Invertebrate Summer Internship

The heat started to break finally so it was not blistering hot while we went out into the field this week. On Monday I joined Keelie, Lauren, and Sam out to RDO farms. Lauren is running the same experiments from Boardman there. At this site she is researching how having native lands around the farm benefits pollinators and spiders. We split into two groups, I went with Keelie to set traps in the alfalfa fields while Sam and Lauren went to The Nature Conservancy which boarders the farm. We set out the usually pan traps and pitfalls here. The only difference is there is only 3 pan traps and 2 pitfalls that are only out for two days. Lauren also set out game cameras to see what invertebrate predators are present. For this we used tripods made for the game cameras and adjusted them to point down to the ground. On the ground we had 5 wax worms placed on cardboard for bait. We left the cameras out for 24 hours. Below is a picture of the set up.

On Tuesday Lauren and Keelie did not need help in the field moving the cameras to their second location. I stayed in the lab and worked on the tedious task of bee pinning. This task consumed the whole day!

Wednesday was a day spent at RDO with the gals. Keelie and I completed our sites first since we did not have to move our cameras to another site. We were unable to place the cameras at the last site since they were starting to rip up the alfalfa fields. All we had to do was grab all the traps and cameras which took no time! Since this only took the morning I went back to bee pinning.

To end the week I continued to pin bees. I can’t believe 10 weeks of my internship has already come and gone! I will be continuing to work at HAREC for a couple more weeks to finish off my summer. This experience was great and I am grateful for the opportunity.

Monday was a relaxed lab day after last week’s hot field days. I started the day off going back further in my literature search on the crayfish and snails. I went all the way back to 2000’s. The literature search only took me the morning to complete so I began pinning bees for the rest of the day. I started on the restored sites from Broadman, OR that we collected last week. Bee pinning always seems to be a simple task but takes longer than I expected.

After two days of continuous bee pinning I began a new task. This task was to organize bees from Sandy’s research at Starky. Bees from her research in 2014 and 2015 have been identified all the way to the species. She sends the bees to an expert out of Utah who identifies these thousands of bees. When these bees are sent back they are not completely organized so my task was to sort them by species. I placed each species into their own unit trays within wooden boxes. These bees are saved for Sandy’s reference collection. This task was actually pretty neat. I got to look at all the bees and get an idea of what kind of bee they are. Some of these bees were beautiful. My favorite bee so far is the Hoplitis fulgids pictured below. I base this selection solely on my favorite colors, blue and green.

On Friday we went back out to Boardman, OR to pick up the pitfalls. This was luckily a quick day and only took the morning to complete. It was hot out there again. It was great to know that we will only have one more cycle of data collection out there!

This week we went out to the The Nature Conservancy in Boardman, OR for our July field work. We went out on Wednesday and Friday. Boy it was hot! For both days it was in the 100’s. To get through the sites faster we split into two groups and started our days early. I went with Sam and Sandy while Keelie and Lauren went out together. On Wednesday both groups set out pan traps and pitfalls. We also did a bloom survey and hand netted for bees. For the bloom survey we measured out a square 50 meter transect. In this transect we spread out together for several passes to note what flowers were blooming and how many blooms. Once that was complete we hand netted for 15 minutes. This was the same process as we did at Starky. We only captured bees that were on flowers. Once a bee was caught we noted what flower it was on.

Friday was thankfully a short day were Sandy and I picked up the pan traps. To pick up pan traps we filter out the water with a strainer and place the collected insects in plastic bags to freeze later. Freezing the insects preserves them. This day we also refilled the pitfalls with antifreeze. We did this since the antifreeze evaporates with it being so hot.

In between field work days I worked on pinning bees. The bees I worked on were captured by Keelie and Lauren at two other study sites. The two sites are at The Nature Conservancy in Umatilla and at RDO farms. I have yet to go out to these sites. These sites are smaller where only two people are needed. Below are how the bees are pinned in the cardboard pinning boxes.

To start off this week I worked on literature searches for Dave again. I went back to 2004 reviewing research papers on Web of Science. I did this for both of the invasive species we are looking at, the Rusty Crayfish and the New Zealand Mud Snail. I organized these papers as I did earlier in the internship. Also for Dave I entered the measurements for the crayfish that I finished measuring last week. I created an excel spreadsheet for this, and I have to say that it turned out nice! From here I can review the data for my project poster.

