Dave's Science Blog

Grand Canyon Plants and Insects

2009-10-30T20:29:00.016-06:00

During my hike from the South Rim to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon I saw many interesting species of desert plants throughout the canyon bottom up to the high plateaus. One that I didn’t know much about was the Utah Agave plant or Agave utahensis.

Agave utahensis is a member of the Agave Family. It has green leaves about a foot long with teeth on the edges and a very sharp point. Leaves grow from a central location to form a beautiful large rosette. The Utah Agave grows all over the Grand Canyon area. I saw hundreds of them from the South and North Kiabab trails.

The Agave blooms between May - July and produces a towering flower stalk with bright yellow flowers that can grow up to 15 feet in height. Unfortunately we were a little late and missed out on the flowers. It seemed that those who had grown the long stock were dead and dried up. Reading more, I found that after they produce their stock, flowers and seeds, they die. Some of the stocks were pretty impressive. It is also a larval host for the Mojave Giant-Skipper.

During the morning the butterflies perch on the Agave plants and wait for some ladies to find them. Once they mate the females lay eggs on the long spiny leaves that fall to the base of the plant. The caterpillar then crawls to the tip and burrows deep inside where it eats and hibernates through the winter. In the spring the caterpillar makes a burrow in a leaf base feeding on sap until becoming inactive for the summer. Before pupating, the caterpillar enlarges the opening of its burrow and makes a silk trap door from which the adult can emerge.

One of the other major desert plants I saw on the hike was the Prickly Pear Cactus. Some of these got up to 3 ½ to 4 feet tall. Most of them along the trail were void of their spines, probably lost to unsuspecting hikers and runners.

Although somewhat precarious, they are quite edible. This cactus was a food source for Native Americans who inhabited the southwest. The pads, fruits, seeds, and flowers of the prickly pear are all edible. Some early research indicates some medical uses for Type II diabetes in rats. The best cure for diabetes is still eating healthy and exercising.

Although I missed out on trying some on this trip, I think that next trip to St. George or Arizona I’m going to have to experiment with some.

Butterflies

Cactus

New Buildings and Inspiration

2008-10-26T20:24:00.006-06:00

The following are two seemingly unrelated items: news about new research building at the U, and a old Russian poem of inspiration.

The above photo is the James LeVoy Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology Building which will be built along Wasatch Drive where golf course is now (just east of the student union). It will be the first of four interconnected buildings devoted to researching health sciences, engineering, science, business, law and other disciplines.

Link to Desert News article.

Below is a poem about inspiration written by Alexander Pushkin about which I have been thinking lately. For those not familiar with Pushkin, he was (and is) an incredibly famous Russian poet who lived in the 19th century. The language of the poem in Russian is incredibly rich and quite moving. In short he uses bible imagery to explain the inspirational process. I think that we could all use a little more inspiration in our lives in these times. This translation is a fairly good one.

The Prophet

Parched with the spirit's thirst, I crossed
An endless desert sunk in gloom,
And a six-winged seraph came
Where the tracks met and I stood lost.
Fingers light as dream he laid
Upon my lids; I opened wide
My eagle eyes, and gazed around.
He laid his fingers on my ears
And they were filled with roaring sound:
I heard the music of the spheres,
The flight of angels through the skies,
The beasts that crept beneath the sea,
The heady up-rush of the vine;
And, like a lover kissing me,
He rooted out this tongue of mine
Fluent in lies and vanity;
He tore my fainting lips apart
And, with his right hand steeped in blood,
He armed me with a serpent's dart;
With his bright sword he split my chest;
My heart leapt to him with a bound;
A glowing livid coal he pressed
Into the hollow of the wound.
There in the desert I lay dead,
And God called out to me and said:

'Rise, prophet, rise, and hear, and see,
And let my works be seen and heard
By all who turn aside from me,
And burn them with my fiery word.'

Alexander Pushkin
1826

Link to other Puskin poems

Bird Watching: Farmington Bay & Bear River Refuge

2008-09-21T18:52:00.000-06:00

This post is dedicated to two very important areas in Utah that are critical for migratory bird populations on our side of the globe; they are Bear River Refuge and Farmington Bay. Most people don’t realize that Utah is an incredibly important stopping point for birds from South America to Canada. These two areas are so important because many birds stop to feed and many others use it as a nesting ground. Disturbance, water loss and destruction of these areas has a dramatic affect on global bird populations. I’ve also added a bit about Tracy Aviary if you want to see some wicked birds up close.

If you’re a bird lover or just need something different to do on a Saturday, any of these places will fit the bill for a good old time.

