Current Projects by Subject

Please contact the contact person (indicated in parentheses after each project) for more information.

Conservation Biology

• State conservation ranks of Lepidoptera (Bergey)
• Survey of Oklahoma springs. The fauna, flora, and habitat of springs throughout the state are inventoried to document diversity, describe distributional patterns, and assess impacts. (Bergey)
• Platanthera praeclara and Asclepias uncialis in Oklahoma. Botanists are currently searching for new populations of these two rare plants. (Buthod)
• Utilizing standardized protocols for monitoring vascular plants of federal concern: a study with Castanea pumila var. ozarkensis. Botanists are continuing development of standardized protocols for monitoring species of federal concern. (Buthod)
• Eradication of an exotic invasive species, Iris pseudacorus, along springs of the Blue River, Johnston Co. (P. H. C. Crawford)
• Status of endangered interior least tern (Sterna antillarum athalassos) breeding colonies of the Canadian River in central Oklahoma. (P. H. C. Crawford)
• Effects of wildfire on flora and fauna of the Rio Grande riparian vegetation. Severe alteration of the riparian zone along the Rio Grande over the past 100 years has left only small remantnts of native cottonwood/willow vegetation in tact. Wildfire is a primary threat to these native remnants and we are studying its effets on plant succession and animals community composition. (Kelly)
• Effects of migratory strategies on population dynamics and life history trade-offs. It has been very difficult to track migrating birds from their breeding grounds to their wintering areas with traditional methods. We are using stable isotopes to better understand the geographical linkages in the annual cycle of migratory birds. We use these methods to examine the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms that create and maintain migratory life histories (Kelly)
• Response of obligate grassland fauna to woody shrub encroachment in arid and semiarid grasslands. Likely drivers of encroachment by shrubs are land use (grazing and agricultural practices), climate change (CO2 concentration), and fire suppression. We are interested in the impacts of the shift in dominant plant functional types from grass to shrubs on the distribution and abundance of grassland obligate fauna. (Kelly and Hoagland)
• Bald Eagle Nest Survey. Survey of nests in Oklahoma to determine how many eagles are nesting in the state and whether those nests are successful in producing young. (Jenkins)
• Oklahoma Gas & Electric's Sooner Power Plant Wildlife Improvement. Consultations initiated with OG&E to improve Bald Eagle and Greater Prairie-Chicken habitat at and near their Sooner power generating station. (Jenkins and Sherrod)
• Arthropods in Disturbed Coastal Sage Scrub. Studies of the effects on community resistance and resilience to disturbance by fire and invasive plants. (Patten)
• Avian Response to Deforestation. Study of species turnover and community changes in response to shrinking of rainforest in southern Mexico, including efforts to explore processes by which some species are vulnerable and others resilient. (Patten)
• Greater Prairie-Chicken Ecology and Status. Three year study of prairie-chickens in northeastern Oklahoma using radio-tagged birds to determine survivorship and mortality rates, nesting success, habitat use, and movement patterns. (Patten)
• Tallgrass Prairie Birds ecology. Ongoing analysis of data and publication of results of project carried out from 1992-1996 in Osage and Washington counties, Oklahoma, to study the nesting success and habitat use of tallgrass prairie birds. (Patten)
• Rare birds of California. Compilation and co-writing of a book on all scarce migrant and vagrant bird species recorded in California (due out in 2006). (Patten)
• Arkansia wheeleri monitoring in the Kiamichi River. We are re-sampling mussel communities at 12 "monitoring sites" that were established in the Kiamichi River in the early 1990s and canoeing the river in search of new locations for A. wheeleri, a federally endangered species. (Vaughn)
• Effects of species composition and environmental context on redundancy within a functional group: A test with freshwater mussels. This project, funded by the National Science Foundation, is using a combination of laboratory and field experiments to examine the ecological roles that freshwater mussels perform in rivers, whether different species fulfull the same roles, and whether this relationship changes with different environmental conditions. (Vaughn)
• Metapopulation structure in freshwater mussels. Allozymes are being used to examine this question. Survey personnel are collecting the tissue samples to be used in this genetic analysis. (Vaughn)
• Physiological determination of mussel sensitivity to water management practices in the Kiamichi River and review and summarization of literature pertaining to mussels of the Kiamichi and Little watersheds, Oklahoma. We are using a combined field and laboratory approach to develop a predictive model linking stream-flow and temperature to freshwater mussel condition. We are using glycogen tissue content as a measure of physiological stress. The literature review portion of the project is information needed to develop in-stream flow models for mussels. (Vaughn)
• Reproductive biology of freshwater mussels in the Little River, Oklahoma. (Vaughn)
• Lesser Prairie-Chicken Conservation. Application of our ecological work to guide and implement management of dwindling populations of the Lesser Prairie-Chicken in Oklahoma, including fence marking and identification and restoration of dispersal corridors. (Wolfe, Patten, Pruett)
• Lesser Prairie-Chicken brood survivorship and microhabitat use. Extension of the Lesser Prairie-Chicken research. (Wolfe, Patten, and Sherrod)
• Lesser Prairie-Chicken Ecology and Status. An ongoing study of Lesser Prairie-Chickens in Oklahoma and New Mexico, using radio-tagged birds to determine survivorship and mortality rates, nesting success, habitat use, and movement patterns. (Wolfe, Patten, and Sherrod)

