The Interim Manager will coordinate field station use, maintain facilities and equipment, keep records, monitor the habitat, and supervise student employees and users. This is an interim position and employment will run from the date of hire until a permanent manager is hired, which is anticipated to be summer 2011.
This is an exempt, part-time, benefits eligible position with a salary of $2125 per month.
The application form may be downloaded from the website, and the completed application may be delivered to:
CUC Human Resources
Pendleton Business Building
150 E. 8th Street
Claremont, CA 91711
Intrigued by the rarity and patchy distribution of Lecanora munzii, a lichen species discovered at the BFS, Simeon and Stephanie used both field surveys and mathematical modeling to probe factors that affect the population dynamics of L. munzii and other saproxylic (dead wood-dependent) lichens, especially how wildfires – which are increasingly frequent – impact the lichen populations.
Simeon Koh and Stephanie Levins checking out saproxylic lichens in the field.
Their mathematical model predicts that lichens can establish stable metapopulations that persist even though wildfires occur, but if the burn frequency becomes too high, the lichen population can indeed go extinct.
Koh, S.W., and S. Levins. 2010. Wildfires and the metapopulation dynamics of saproxylic lichens. Southern California Conferences for Undergraduate Research.
In the fall most of the BFS is brown and sere until the rains come, but a few species of plants bloom profusely at this seemingly inauspicious time. One of these is Pine-Bush, Ericameria pinifolia – the shrubs with bright yellow flowers dotting the landscape now. A few weeks ago Harsi Parker and I spotted and photographed a tiny bee on Pine-Bush, and I passed the photo and information along to our go-to bee guy, Hartmut Wisch, who came out a week ago to take more photos — this is one of his:
Perdita ericameriae nectaring on a Pine-Bush flower. Photo by Hartmut Wisch.
Consultation with Doug Yanega at UC Riverside revealed this tiny bee to be Perdita ericameriae. Although it’s tiny – only 6 mm (about 1/4 inch) long, it’s quite striking with its green eyes and black-and-white striped abdomen. As you might guess from the name, it specializes on Pine-Bush. P. ericameriae has only been found in Los Angeles and Riverside counties, and very little is known about its biology; apart from the species description I have not been able to find any scientific publications on this little bee.
Not only is P. ericameriae a new addition to the BFS Invert List, but the photos we took and posted to BugGuide.net were their first of this species, and, in fact, they’re the first photos of P. ericameriae anywhere on the worldwide web.
Professor Jonathan Wright hunts 'bugs' at the BFS (Pomona College Magazine, Fall 2010).
Here’s one quote from the article:
Getting an accurate assessment of the coastal sage scrub biodiversity,
Wright says, is essential to studying the impact of global
warming, the impacts of introduced species and the consequences
of increasing habitat fragmentation. Knowledge gained
from the field station can help with the development of conservation
plans for the ecosystem generally. ‘It seems odd that we
should have to go back to the basics,’ he says. ‘But until you
catalog all the species that are there, you can’t begin to address
that question other than very superficially.’
You can read the whole article on the Pomona College Magazine website:
Kendall, M. 2010. “Bug Hunt.” Pomona College Magazine, Fall 2010: 12-13. [pdf]
In an earlier post reporting addition of nearly 100 new taxa to the BFS Invertebrate List, I mentioned that we’d feature some of them in future posts. Well, that number is now well over 100, but here’s a run-down on one group of new additions — butterflies…
So far in 2010 we’ve added nine new butterfly species:
Pipevine Swallowtail, Battus philenor
The Pipevine Swallowtail was featured in an earlier post, but now we have some photos of its very striking caterpillars:
A Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillar at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden. Photograph by Jonathan Wright.
Pale Tiger Swallowtail, Papilio eurymedon
A Pale Tiger Swallowtail on Holly-leafed Cherry, Prunus ilicifolia ssp. ilicifolia at the BFS. Photographed by Tad Beckman.
Although this Pale Tiger Swallowtail was photographed in 2006, it hadn’t made it onto our list. The Pale Tiger Swallowtail is creamy white instead of yellow, and the tips of the forewings are quite pointed. It ranges throughout the Western US from British Columbia to Southern California. Adults nectar on a variety of flowers, and larvae eat foliage of a number of woody plants including California Coffee-berry (Rhamnus californica and Holly-leaved Cherry (Prunus ilicifolia) – where the one shown above was photographed.
Western Tiger Swallowtail, Papilio rutulus
Western Tiger Swallowtail at a private residence in Claremont. Photograph by Jonathan Wright.
The bright yellow and black Western Tiger Swallowtail is frequently seen around Claremont. The adults take nectar, and the larvae feed on foliage of deciduous trees, including willow and sycamore. With the abundance of sycamores as landscape trees in Claremont, Western Tiger Swallowtails are more common in the Village than at the field station, and we have yet to photograph one at the BFS.
