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A new paper by Rooney Lab PhD student, Courtney Robichaud, was just published in the Journal for Great Lakes Research!  This article explores some of the more subtle effects of invasion by Phragmites australis on the wetland bird community.  Through a comparison with a study done in 2001/02, her work suggests that a time lag exists between the initial invasion and the realization of some of these effects. You can access it free at until July 8th, 2017.    

Abstract:

The Rooney Lab is seeking to fill an MSc. position to investigate the threat that invasive common reed (Phragmites australis) poses to an endangered species of spike-rush. Known from only two populations in Canada, bent spike-rush (Eleocharis geniculata) is losing its habitat to this hardy, invasive perennial grass.  The research project will entail field work in the Long Point Wilderness Area and experiments in the University of À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ greenhouse facility.

MSc. student Graham Howell was making headlines in the Dundalk Herald this week with his research on the invasive grass Phragmites australis. He will be presenting to stakeholders at a workshop hosted by the Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority and the Township of Southgate. The workshop will take place 16th March at 9 am at 392137 Grey Road 109, Holstein, Ontario at the Optimist Community Centre.  For more information, contact Jo-Anne Harbinson 519-367-3040 ext. 235 or by e-mail at j.harbinson@svca.on.ca.

Rooney Lab MSc. student Sarah Yuckin has her research featured by the University of À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ as part of our annual World Wetlands Day celebration.  Read more .

The Rooney Lab is currently seeking a PhD student with experience in community analysis, multivariate statistics, and R software who is interested in wetland ecology, restoration ecology, and the interactions among communities.  The successful applicant will commence a fully funded PhD program working with a comprehensive dataset from temporary marshes in Alberta, Canada.  The dataset includes vegetation, bird, and macro-invertebrate data, water chemistry, sediment chemistry, and hydrology environmental covariate data from nearly 100 wetlands spanning two Natural Regions.

Rooney Lab MSc. Student, Courtney Robichaud, co-authored a blog post for the Great Lakes Phragmites Collaborative on her thesis work.  She repeated a study from a decade ago and found markedly greater changes to the bird community in response to Phragmites invasion that was reported previously.  Read more about it .

February 12, to celebrate Darwin Day, the Biology Department at the University of À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ hosted a bonspiel. The Rooney Lab was represented by both veterans and novices to the sport, but all brought their enthusiasm for evolution by natural selection to the ice!

Congratulations Rooney Lab member Adam Kraft, who won the naming competition for GRADventure, the University of À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ's hub for professional development resources. GRADventure launched Jan 27th. For access to all manner of workshops, resources, and special event listings targeting graduate students preparing for the workplace, check it out

Released today, Dr. Rooney and colleagues Dr. Robinson and Dr. Petrone from the University of À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ have a comment piece in Nature Climate Change detailing their framework for integrating reclamation planning for megaprojects at the landscape scale with future climate change projections. Reconciling reclamation plans with climate change is necessary to give us our best hope at achieving self-sustaining reclamation targets.

Read more

Canada Research Chair in Physical Hydrology and professor at the University of Calgary Dr. Masaki Hayashi will be visiting the Rooney Lab on October 27th and will be presenting as part of the Department of Biology 2015 Seminar Series his talk titled Eco-hydrology of prairie wetlands and management implications: synthesis of a 50 year study.