General Ecology

• Biological implications of crevice refuges. This research examines the characteristics of crevice refuges and explores the ecological effects of the protection of organisms in crevices, primarily using an algal-based system. (Bergey)
• Female mate choice and paternity analysis in the mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis. (Broughton)
• Tallgrass Prairie Birds. Analysis of data collected 1992­-1996 in northeastern Oklahoma to study the reproductive success and habitat use of tallgrass prairie birds. (Patten, Reinking, Pruett)
• Greater Prairie-Chicken Ecology. Analysis of data from a 3-year study of the Greater Prairie-Chicken in northeastern Oklahoma using radio-tagged birds to determine movements, nest placement, habitat use, survivorship, and mortality rates. (Patten, Wolfe)
• Lesser Prairie-Chicken Ecology and Demography. An ongoing study--now entering its 10th year--of the Lesser Prairie-Chicken in Oklahoma and Texas, using radio-tagged birds to determine survivorship, mortality causes, reproductive output and success, habitat use, and movement patterns. (Patten, Wolfe, Pruett)

Geographic Information Systems

• OK-GAP -- GAP Analysis Program, Oklahoma. We developed extensive databases describing the habitat and ecological associations of over 400 species of terrestrial vertebrates (mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles) and developed and digitized range maps for these species. We also developed GIS models based on this information to be used to predict the distributions of these vertebrates based on a vegetation map. The database is now in the form of an Access file, and the images are shape files that can and have been used for reports and responses to queries related to distributions of terrestrial vertebrates. The completed project report is being distributed by the Survey, with the Final Report available from the Survey web site where there is also a form to request the data CD's. (Hough)

