Our natural world, under a microscope
Biodiversity Initiative Conference to feature 20 reports and papers
BY PETER B. BRACE INDEPENDENT WRITER
Smooth green snakes on Coatue, Northern black widow spiders on Tuckernuck and echoes of the prairie chicken's reputed presence on sandplain grasslands: this is the stuff of island habitat and wildlife research that will be presented Saturday at the Coffin School on 4 Winter St.

The second, all-day Nantucket Biodiversity Initiative Conference on Sept. 22 is a summit of researchers from Nantucket and around the world who will share their findings on the biological diversity of all living things on Nantucket, Tuckernuck and Muskeget islands.

These three islands formed roughly about 15,000 years ago near the end of the Pleistocene Epoch as massive sheets of glacial ice pushed to their southern limit on Nantucket. The advancing ice carried northern species south so that they overlapped on the islands with the northern range of southern species. This mixing of species from two hemispheres, along with specialized habitats and species that evolved, produced a unique grouping of organisms on Nantucket that still exists today. But not every living thing on Nantucket is yet identified.

The conference, alternates annually with the Nantucket Biodiversity Initiative Week of public-access research projects, is a chance for scientists to share up-to-date results of their biodiversity fieldwork with other researchers and the public.

This year's conference features 17 presentations and three static displays of their work, including the researchers of eight ongoing studies who participated in last year's initiative week.

"This is going to be a really good one," said Nantucket Biodiversity Initiative chairman Dr. Robert Kennedy, the Maria Mitchell Association director of natural science. "There are fewer papers this time, but we're looking at everything from lichens to heath hen habitats."

The biodiversity initiative began in early June of 2004 with the designation of 25, 10-hectare (100-acre) plots all over the island as study sites for biologists to seek out all living things, keep an eye on them, and ultimately, plan for their continued survival through long-term collaborative conservation efforts.

"All of this research will end up on the biodiversity initiative Web site," said Kennedy. "The individual scientists will publish papers on their own works and the reports and papers will go into the biodiversity library, which is a section of the Maria Mitchell Science Library."

Ongoing studies being presented on Saturday include research on cicadas, lichens, spiders of Nantucket, piping plovers and least terns, controlled burning of sandplain grasslands, invasive plants species, moths, gray seals, long-tailed ducks and heath hens.

Additionally, there are another 12 projects new to the biodiversity initiative, including marine life surveys of Nantucket and Madaket harbors, bay scallop DNA research, ant studies and beetle work (see related sidebar for a complete schedule).

For those leery of endless, posterior numbing lectures reminiscent of college course work, fear not! Kennedy said the 17 presentations will be short and strictly monitored to keep the conference on schedule.

"Each paper will be 15 minutes with a five-minute question and transition period," Kennedy said. "We're going to be fairly tight on the schedule and we're going to start and end on time."

The free presentations, spread out over six sessions throughout the day - from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. - are interspersed with leg stretches and refreshment breaks including an hour for lunch. Although the initiative week broke even last September, Kennedy said donations at this year's conference will be welcomed.

As always, Nantucket Biodiversity Initiative activities are sponsored by its members, which include the Maria Mitchell Association, Massachusetts Audubon Society, Nantucket Conservation Foundation, Nantucket Garden Club, Nantucket Islands Land Bank Commission, Nantucket Land Council, the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program of the Massachusetts Divisions of Fisheries & Wildlife, the Science Department of Nantucket High School, the Trustees of Reservations, the Tuckernuck Land Trust, the University of Massachusetts Boston UMass Field Station, and the Linda Loring Nature Foundation.

2ND NANTUCKET BIODIVERSITY
INITIATIVE CONFERENCE

SCHEDULE

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22

8 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. - Coffee and refreshments

8:30 - 8:40 a.m.- Opening Remarks Bob Kennedy, Chair, NantucketBiodiversity Initiative

8:40 - 9:40  a.m.- Session 1:  Plants  Chair, Ernest Steinauer, Massachusetts Audubon Society

1. Bryophytes of Nantucket: Toward aModern Species checklist. --Norton G.Miller.

2. Lichen Diversity in the PlantCommunities of Nantucket andTuckernuck islands.  --Elizabeth Kneiper.

3.Wee Beasties and Teeny plants: TheStudent View. --Douglas E. Eveleigh.

