Tiny Orchids
Hannah Wilhelm ~ 2008-06-10
While walking the Wells Reserve trails this spring, naturalist Paul Miliotis discovered a tiny but beautiful orchid hiding under a skunk cabbage leaf. A group of us we went back to see the orchid, called early coralroot, Corallorhiza trifida, which was almost invisible before we got down on our knees on the boardwalk, and take a picture of its short yellowish stalks with tongue-like flowers. No leaves were visible, and C. trifida doesn’t really need them, because it is saprophytic, meaning that all its nourishment comes through symbiosis with the mycorrhizal fungi that form a vast underground network through healthy forest soils. Even plants that get energy through photosynthesis, such as oak trees and grapevines, gain resilience through their linkages to mycorrhizae. I was surprised but delighted by this find. Although C. trifida is a persistent plant (it is found in moist forests throughout the Northern US and Canada), it is rarely seen.
Live data from Wells Reserve weather station
Scott Richardson ~ 2007-11-30
Near real time weather data for the Wells Reserve is now available. Give it a try!
The station, located behind the Coastal Ecology Center, has a National Weather Service identifier and is checked and serviced monthly by the reserve’s “SWMP Tech,” Jeremy Miller. The data is considered provisional, but goes through an automated quality assurance and control procedure before it is posted.
The System Wide Monitoring Program coordinates with the Centralized Data Management Office, a NOAA entity in South Carolina. The CDMO website lets you graph or download weather data, plus water quality data, from Wells and all other reserves in the system.
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Wells Reserve participates at international estuaries conference
Scott Richardson ~ 2007-11-05
The Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation biennial conference is taking place this week and Wells Reserve scientists are well represented on the agenda. Reserve staff are participating in these presentations and posters:
- Fostering Coastal Stewardship: New Tools for Bridging the Science to Management Divide
- Indicators of Fringing Salt Marsh Ecological Function that are Responsive to Shoreline Development Pressures
- Synthesis of SWMP Data for ASSETS Eutrophication Assessment of the North Atlantic Region NERR Systems
- Response of the American Eel to Saltmarsh Restoration and Its Role in Trophic Dynamics
- Nekton Response to Hydrologic Restoration of New England Salt Marsh-Estuarine Ecosystems
- Developing a Nekton Index of Ecological State for Gulf of Maine Fringing Tidal Marsh
Who’s representing Wells Reserve in Providence, Rhode Island? Michele Dionne, Jeremy Miller, Andrea Leonard, Cayce Dalton, and several collaborators from partner institutions.
Senator Collins at Wells Reserve
Scott Richardson ~ 2007-08-27
The Wells Reserve today hosted Senator Susan M. Collins for “Mercury in a Maine Estuary & National Mercury Monitoring Event,” presented in conjunction with the BioDiversity Research Institute (BRI).
The institute’s Dr. David Evers was on hand to mark the release of a BRI report documenting mercury levels in Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrows in New England. According to Evers and his colleagues, the sparrows have elevated levels of mercury in their blood, even when they are distant from active mercury pollution sources, and adults with high levels of mercury may raise fewer young than those with low mercury levels.
Evers said:
Not only are large amounts of toxic mercury still released into our ecosystems, but the federal government has yet to put a monitoring network in place that will track where the mercury pollution is going, what impact it’s having, and what difference public policies are making.
Following Evers’ remarks, Senator Collins described her bill (S. 843; introduced March 12) to provide for the establishment of a national mercury monitoring program. If enacted, the program would monitor mercury levels in air and watersheds, water and soil chemistry, and aquatic plants and animals at multiple monitoring sites across ecoregions of the United States.
Senator Collins took time to tour the Maine Coastal Ecology Center during her short visit and engaged in lengthy discussion about mercury issues with research director Dr. Michele Dionne and several visiting scientists who collaborate with the Wells Reserve.
Online Resources
- BioDiversity Research Institute (including the Center for Mercury Investigations, the Estuarine Bird Program, and the Mercury Connections report
- Senator Collins
Marine invasives collected in Wells Harbor
Scott Richardson ~ 2007-07-27
Last Friday a science team marched to Wells Harbor and began a rapid assessment of marine invertebrates on and around the dock. The taxonomic specialists from MIT, Sea Grant, and the Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management Program were joined by Reserve research director Michele Dionne and associate Jeremy Miller, who facilitated the Wells Harbor survey.
Wells was one of nine stops in two days (“scrape, collect, bag, see ya!”—J. Miller) for the rapid assessment team, which is establishing baseline data and investigating biological invasions in coastal waters throughout the Gulf of Maine. Their work has been ongoing for several years, but this was the first time they stopped in Wells.
More information:
Earlier article describing Wells Reserve research on fouling organisms
Portland Press Herald story July 31
Casco Bay Estuary Project resource page (2004) on Maine’s marine invasives
Teleost Tuesday: Harbor Fishes Part II
Jim Dochtermann ~ 2007-06-19
Juveniles
Spanning over the subtidal zone, harbor docks make convenient places to see fish in their natural setting. And fussing with fishing gear isn’t even necessary. The best time to see fish at a harbor setting is often late spring- when juveniles of different species are schooling under the wooden docks. Fish can be seen gathering in large schools numbering in the hundreds. The harbor not only provides protective cover from predators, such as birds, it also has relatively consistent water quality. Relatively that is, since the harbor’s water quality does change quite drastically depending on the phase of tide. But it can be much more habitable compared to the upper portions of the estuary, as far as most fish are concerned. These upper areas are prone to drain to shallower depths (often emptying) and any remaining standing water can have temperatures too high and dissolved oxygen levels far too low to support fish life.
High tide is an ideal time to go to the harbor to see these stunning schools of juvenile fish. The thin, silvery segments, often swimming in synchronization, are mesmerizing. At Wells Harbor I have seen schools of Atlantic silversides, American sand lance (featured in photo), pollock and threespine sticklebacks.
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