Inventories, Collections, and Databasing

• Cave invertebrate survey of limestone caves in the Ozark Plateau and Arbuckle uplift areas. (Bergey)
• Crayfish species distribution and abundance in Oklahoma, based on field collections and the identification of previously collected material. (Bergey)
• Survey of salamanders in Oklahoma caves (Fenolio, Graening, Bergey)
• Field studies to fill gaps in knowledge of the distribution and abundance of fishes in Oklahoma. (Broughton)
• Filling data gaps in plant species distributions as identified in the Oklahoma Vascular Plants Database. Survey botanists are collecting plant specimens from Oklahoma counties that are underrepresented in herbarium collections. (Buthod and Hoagland)
• Status of endangered interior least tern (Sterna antillarum athalassos) breeding colonies of the Canadian River in central Oklahoma. (P. H. C. Crawford)
• The OBS-ODWC Data Catalog will be an online repository of project information, contact information, and data for research projects on non-game wildlife and rare plant species. The primary goals for the Data Catalog are to archive raw data for future reference and provide information for use in wildlife conservation planning. Funded by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. (Dengler and Butler)
• Bar Coding of the plant specimens in the Bebb Herbarium. Bar codes are a collections management tool that are linked to computerized herbarium databases to provide accurate, rapid, and unique access to coded information. (Elisens)
• Expansion of the Bebb Herbarium Library. The extensive personal library constituting the R. John and Constance E. Taylor Collection is being incorporated into the existing herbarium library. The expanded library serves as an excellent resource with specialization in floristic and systematic botany and the mid-continent region of North America. (Elisens)
• Flora of Oklahoma. The vascular flora of Oklahoma comprises 173 families, 868 genera, and 2540 species. The nine members of the Flora of Oklahoma committee are writing a modern floristic treatment for Oklahoma. (Elisens)
• TORCH: Texas Oklahoma Regional Consortium of Herbaria. A regional consortium of over 45 herbaria organized to advocate the interests of plant research and teaching collections in Texas and Oklahoma. (Elisens)
• Oklahoma Vascular Plants Database. An ongoing project to database all the specimens collected in Oklahoma at targeted herbaria (Oklahoma State University, University of Sciences and Arts of Oklahoma, Botanical Research Institute of Texas, and the Bebb Herbarium. Some collections have also been databased from Northeastern Oklahoma State University, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Northwestern Oklahoma State University, and Cameron University). This has been a critical tool for locating data gaps and focusing field work. The goal is to publish an Atlas and generate web products. (Hoagland)
• Catalog of the Woody Plants of Oklahoma with descriptions and range maps. This catalog presents a comprehensive on-line guide to the native and naturalized woody plants of the state. (Hoagland)
• Development of an aquatic and wetland plant manual and Worldwide Web site for Oklahoma. This project grew from the need of wetland and aquatic plant identification manual for state wetland managers. A prominent component of this project has been databasing wetland and aquatic plant specimens in order to generate distribution maps. (Hoagland)
• Development of an aquatic and wetland plant manual and Worldwide Web site for Oklahoma. This project grew from the need of wetland and aquatic plant identification manual for state wetland managers. A prominent component of this project has been databasing wetland and aquatic plant specimens in order to generate distribution maps. (Hoagland)
• Floristic inventory of three Nature Conservancy preserves in Oklahoma, J.T. Nickel Family Wildlife and Nature Preserve, Four Canyons Preserve, and Cucumber Creek Preserve. This inventory will develop a vouchered plant species list for each preserve. (Hoagland and Buthod)
• Inventory of terrestrial vertebrates of the Chickasaw National Recreation Area. As part of the National Park Service's ongoing effort to inventory the fauna and flora of all National Park Service facilities, the Oklahoma Natural Heritage Inventory will inventory mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles that occur within the recreation area. (Kelly)
• Monitoring avian productivity and survivorship at Ft Sill. (Kelly)
• Avifauna of Parque Nacional de Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico. Compilation of an annotated list on the seasonal status and relative abundance of species found at this lowland rainforest site in southern Mexico. (Patten)
• Survey of avifauna at Four Canyon Preserve, Oklahoma. Year-round inventory of birds on a new Nature Conservancy preserve in Ellis County, Oklahoma. (Patten and Reinking)
• Oklahoma Winter Bird Atlas. A five-year statewide survey of Oklahoma's wintering birds initiated in 2003 to complement the recently completed Oklahoma Breeding bird Atlas. (Reinking)
• Examination of the pollen of taxa found in Oklahoma which have not been previously described in the pollen literature. (Skvarla)
• Photographic Atlas of the Pollen Flora of Oklahoma. Descriptions and scanning electron micrographs of pollen grains from representative genera of Oklahoma's flora are being compiled into one volume. (Skvarla and Elisens)
• Cataloguing of several thousand slides of Onagraceae pollen to match four publications documenting morphology and systematics of the Onagraceae. The slides will represent almost all taxa in the Onagraceae. (Skvarla)

Landscape Ecology

• 1871 land cover map for Oklahoma Territory and the Chickasaw Nation. This project invovles digitizing and joining General Land Office plats to compile a map of vegetation distribution in the late nineteenth century. (Hoagland)
• Land cover associated with prairie dogtowns in the Oklahoma panhandle. Aerial photography is being used to delineate vegetation types and other land cover surrounding know prairie dogtowns. (Hoagland)