On Tuesday and Thursday Keelie and I went to Starky Experimental National Forest for the day to help finish experiments with Sam. To help Sam, Keelie and I captured bees that landed on flowers with hand nets. For one of the experiments at Starky, Sandy and Sam want to look at what bees pollinate what flowers. These days were long but Starky is so beautiful I had no complaints! I am not sure how many bees we caught but I know it was more than I could count with both hands. Below are some scenery pictures of Starky.

   

To end this week I worked on searching for spiders and solifugids in the pitfalls. These samples were captured from The Nature Conservancy at Boardman Oregon. We collected these samples a couple week backs. This task was a refreshing break from computer lab work, even though the process is quite daunting. Each pitfall takes about three hours to complete. You have to sift through a lot of debris and dirt. Once a spider or a solfugid is found they get placed into viles, one for spiders and one for solifugids.

 

I began the week with literature paper searches. I continued to go back further in years to research Rusty Crayfish as well as the New Zealand Mud Snails. Dave also had me start researching how to culture daphnia. Daphnia are zooplankton that feed on algae and are great food for small invertebrates and fish. I have included a picture below. These zooplankton are tiny and hard to see with the naked eye but it is possible. The goal is to culture them to use as feed on a new experiment for Dave.

Once I found credible sources about raising them I began to set up tanks. I used three 3 gallon buckets for tanks. Set up is pictured below. I wanted to have separate tanks in case one colony collapses. The zooplankton need oxygen so I rigged an aerated into each tank. I also set up an above light for the daphnia. I ordered the daphnia from Carolina Biological Equipment online. For food I chose to order pellets from the online source. An alternative source of food that I may try if the pellets do not work is powder spirulina and activated baker’s yeast. I am excited to watch these creatures grow!

Dave received confirmation that the snails collected last week where not the invasive New Zealand Mud Snail. So on Wednesday we went to search again. We went near the Umatilla fish farm ponds, Umatilla Nature Conservancy, and McNary dam to collect samples. We found what seemed to be New Zealand Mud Snails near the fish ponds and McNary dam. These samples will be sent off again to be identified. Below is a picture of the sample site at McNary Dam.

Another project that I worked on this week was finishing measuring the 14 crayfish from Mule Shoe and Kimberly. Overall this week was busy and productive!

This week with Dave we started another project on invasive aquatic life, New Zealand Mud Snails. They have been found in the Columbia River. Dave wants to research the mouths of the Rivers that run into the Columbia River. The Yakima, Umatilla, and Walla Walla River mouths we looked at. These snails are very small. They can be the size of a pencil tip and as big as a pencil eraser. We searched for these snails by picking up rocks and looking underneath them as well as pulling up aquatic plants to look at. At first it was hard to see them but once you found one you acquired the eye for it. We only found possible New Zealand Mud Snails at Bateman’s Island (mouth of the Yakima). These samples will be sent to a lab for identification.

I continued to search research papers on the Web of Science about the Rusty Crayfish, as well as starting a search on the New Zealand Mud Snails. With these papers found I created a word document and organized them by topic for reference at later use. This project was interesting since I got to understand other research that has been completed on these invasive species.

Later in the week I finally finished measuring the crayfish from week two then began pinning more bees. I continued to help pin bees from Boardman. One site I pinned had over 400 bees! That took me a couple days to complete pinning. Lauren taught us how to clean the pitfalls we have collected at Boardman. With this we are sorting through the contents for invertebrate predators, spiders and wind scorpions. For this task we use a sieve to clean most of the dirt out of the samples then place the contents in a swallow dish with water. From there we search through to collect the spiders and wind scorpions. Once found we place them in vials with alcohol to preserve them.

The first part of the week I was busy measuring crayfish. This seemed like it should be a quick task but let me tell you it was not. We collected so many crayfish from week two it was overwhelming. After two days of measuring I was only halfway done.

On Wednesday I went on a field day with Dave downriver of the John Day to Mule Shoe Park and a public access road near Kimberly, OR.  Our goal was to go downriver where the rusty crayfish has been more recently cited indicating that this could be more of an invasive front. We used the same process from the previous collection to capture the crayfish at the two different sites. This time we caught dramatically a lower number. We only caught 14 crayfish. Most of the traps came up empty though all of the caught crayfish where the invasive rusty crayfish. So far we have not caught any native species. I am curious if there is still any native species are left.

Later in the week I decided to take a break from measuring crayfish and finished my week with pinning bees. The bees we were pinning were from week two collection from Boardman.