Bear River Refuge

Bear River Refuge is a beautiful wetlands area just west of Brigham City Utah. The wetlands were once about 45 thousand acres around 1900. By the 20’s due to water diversion for human use, only about three thousand acres were left due to drying up. By 1928 people noticed that massive disease was taking killing off much of the bird populations because of the low water and constricted area, and Congress passed an act to protect the area making it a National Wildlife Refuge. It was during this time that scientists were trying to figure out what was killing all of the birds. They spent most of their day sloshing around the wetlands in hip waders counting dead birds (turned out to be botchulism do to low water). It was then that they came up with a way to navigate the wetlands in a more efficient way; they invented the air boat.

Yep, right here in the state of Utah. (And you thought it began in the swamps of the south and on CSI Miami) The first one wasn’t as big as the modern version, it was a canoe with a fan strapped on the back but it did the trick. The boat is on display in their new visitor center which has lots of educational stuff for adults and kids. Cool place.

I think that they do charge a fee to get in but it’s worth the cash. Visit the Bear River Refuge website

This is a May article from the Deseret News about the refuge.

Here are some links to video of birds that I've seen at B.R.R. which I particularly like:

American Avocet - the only bird that has a bill the turns upward.

Sand Hill Cranes

Farmington Bay

Farmington Bay is an amazing place. It is truly one of Utah’s great treasures that is open year round w/o any fees. Hundreds of thousands of waterfowl, songbirds and raptors come to Farmington bay during the migration and nesting seasons (fall and spring). More than 200 species have been documented and 57 species which nest here regularly.

In the later winter months, around February, ducks and geese start to show up looking for tasty things to each in the melting snow and ice. In March and April is when the shorebirds usually start showing up. When I went there for the first time I was amazed at the types of birds that I saw. They are birds that you would never see in the city or even in the country. They are large and really cool. I’ve posted some of the shorebirds that I saw out there.

September is the beginning of the fall migration for most of the waterfowl. Tundra swans which are impressive, are usually the last to leave during November and December. By the end of December most bird species have “gotten out of Dodge” except for the bald eagles which choose Farmington Bay in little ol’ Utah to spend the winter. There are tons of eagles to see in the area.

It is important for us to think about both of these places when we think about growth in the Salt Lake Valley and the use of water. It is vital that we conserve these areas in order to protect large populations of birds. They depend on us to keep these wetlands available for them to survive, mate and to have offspring.

So, you don’t have to go to the zoo, you can see them in the wild.

Farmington Bay is located west of Farmington at 1325 West Glover Lane. Take Exit 322 off I-15, drive south on frontage road to Glover, then west on Glover.

Farmington Bay Website

Tracy Aviary

The Tracy Aviary is good place to go if you want a really casual day looking at some birdies and one that’s great for little kids which can see them up close and personal. They have some really neat birds; red-tailed hawks, great horned owls, Andean condors (which are super ugly dudes), sand hill cranes, toucans and tons of exotic ones you never knew existed.

Tracy Aviary website

They are located in Salt Lake City at Liberty Park. Wow, you could even come visit us while you’re in the area!

Video of Great Horned Owls - you can see at the Tracy Aviary

Photos: Great Egret, Long-billed Curlew, Great Blue Heron and the North American Flyway - all birds I have seen at these places.

Other Birding Sites:

Angler Guide – B.R.R.

Audubon Society

The map of US flyway

Cornell Lab of Ornithology – listen to tons of bird calls

Bald Eagles at Farmington Bay

Friends of the Bear River Refuge

USGS Bird list for Bear River Refuge

Science Friday - birding video 1

Science Friday - birding video 2

The European Starling

2008-09-08T11:20:00.000-06:00

This will be the first installment on a series on birds. Birds are pretty cool. Birding is becoming more and more popular each year with millions looking at birds through their binoculars, enjoying the songs, or watching them at the bird feeder. I’ve spent the past three years studying European Starlings and Bengalese Finches in the lab at the University of Utah, and other birds at home and in the sticks. I hope some of the things that I post will be fun and maybe you’ll learn a fun fact or two.

Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) are considered by most people in the U.S. as pests and that they should be eradicated in North America due to being aggressive foreign invaders to nesting areas of native species, although some studies have shown that their impact on other species is low (see birds.cornell.com). They were introduced to Central Park in New York City in the 1890. It is believed that 100 individuals were introduced in order to establish all of the birds in Shakespeare’s works. The North American population is now believed to be between 150 – 200 million. Because they eat anything from invertebrates to seeds, they are able in inhabit most habitats around the globe. Many people take measures to prevent them from nesting in sites that have previously been used by other birds by shooting them, destroying nests, or creating nesting boxes which starlings cannot enter. It is also believed that because of their colonial nature, many are responsible for spreading disease to farmyard animals.
Despite their bad reputation, starlings are incredible animals. They are very smart, fearless defenders of their young and amazing singers. I have witnessed on many occasions males and females dive bombing those who try to mess with their nests, their singing ability for hours on end and using their “bird brains” to outfox scientists.

The vocal ability of the starling is quite amazing. Their song is usually a series of rattles and whistled notes, often mimicking other bird species and other noises in their environment.