Education, Outreach, and Web Projects

• Oklahoma BioBlitz! This rapid inventory of biological diversity hosted by the Survey with support from the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation is conducted on a different area of public land in Oklahoma each year. (Butler)
• BEES: Biology enrichment experiences for students. An outreach program that presents interactive plant and animal programs in elementary school classrooms and in after school programs. (Bergey)
• OK WILD BIRD -- the Oklahoma Wiki Link Devoted to Bird Information, Resources and Data is an interactive web site that allows Oklahoma birders to share their knowledge of Oklahoma birds with the Oklahoma birding community. The wiki format allows visitors to the site to search for information on Oklahoma birds and to enter new records of interest to others. (Kelly and Hough)
• Nest Camera Project. Placement of weatherproof movie cameras on two bald eagle nests as well as a red-tailed hawk nest and a great horned owl nest with transmission of the live video through the One Net system via the Sutton web site to allow viewing and study by Oklahoma school children and the public throughout the state. (Jenkins)
• Ornithology in Rwanda. Coordination with the Karisoke Research Center, Musanze, Rwanda both to establish the country's first avian research program and to develop education and capacity building to ensure future self-sufficiency in research. (Patten)
• Sutton Natural History Forum. Annually a photographer, cinematographer, or other natural history communicator from National Geographic, Discovery, or Nature are brought to the state for a week to make presentations to approximately 10,000 students including a night at the Sam Noble Museum about a day in their life, providing inspiration and hope for youngsters to follow in their "natural history" footsteps. (Sherrod)
• "It's All About Birds!" An environmentally-educational, traveling, auditorium-styled presentation with live, free-flying birds for Oklahoma middle and high school students. Students are tested over the content, and bird related, follow-up material is provided for use by teachers of various other disciplines such as English, speech, math, etc. (VanZant, Jackson, Sherrod)