9:40 - 10:40  a.m.- Session 2: Marine Ecosystems Chair, Sarah Oktay, UMass BostonNantucket Field Station

4. Biodiversity Surveys of Nantucket and Madaket Harbors: Incorporating Educational Programming with Field Research.  --Rachel Dacks, Bridget Deemer, W. Forrest Kennedy, Meghan J.Massaua, Caroline Polgar, and Robert S.Kennedy.

5. The Possible Role of Telomere Loss inthe Short Lifespan of the Bay Scallop,Argopecten irradians irradians  (Lamarck1819).  --Stephen L. Estabrooks.

6.Underwater Surveys of the Plants andInvertebrates of Nantucket Harbor, Massachusetts.  --Meghan Massaua, W.Forrest Kennedy, Rachel Dacks, Peter B.Boyce and Robert S. Kennedy. 

10:40 - 11:10 a.m. - Break &Refreshments

11:10 a.m. - 12:10 p.m. - Session 3:Terrestrial Invertebrates -1 Chair, Cheryl Creighton, Tuckernuck Land Trust

7. A Preliminary Assessment of AntSpecies Diversity on Cape Cod, Martha'sVineyard, and Nantucket.  --Aaron M.Ellison, Mark R. Johnston, and Kelly C.McBride.

8.Inventory and Distribution of Spiders on Nantucket, Tuckernuck and MuskegetIslands, Massachusetts.  --Andrew Mckenna-Foster and Cheryl Beaton.

9. The Distribution of Annual Cicadas on Nantucket.  --Gerry Bunker.

12:10 -- 1:40 p.m.Lunch Break and Session 4: Posters:  Chair, Sarah E.Hinman, Nantucket ConservationFoundation

10.Population Trends of Nesting Piping Plovers (Charadrius melodus) and Least Terns(Sterna antillarum) on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts:  30 Years of Monitoring andManagement.  --Karen C. Beattie, Edith A.Ray, Scott M. Melvin, Bradford G. Blodget, and Carolyn S. Mostello.

11.  Preliminary Responses of Rare Sandplain Wildflowers to Prescribed Fire Management onNantucket Island, Massachusetts.  --Sarah E.Hinman, Rachael S. Freeman, Karen C. Beattie,and Sarah A. Treanor. 

12.The Maria Mitchell Association ElectronicField Guide to the Invasive Plants of NantucketIsland, Massachusetts.  --Cheryl Beaton,Kristen Checkalski, Jennifer Forman Orth,Robert Stevenson, Jacob Asiedu, RobertMorris, and Robert S. Kennedy.

1:40 -- 3 p.m. -Session 5: Terrestrial Invertebrates-2 & Vertebrates -1 Chair, Cormac Collier, Nantucket Land Council

13.Aboveground Arthropod CommunityAssemblages within Nantucket's Pitch Pine andScrub Oak Barrens Habitats with ParticularReference to the Beetle Fauna. --Aaron S.Weed.

14.Nantucket Lepidoptera:  An OnlineSearchable Database of the Changes in the Moth Fauna on Nantucket Between the Early1900's and the Present. --Mark J. Mello.

15. Box Turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina)on Camp Edwards, a Species of SpecialConcern, and Do They Climb up Hill. --Michael Ciaranca.

16. Whip-Poor-Wills (Caprimulgus vociferous)and Their Spatial Needs on Camp Edwards. --John P. Kelly.

3 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. - Break & Refreshments

3:30 p.m. -- 4:50 p.m. - Session 6: Vertebrates - 2:  Richard R. Veit, City University of NewYork  

17.  Diet Composition of Gray seals(Halichoerus grypus) in U.S. Waters. --Kristen Ampela.

18.Wintering Habitat of Seaducks in theNantucket Island Coastal Area Based onSatellite Telemetry and Food Habits. --Matthew C. Perry and Simon Perkins.

19. The Population Dynamics of the American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliates) on theIslands of Massachusetts. --Sean P. Murphyand Richard R. Veit.

20. What do Historic Accounts of the HeathHen Tell Us About Sandplain Habitats? --TimSimmons.