On Friday Dave showed me the experimental ponds that were set up last year. I have to fill these ponds every week. No experiments will be performed with these but addition of water is necessary to keep the aquatic organism alive for future use. Below is are pictures of these ponds.

  

 

Monday was a relaxing lab day. Lauren taught Keelie and I how to pin bees from last week’s collection. The bees go through quite the beauty regiment. To begin pinning the bees we must wash them and dry them. We do this to remove soap residue that is acquired at capture. To wash the bees we empty the collection bag into a meshed covered glass container filled with clean water and swirl. After they are washed and free of soap, we drain the water out. With the mesh cover over the jar I use a hair dryer to dry the bees.

Once the bees are have forgone their spa day we begin to pin the bees. We keep the bees organized by site and label them with tags. This process is quite time consuming!

The majority of my week was spent measuring morphology of the rusty crayfish captured last week. I measured claw width, length, finger length, palm length, and width. On the body I measured the length and head length.

The pitfalls from Boardman were picked up on Thursday. Picking up pitfall entails removing the containers that where dug into the ground. First you use water and a sieve to rinse the insects and debris of dirt. Once this is complete you put the contents into a whirlpack (fancy plastic bag) with ethanol to preserve all insects. This task can be very messy.

This was the week of hot field work. I worked with Lauren Smith, a PhD student who is one of my bosses, and Keelie. We went out to Boardman, OR to capture bees and spiders at The Nature Conservancy on Tuesday and Thursday. At this location they have different areas that are either degraded, native, or restored lands. Lauren is doing research for her PhD here to see how these different lands affect pollinators and spiders.

To capture bees we are using pan traps and for the bees, pitfalls. We used pan traps last week as well. These were the blue, yellow, and white cups filled with soapy water. The bees are attracted to the bright cups and mistake them for flowers. They are a common way to capture bees. Pitfalls are exactly how they sound. They are small containers dug into the ground filled with RV antifreeze (nontoxic) to capture spiders that run across the ground. These pits capture other insects as well, though we do not count these in our data. We do collect one other invertebrate from these traps, wind scorpions. Since they are not well research Lauren has included this into her project. Tuesday we set these traps up and then Thursday we collected the pan traps. We will collect the pitfalls next Thursday.

On Wednesday I worked in the field with Dave. Dave’s internship project is focusing on the rusty crayfish. This crayfish is highly invasive and has established in the John Day River. It is thought that schools have introduced the crayfish into the John Day River once school experiments were complete. We went to the supposed introduction site, Clyde Holiday Park on the John Day River. This location is where the density is the highest. We set crayfish traps here baited with raw chicken. The traps are metal shaped like a football with openings on the side. We set eight traps at this site and waited three hours to retrieve. We captured over 70 rusty crayfish at this site. We individually bagged each one then grouped them by trap number.

With these captured crayfish we are looking at their morphology. We are measuring body length and claw size to determine if their morphology varies from an established site like Clyde holiday compared to the invasive front down river.

This was a great week to dive in and learn just how hard field work is. Next week there will be more field work but I am told that this week was the hardest field work!

This week was very exciting and tiring. After finishing safety trainings I got to go directly to the field. I went with Sandy Debano to Starky Experimental National Forest outside of La Grande. This was a beautiful place filled with trees and flowers.

Sandy is researching how grazing patterns of animals affect bees. We did this by collecting samples of bees from four different types of pastures that are either grazed by deer, grazed by cattle, grazed by both, or grazed by none. We set out two different set of traps, pan traps and blue vain traps. The pan traps are the three different colored cups in the picture below. These cups are painted florescent blue, yellow, and white to attract bees. Soapy water is used kill the bees. The blue vain traps are also pictured below. The traps concept is the same as the pan traps though are thought to possibly attract different bees.

       

At Starky we also did a floral bloom count to understand percentage of blooming plants and to know what flowers are blooming. This should tell us what bees may be feeding on at the time of capture. There was many beautiful flowers in this area which some of them I learned their scientific name.

After the trip to Starky National Forest the week was filled with literature research and other paper work, as well as a quick tour of HAREC. This literature research consisted of searching on OSU web of science Database on the invasive rusty crayfish. I went back to papers published in 2014. From there I copied the information and the abstract to a word document and organized the papers. Since I will be working with Dave on researching this crayfish this summer having papers to look to will be beneficial.

This week I got to meet one of my awesome co-workers Keelie. I will also be working with Sam who is an intern but she will be starting next month. Needless to say I am excited for this summer.