Systematics

• Comparative studies of vertebrate mitochondrial genomes and phylogeny of actinopterygian fishes. This involves sequencing complete mitochondrial genomes using a high-throughput shotgun cloning approach. These data are being used to reconstruct the phylogeny of major groups of ray-finned fishes, evaluate the amount of data needed to recover accurate phylogenetic patterns under various evolutionary conditions, and to discover new methodological approaches for molecular phylogenetic analysis. (Broughton)
• Genetic divergence among isolated populations of a spring-dwelling fish, Gambusia geiseri. (Broughton)
• Patterns of nucleotide change and nucleotide sampling properties in phylogenetic analysis. In particular, this involves assessing the relative historical information content of characters that conflict on plylogenetic trees (homoplasy). We would like to know, when is homoplasy misleading, when is homoplasy not misleading, and how do we recognize the difference and make use of this information? (Broughton)
• Phylogeny and biogeography of North American minnows (family Cyprinidae) with emphasis on Cyprinella and related shiner genera. This ongoing project employs phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequence data generated from several mitochondrial and nuclear genes. (Broughton)
• Tests of natural selection at the molecular level using codon-based maximum likelihood models, physicochemical properties of amino acids, and protein secondary and tertiary structure information. This approach explores the natural history of molecules. (Broughton)
• Using homoplasy dispersion to assess character utility in phylogenetic analysis. This project is aimed at improving phylogenetic inference by applying a novel weighting system to characters. The basic premise is that characters that change multiple times on phylogenetic trees (homoplasies) will be misleading only if such changes occur on proximal branches of the tree. Such characters can therefore be downweighted accordingly while information from homoplasies that occur in distant parts of the tree can be utilized. (Broughton)
• Genetic variation and reproductive biology of Lindernia dubia (Scrophulariaceae). Investigation of variation patterns and floral biology in a North American species complex that occurs in Oklahoma. (Elisens)
• Molecular systematics of climbing snapdragons (family Scrophulariaceae). A molecular phylogeny of 20 species in this group has been used to test hypotheses of generic delimitation, biogeography, and concordance of genetic signal inferred from crossing data. (Elisens)
• Molecular systematics of the genus Gaura (family Onagraceae). Phylogeny reconstruction based on nuclear and chloroplast DNA variation is being undertaken for the 22 species in this group of plants. (Elisens)
• Molecular systematics of the plantains (family Plantaginaceae). Hypotheses of taxonomy, phylogeny, and biogeography are being tested in this group of approximately 270 species using sequence variation of nuclear and chloroplast DNA. (Elisens)
• Plant geography of the Red River Basin. An investigation of the floristic regions, floristic relationships, and species geographic distribution patterns indicates several plants are endemic to the basin, exhibit wide floristic disjunction, and have used the basin to extend their ranges. (Elisens)
• 'Scrophulariacae' for the Flora of North America. A comprehensive floristic treatment of families constituting the 'Scrophulariaceae' is being compiled for volume 17 of Flora North America. (Elisens)
• Systematics of the Mecardonia acuminata complex (Scrophulariaceae). Investigation of molecular and morphological variation among the three varieties comprising this North American shrub that occurs in Oklahoma. (Elisens)
• Taxonomic monograph of the genus Agrimonia (Rosaceae). A worldwide taxonomic treatment of the approximately 23 species of Agrimonia is being prepared. A wide variety of morphological, palynological, and molecular data will be used to reconstruct the phylogeny of the group and delimit species. (Elisens)
• Taxonomic monograph of the genus Chelone (Scrophulariaceae). Taxonomic monograph of the six taxa in four species comprising the eastern North American genus Chelone (turtlehead). (Elisens)
• Taxonomic monograph of the genus Galvezia (Scrophulariaceae). Taxonomic monograph of the five species comprising the South American genus Galvezia (shrub snapdragons). (Elisens)
• Testing concordance of (phylo)genetic signal from crossing data and nuclear ITS sequence variation among climbing snapdragons. Comparison of ITS and hybrid genetic distance trees and mapping of hybrid fertilities on phylogenetic trees inferred from nuclear ITS sequences. (Elisens)
• Geographic Variation in Song. Work with collaborators at the Universidad Central de Venezuela on spatial variation in song of a species complex of woodcreepers in an effort to determine species limits and genetic and morphological correlates. (Patten)
• Systematics for The Birds of North America. Revision, editing, researching, and writing sections on systematic relationships, geographic variation, and subspecies for the important series of avian life history accounts, now run through the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. (Patten)
• Systematics of the Buff-throated Woodcreeper complex on the basis of song. Range-wide assessment of song variation in Xiphorhynchus guttatus and analysis of how song differences relate to morphology and genetics. (Patten)
• Species limits in the Northern Pygmy-Owl complex. Song playback experiments throughout the geographic range and analyses of vocal and plumage variation in Gaucidium gnoma to determine evolutionary history of the group. (Patten)
• Broad-scale Genetic Variation in a Passerine. Collaborative studies with researchers at the University of British Columbia, University of Alaska, and Stanford University on patterns of genetic variation in the highly morphologically variable Song Sparrow across its range in western North America. (Patten, Pruett)
• Overview of pollen morphology in the Compositae (Asteraceae). In collaboration with Dr. Vicki Funk and Dr. Harold Robinson (both at Smithsonian Institution) and Dr. Steve Blackmore, Keeper, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and Dr. Alexandra Wortley, also of Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. We are constructing a super tree of pollen characters for all described Compositae genera for a Compositae Symposium to be held in Barcelona, Spain, July 2006. (Skvarla)
• Morphogenetic studies in the Onagraceae -- presently a series of studies on the development of the pollen wall in Epilobium. In collaboration with Dr. John R. Rowley, University Stockholm. (Skvarla)
• Pollen morphology of Onagraceae taxa as related to systematics. Presently, description of the new genus, Megacorax. In collaboration with Dr. Peter Hoch, Missouri Botanic Garden. (Skvarla)
• Examination of the pollen ultrastructure of Oklahoma endemic plants: Leavenworthia aurea Torr., Penstemon oklahomensis Penwell and Phlox longipilosa Waterfall. (Skvarla)
• Pollen studies on Circaea canadensis and Circaea X intermedia pollen. (Skvarla)
• Pollen studies and molecular biology of families Compositae and Calyceraceae. (Skvarla)
• Pollen studies and systematics of Mutisieae from Guayana Highlands of Brazil. (Skvarla)
• Pollen studies of primitive Altingiaceae pollen and hybrids. (Skvarla)
• Pollen studies of primitive grasses. (Skvarla)
• Studies of young microspore stages (early tetrad) of Canna (Cannaceae). (Skvarla)

Last updated: 23 January 2008

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