Great Purple Hairstreak, Atlides halesus
A female Great Purple Hairstreak nectaring on Scale-Broom (Lepidospartum squamatum) in the 'Neck'.
With its brilliant orange and iridescent blue spots and body, the Great Purple Hairstreak is very striking even if it isn’t very purple and is only “Great” compared to other hairstreaks – it’s small compared to swallowtails. This butterfly’s range is the southern US, but it’s relatively rare in California – this sighting was only the second from California submitted to BugGuide. Adults take nectar, and larvae feed on mistletoe, live oak, and western sycamore.
Western Green Hairstreak, Callophrys affinis
Western Green Hairstreak on Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum) just west of the entrance road.
The Western Green Hairstreak, Callophrys affinis, is native to the west; its range extends from southern British Columbia south to Mexico and east to Colorado. It’s mainly found in scrub and chaparral, where deerweed and buckwheat are its primary food plants.
Marine Blue, Leptotes marina
A Marine Blue in the East Field.
The Marine Blue is very common in Southern California. From there it ranges east through the Southwest, Mexico and Baja California to Guatemala. The caterpillars eat the buds, flowers, and seedpods of many legumes.
Mourning Cloak, Nymphalis antiopa
A Mourning Cloak on a willow by pHake Lake.
The Mourning Cloak is found throughout the US, but it’s more common in the West. Adults feed on tree sap, especially on oaks, and larvae feed primarily on willows, where this one was photographed.
Northern White Skipper, Heliopetes ericetorum
Northern White Skipper.
The Northern White Skipper is found primarily in the American Southwest, but ranges north into Eastern Washington and south to Baja California. Adults take nectar from a variety of flowers, and larvae feed on various mallows including Sphaeralcea and Malva, where they take shelter in rolled leaves.
Mournful Duskywing, Erynnis tristis
Mournful Duskwing on the shore of the new toad pool.
The Mournful Duskywing, Erynnis tristis, is a southwest native, occurring from northern California south through central Arizona, southern New Mexico, and into Mexico and Central America. Its host plants are various oaks including coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia), and its preferred habitat is oak woodland.
In addition, we now have photos of five species that were already on the list:
Sara Orange-Tip, Anthocharis sara
A Sara Orange-tip on mustard.
Acmon Blue, Plebejus acmon
A female Acmon Blue on dried Brome in the East Field. Photo by Hartmut Wisch.
Gray Hairstreak, Strymon melinus
A Gray Hairstreak on Cane Cholla (Cylindropuntia californica) just east of pHake Lake.
Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta
A female Red Admiral ovipositing on stinging nettle (Urtica urens). Photo by Hartmut Wisch.
Fiery Skipper, Hylephila phyleus
A Fiery Skipper on Cucurbita foetidissima (Calabazilla) in the lower 'Neck'.
We have another new addition to the BFS Bird List – the Spotted Sandpiper, Actitis macularia, which was spotted at pHake Lake on September 25.
A Spotted Sandpiper on the south shore of pHake Lake.
It’s perhaps a little surprising that they haven’t been spotted at the BFS before. They’re the most widespread breeding sandpiper in North America, and in this area they’re common in winter around freshwater. They do, however, prefer open shoreline, and we don’t have much of that at pHake Lake; this one was foraging along the open part of the south shore and on the cleared island.
You don’t see any spots on this Spotted Sandpiper because it’s in its winter (nonbreeding) plumage. Spotted Sandpipers are easy to identify by behavior because they “teeter”, continually wagging their tails up and down as they walk. They also have a very distinctive flight, with wings held very stiffly out and very shallow rapid wingbeats.
We have a new addition to the BFS Bird List – the Rock Wren, Salpinctes obsoletus.
Cathy McFadden and Paul Clarke spotted a Rock Wren in the main east-west road between the lake road and the Botanic Garden greenhouses, but when they tried to capture it on video, it flew into the brush north of the road.
It seems unlikely that Rock Wrens will establish at the BFS as they prefer open rocky habitat, and we suspect that the one spotted was simply passing through on its way elsewhere.
Although we didn’t get a photo of the bird spotted at the BFS, you can see photos and information about Rock Wrens on All About Birds, including these cool facts:
The male Rock Wren may sing 100 or more different songs, many of which may be learned from neighbors.
Rock Wrens often build a pavement or walkway of small, flat stones or pebbles in front of their nest in a rock crevice, but the function of the pavement isn’t known.
could run the length 2 football fields in just 1 second!
ran your fastest at 120°F!