Song birds such as starlings sing with two “voice boxes” which is called the syrinx located right where the trachea bifurcates into the two primary bronchi. This gives them the amazing ability produce two sounds at once, independently enable them immediately go from a low not to a high one without making a mistake. The left side of the syrinx generates the low frequencies and the right for the high.

If you listen to the first part of this next one you can hear that the starling is mimicking a shorebird. This guy was recorded at Farmington Bay. (We know he is really mimicking by using a spectrograph of his song)

Click on this link to hear two songs: http://davos.podbean.com/
and then on Starling 00018 (mimicks a shore bird) and 00030

Shortly after I began studying starlings, I soon became enamored with the singing ability of the starling from listening to many different recorded songs from males in Farmington Bay and Ogden Canyon. Our work focused on how the male’s ability to “get some” was related to the impressiveness of his song was to the female to whom he was singing.

In the spring the males will search for a best place to build a nest and sit by it and sing their hearts out hoping for a female to come. If she thinks that he’s a catch, then she will allow him to mate with her and they will build a nest. But the story isn’t the rosy monogamous tale as it first appears to be. Between copulation and nest building the female will find other males and mate with them. So, as it happens, males often get tricked into raising someone else’s young.

Below is an abstract about the study that I published in the U of U research journal and a poster presentation that I gave.

When my friend Coen Elemans, a Post-Doc at the University of Utah began a study on the muscles of the syrinx of starling last year he found that it was incredibly difficult to catch them. Starlings seem to be quite intelligent birds and would learn very quickly what he was trying to do. His main method was essentially a box and stick. He constructed a screen cage about four foot cubed in size and propped it with a stick. When a huge flock came by into the Clinton farm he was at and under the cage to get at the seeds he had placed, he would pull the stick. The problem was that many times they would all get out and he would have to wait another week because the birds would remember the trap. Eventually he did get some and published his study on them. One unfortunate guy didn’t make it and was used in project mentioned the later in this article.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a page about starlings (and about numerous other birds). Click on the link and then on listen to songs to hear more recordings of the starling.

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/European_Starling.html#sound

Moving from song, I studied on my own the skeletal structure of the European Starling. The picture shown is a starling skeleton that I put together. Such an activity gives you a much more understanding about how and why birds can fly.

If you want to learn how to obtain you own skeleton see below:

After obtaining a bird or mammal, you need to strip the feathers and the skin off. Then, removal of as much muscle and other tissue is required. Note: the amount of tissue removed will determine the amount of time in the next step which is drying; the beetle larvae will eat everything but the bone. I usually then tie a piece of string around the bird (depending on size) to hold the wings against the body and place it in a place where the bird can completely dry out without other insects getting at it.

I usually remove as much muscle as I can to prevent fungus from infecting the bird which can decimate your beetle colony. The specimen is then placed into a container with a colony of dermestid beetles. I kept mine in a bucket outside (sometimes inside when it was cold without my wife knowing about it). You have to keep your beetles warm to eat well, so you have to be committed. I obtained my beetles from a professor in the anthropology department at the U. I have also seen some available on the internet for sale.

Dermestid beetles are pretty wicked. They are small black beetles smaller than a dime. It is the larvae that munch the flesh off the bones. Because the adult beetle doesn’t eat flesh they just lives out their days out in the container reproducing until they die.

So, if you keep your colony warm and spray some water in occasionally, after about two weeks your bird should be nothing but bones; then comes the fun part of putting all of the bones back together. I used an ornithology text (see references) on my first one as a guide. Fortunately most of the vertebrae of birds are fused to provide stability.

To connect the bones I just used run-of-the-mill super glue. When I was finished assembling, I sprayed it with a spray-can of furniture lacquer to seal the bones and give it some strength. As you can see in the photo I haven’t put his wings on yet.

Now you can see the structure of your animal. Some may think that it is weird or dare I say devilish, but I think that you get a much deeper understanding about and more respect for an animal after you examine its bones……especially humans.

Special note: possessing most birds in North America without a permit is illegal, dead or alive. Starlings are not protected because of their foreign invasive status so you can do what you want with them (sounds like some other policies I know). Restrictions on mammals are much more relaxed, unless they are game animals. Check with state and federal agencies for specifics.

References:

birds.cornell.edu

Ornithology 2nd Edition by Frank B. Gill

University of Utah Undergraduate Research Abstracts
Spring 2006 Vol. 6

New Science Blog

2008-09-07T15:06:00.000-06:00

This is my new science blog I'm getting started. I plan on putting all of my science projects, adventures and all-around geeky stuff on this site. Just graduating from the University of Utah in biology, my passion is biology but other science stuff might show up. Hope you enjoy.

photo is of Homo neanderthalensis (left) and Homo sapiens (right)

reconstructed skull of Homo neanderthalensis