After recent years working in the Caribbean and Western USA (Arizona 2008, Andros Island in the Bahamas, the Coronado National Forest in Arizona, the Lincoln National Forest in New Mexico), we explored some important and distinctive eastern temperate habitats closer to home here in the mid-Atlantic in 2009. The summer ecology program included field explorations of the Pinelands Reserve in New Jersey, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, Susquehannock State Park in southern Lancaster County and Hickory Run State Park in the Poconos. We also enjoyed a visit and tour in the research collections of the Academy of Natural Sciences to understand how systematic biology collections are curated and studied.
Ripening cranberries in the Franklin Parker Preserve
Site Visits:
Franklin Parker Preserve, NJ Pine Barrens, Chatham, NJ
Susquehannock State Park and Holtwood Dam area
Laccaria amethystina in decomposing wood at Hawk Mountain
Susquehanna River from park overlook
Zebra swallowtail (Eurytides marcellus) on river sand at Muddy Run
Pinelands tiger beetle, Cicindela abdominalis from Parker Preserve
Female mutillid wasp, probably Dasymutilla, from sandy pinelands
Hickory Run State Park moths
Geometrid species Plagodis, Scopula, Macaria, Cyclophora and othersw