Then if you scaled yourself down to the size of a pinhead you might be able to compete with the…
…whose amazing performance is reported in a recent paper in the Journal of Experimental Biology by Grace Wu (Pomona ’08), Jonathan Wright (Pomona Biology), Dwight Whitaker (Pomona Physics), and Anna Ahn (HMC Biology). These mites were discovered at the BFS by Grace Wu and Prof. Wright, who were looking for suitable subjects for Wu’s senior thesis on kinematics of fast arthropods.
Grace Wu, Pomona ’08
Looking down at the ground…
The habitat of Parateneriffia sp. 1
…they saw running around at incredibly fast speeds some tiny mites, which they identified as an undescribed species in genus Parateneriffia. They subsequently found a second – even tinier – species of Parateneriffia in oak litter.
Left: Parateneriffia sp. 1, which is found on open ground; Right: Parateneriffia sp. 2, which lives in oak litter.
How do these mites run so fast? For help in analyzing the mites’ kinematics, Wu and Wright turned to Ahn, a specialist in animal locomotion and muscle performance, and Whitaker, who analyzes super-fast motion in plants and animals.
Using Whitaker’s high-speed high video camera, the team recorded video of the mites running at different temperatures and analyzed the videos to determine the mites’ absolute and relative running speeds, their stride frequency, and the effect of temperature. Here is one of their videos (shown in real time):
Using Whitaker’s high-speed high video camera, the team recorded video of the mites running at different temperatures and analyzed the videos to determine the mites’ absolute and relative running speeds, their stride frequency, and the effect of temperature. They found that the mites stride frequency is the fastest known for any load-bearing muscles. Since muscles that contract faster generate less force, their findings raise an intriguing question – how can these muscles generate the force needed to support the mite’s weight while contracting at these exceptionally fast frequencies?
The article on the mites is published in the July 16th issue of The Journal of Experimental Biology:
Wu, G., J.C. Wright, D.L. Whitaker, and A.N. Ahn. 2010. Kinematic evidence for superfast locomotory muscle in two species of teneriffiid mites. J. Exp. Biol.213: 2551-2556. [Summary, Full Text, PDF]
First is Climbing Milkweed, Sarcostemma cynanchoides ssp. hartwegii:
S. cynanchoides ssp. hartwegii flowers. Photo by Sue Schenk.
S. cynanchoides ssp. hartwegii plant. Photo by Sue Schenk.
Sue Schenk spotted this native twining perennial in the East Field. S. cynanchoides ssp. hartwegii is a host plant for the Queen Butterfly (Danaus gilippus). As you might guess from its habit, S. cynanchoides ssp. hartwegii can be a nuisance in some settings by climbing on fences, small trees and shrubs, and spreading into gardens and cultivated fields.
Our second addition is Mexican Palo Verde, Parkinsonia aculeata:
P. aculeata tree.
P. aculeata flowers (with a Megchile sp. leafcutter bee).
We have two P. aculeata trees at the BFS – one next to the wash, just below the Lowell Street gate, and one outside the fence just west of the main BFS entry gate. These plants have been here for a long time, but had never made it onto the plant list. We realized that we didn’t have P. aculeata on the list when Jonathan Wright spotted a Centris sp. bee, which is a Palo Verde specialist at the BFS. The Mexican Palo Verde is widely used in landscaping for its graceful form, attractive flowers and green bark, and tolerance to drought. It is, however, considered invasive and has naturalized over much of the Southwest.
Oleander, Nerium oleander:
Oleander flowers.
Oleander peeking through the trees at pHake Lake.
Several Oleanders are planted along the outside of the BFS fence, and one (which will soon be gone) has established itself among the willows on the eastern side of pHake Lake. Oleander is probably familiar to all BFS users; it is widely used for SoCal landscaping, especially along the local freeways, for its attractive appearance and tolerance of drought and poor soil. Do treat Oleander with respect – all parts of the plant are highly poisonous.
Lesser Swinecress, Coronopus didymus:
C. didymus. Photo by Jonathan Wright.
Jonathan Wright spotted this little prostrate mustard growing on the wood chip mulch outside the BFS fence. C. didymus, which is commonly known as Lesser Swinecress or Lesser Wartcress, is native to Eurasia, but has spread throughout the world. In the U.S., it is found at lower elevations everywhere except the northern interior west. C. didymus has been widely used in folk medicine and is currently being investigated for possible medical use for its anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, and other properties.
I hope everyone caught this year’s amazing bloom of Delphinum cardinale. We have three patches of D. cardinale at the BFS — one north of the toad pool, one in the lower part of the neck, and one in the meadow at the bottom of the wash, where these photos were taken:
These plants were visible from Foothill Blvd. The one the left was over 6 ft tall. Spectacular!
