Species distributions in response to environmental gradients in the Upper Midwest of the United States - an example using the Neotoma database
Summary
Learning Goals
By completing this exercise, students will:
- Learn to use the Neotoma database and plot species distributions
- Explore species distributions across the prairie-forest ecotone in Minnesota
- Describe the major climatic gradient(s) in Minnesota
- Explain the relationship between species distributions and climate
- Understand the use of climate proxies to interpret the past
- Interpret stratigraphic diagrams
- Speculate on how the distribution of vegetation and ostracodes might change in response to future climate change
Context for Use
Description and Teaching Materials
Student-instructor document for exploring species distributions in the Upper Midwest (Acrobat (PDF) 101kB Aug25 16)
Ostracode stratigraphic diagram from Elk Lake, Grant Co., MN (Acrobat (PDF) 13kB Aug25 16)
Teaching Notes and Tips
Answers to some of the questions and instructions for the instructor are (bold and in parentheses). These should not be included in the student handout.
Additional Taxa - If instructors wish, here are taxa that show the same relationship to the P/F border as the pollen and ostracodes:
Diatoms: Suirirella ovata (saline); Cyclotella glomerata (dilute). Be sure to look at the distributions of the above two taxa prior to adding the following taxon. Amphora ovalis (cosmopolitan)
Mammals: Geomys bursarius (prairie dog - prairie, but present across Minnesota); Antilocapra americana (pronghorn - prairie); Glaucomys sabrinus (flying squirrel - forest). Be sure to look at the distributions of the above taxa prior to adding the following taxon. Odocoileus virginianus (white tailed deer - cosmopolitan)
If you would like to have your students be familiar with the Neotoma database before beginning this exercise, you could have them complete the Exploring the Neotoma Paleoecology Database exercise first.
Assessment
References and Resources
Student-instructor document for exploring species distributions in the Upper Midwest (Acrobat (PDF) 101kB Aug25 16)
Ostracode stratigraphic diagram from Elk Lake, Grant Co., MN (Acrobat (PDF) 13kB Aug25 16)
Neotoma Paleoecology Database: http://neotomadb.org/
PRISM climate data: http://www.prism.oregonstate.edu/normals/
North American Non-Marine Ostracode Database Project: http://www.personal.kent.edu/~alisonjs/nanode/index.htm
The movement of the prairie/forest ecotone through Holocene time is well known in the fields of Ecology, Quaternary Studies and Biogeography. Early papers on this research include:
Cushing, E.J., 1965. Problems in the Quaternary phytogeography of the Great Lakes region, IN (The Quaternary of the United States, (H.E.Wright, Jr. and D.G. Frey, eds), Princeton U. Press, Princeton, N.J., pp. 403-416.
Webb, T. III, Cushing, E.J., and Wright, H.E., Jr., 1983. Holocene changes in the vegetation of the Midwest, IN "Late Quaternary Environments of the United States" (H.E.Wright, Jr., ed.), v. 2, The Holocene, Univ. of Minnesota Press, pp. 142-165.
Smith, A.J., 1993, Lacustrine ostracodes as hydrochemical indicators in lakes of the north-central United States, J. of Paleolimnology 8, pp. 121-134.
Smith, A.J., Donovan, J.J., Ito, E., Engstrom, D.R., and Panek, V.A., 2002. Climate-driven hydrologic transients in lake sediment records: multiproxy record of mid-Holocene drought, Quaternary Science Reviews, 21, pp. 625-646.