, seem to
bury themselves in mud at the bottom of the
abdicate the best
all nestlings, leading
pond—are mistaken.
feeding and breeding
Clark to the belief that
grounds to younger
they are actually a
generations, risking their
stronger selective force
own lives in dangerous
for redwings than food
little oxygen,” Lamoureux said. “Green frogs
migrations to territories
fluctuation.
simply can’t tolerate that kind of environ-
further away from the
ment.”
pond. The ramps along
In fact, the bottom of the pond is actually a very inhospitable environment for frogs. “It’s like a big compost heap with very
to protect their nests from predators. Predators claim more than 50 percent of
If her hypothesis is correct, redwing parents
the access road that borders the Nature
should make every effort to feed each
winter, Lamoureux has learned, is something
Preserve were installed to assist spotted
nestling what it needs, even if it is smaller
many Upstate New York residents wish they
salamanders in their annual migrations.
than its siblings.
What green frogs actually do for the
could do: they migrate. Not far. Usually no
Madison also researches the less fragile
Among other things, Clark is trying to
more than 500 meters from the pond, to a
red-backed salamander. His research
determine which of the many nestling
stream where, because it is moving, water
suggests that red-backs are capable of
characteristics, including such things as size
will not freeze and so will remain well
making “informed choices” about where and
and begging behaviors, trigger being fed and
oxygenated and relatively free of decompos-
when to forage, thereby increasing their
how the parents determine and respond to
ing organic material over the winter.
chances for survival and reproduction.
the age and needs of the individual nestlings.
their relocation unfeasible, six beaver were killed in a controversial move to protect downstream properties. The following year, more beaver arrived, proving that they are at least as persistent as they are eager, and quickly repaired the dam. This time, state officials and University representatives acquiesced. “By then we had determined that there was less water than we first thought behind the dam,” said Shepherd. “We also decided that the dam was actually providing some flood control.” Today the beaver have consumed all the easily accessible aspen trees and are going to increasingly desperate lengths to find food. They will probably leave the preserve soon of their own accord. After the beavers’ dam expanded the pond and wetlands in the preserve, the Class of 1987 donated $12,406 to build a bridge to allow easier access to the most southerly portion of the Nature Preserve. The University kicked in additional money to complete the project when it turned out state require-
ments would boost the cost of the project to about $20,000. “What we ended up with was far beyond what any of us intended,” Shepherd said of the bridge. “But it’s an excellent bridge, and now you can easily take a whole class out there at once.” Another construction project related to the preserve involved the installation in 1978 of curb ramps along the access road bordering the preserve. The ramps were installed to facilitate the spring migration of spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum), which maintain a stable population in the preserve and are the subject of ongoing research by Dale Madison, an associate professor of biology. Without the ramps, the amphibians dropped off the curb and became trapped in the roadway, where many died of dehydration or were killed by traffic. Clark, Shepherd, Andrus, Madison and Lamoureux are all outspoken in their praise for and readiness to defend the sanctity of the Nature Preserve. All recognize that its
future could be threatened by any number of forces, some of them natural. Excessive deer populations within the preserve, for instance, are responsible for a significant diminishing of wildflowers. “They are very, very bold, and very, very abundant,” Shepherd said of the deer. “They are a tremendously negative ecological force in these kinds of numbers,” Andrus added. Also, as the University grows, pressures to expand facilities, substantial increases in the foot traffic through the preserve or vehicular traffic around it, or even changes in the use of private property surrounding the preserve could all have catacylsmic consequences. That, many voices echo, would be a shame. In a world in which the sound and fury of technology seems to demand ever more attention, the Nature Preserve provides a hushed but powerful reminder of the worth and wonder of the world of natural creation—and a practical, plausible opportunity to explore it. ■