Focus Pages
Welcome
Waupaca Field Station (WFS) is a privately-owned/operated, non-profit Biological Research Station established in 1982, and located on 70 hectares of glacially sculpted terrain supporting 25 hectares of restored dry, dry-mesic, and mesic sand prairie and 17 hectares of oak savanna. Other upland plant associations include oak-pine woodland, oak-walnut woodland, oak-maple forest, and pine plantations. Lowland associations include ash-elm swamp, alder thickets, and cold, hard water stream bottom. The WFS is fortunately surrounded by 1195 hectares of public land (a state park with primitive camping and a state fish/ wildlife area with limited access). These complementary properties with similar management goals provide an excellent block of green space protecting several species classified as either state or federally endangered, threatened, or special concern.
Conservation Partnerships
Waupaca Field Station (WFS) is a privately-owned/operated, non-profit Biological Research Station established in 1982, and located on 70 hectares of glacially sculpted terrain supporting 25 hectares of restored dry, dry-mesic, and mesic sand prairie and 17 hectares of oak savanna. Other upland plant associations include oak-pine woodland, oak-walnut woodland, oak-maple forest, and pine plantations. Lowland associations include ash-elm swamp, alder thickets, and cold, hard water stream bottom. The WFS is fortunately surrounded by 1195 hectares of public land (a state park with primitive camping and a state fish/ wildlife area with limited access). These complementary properties with similar management goals provide an excellent block of green space protecting several species classified as either state or federally endangered, threatened, or special concern.
The WFS has been working cooperatively with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR), U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), and several conservation organizations for the conservation of rare ecosystems and their associated species. Our annual Karner blue butterfly (KBB) population monitoring program is conducted on several local properties, with concentrated habitat restorations on both private and public lands within our local recovery unit is one major project. Fifteen private landowners and two WDNR properties are working together within a local cooperative-based partnership agreement, which is allowing us to restore KBB habitat on their properties through the support of the USFWS�??s Partnership for Fish and Wildlife Program and funds granted through the National Wildlife Federation�??s endangered species recovery program. We are a member of the Wisconsin Statewide KBB Habitat Conservation Planning Team and are promoting the volunteer membership of these private landowners to this conservation plan.
Our student support, through Club:EKOS, has provided invaluable youth energy to conservation projects, often linked directly to our Scientist-in-Residence (SIR) Program. Students from over ten different public school districts and private schools have become active members of Club:EKOS. Scientists affiliated with universities, agencies, or organizations are provided support in the SIR Program through free housing, free student field support, free technical research library, and access to several long-term research sites.
Other long-term projects supported by the WFS include population monitoring of wood turtles and Blanding�??s turtles using MRR and radio-telemetry (since 1987), Project Salamander (population and migration surveys since 1994), frog and toad calling surveys (1984), freshwater mussel population monitoring (1982), butterfly and moth surveys (1990), Monarch butterfly population and habitat management project (1993), and gypsy moth trapping and egg mass destruction program (2000), invasive plant species control through propagation of purple loosestrife beetles (1995) and eradication experiments of European buckthorn and spotted knapweed (1990).
As an active partner of the WBCI (Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative) and international Partners in Flight program, we operate as a modified MAPS site at the Emmons Creek Bird Observatory and Ringing Station, for monitoring neotropical migratory bird populations through mist-netting and banding, breeding bird surveys, hawk migration surveys, and local raptor nest monitoring including 4 sp. owls, 3 sp. buteos, 2 sp. accipiters, bald eagle and turkey vultures; autumn and winter banding of raptors in central Wisconsin, and local nocturnal owl calling surveys. We have conducted and assisted in bird research projects in the very remote regions of the Brazilian Pantanal (2002), Costa Rica�??s Corcovado National Park (2004), and Muraviovka Park for Sustainable Land Use in the Russian Far East (1995).
We are also active in coyote and timber wolf howling and tracking surveys for the central forest region and North-central Wisconsin wolf packs through the sponsorship of the Timber Wolf Information Network (www.timberwolfinformation.org) and in cooperation with the WDNR.
Funding for projects undertaken by the WFS conservation research teams is provided through native savanna and prairie seed production and sales (Waupaca Field Station), and installation sales (Restoration Consultants - Native Savanna/ Prairie Specialists), prescribed burning services (FiRestorations �?? Prescribed Fire Management Specialists), and donations from environmental consulting contracts (EnvirInTAC �?? Environmental Investigations, Technicians, Associates, Consultants). Science education grants and awards, and environmental education grants have been obtained through the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters, National Science Foundation, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Wisconsin Environmental Education Board, The Nature Conservancy, Wisconsin Center for Academically Talented Youth, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers, and several other conservation organizations. The Waupaca Field Station is under conservation easement contracts with the WDNR�??s �?? Acres for Wildlife Program and the USF&WS�??s Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program. Land and natural resource protection contracts are being investigated and negotiated with the North East Wisconsin Land Trust and the North Central Conservancy Trust. The property is currently willed to The Nature Conservancy �?? Wisconsin Chapter (Legacy Program).
Karner Blue Butterfly
Since 1990, student members of Club:EKOS have been very active in performing many tasks for the conservation of the federally endangered Karner blue butterfly and other species associated with its rare habitat, oak savanna and sand prairie, in central Wisconsin. Students have assisted in several aspects of KBB conservation research projects working with our Scientists-in-Residence Program, Scientist Mentor Program, and other scientists visiting the WFS and surrounding study sites. Club:EKOS is about opportunity. Students are provided a variety of opportunities within the shadow of a working scientist to learn the application of scientific techniques. They also begin to understand the formulation and testing of hypotheses under a challenging set of environmental conditions. These opportunities include:
- Cover Typing, Technical Mapping, Historical Use of Savanna and Sand Prairie Habitats by KBB
- Research of historical land survey notes to describe presettlement oak savanna and sand prairie conditions within present KBB relic habitats
- Training and applications of GIS in Karner blue butterfly distribution, wild lupine distribution, soil type, slope and aspect, and other characteristics defining habitat occupied by KBBs
- Lupine surveys and savanna habitat mapping using transit level and staff compass, with additional training in GPS applications
- Canopy, understory, and ground cover vegetation surveys in oak woodlands (formerly savanna), and relic oak savanna and sand prairies in central Wisconsin (38 sites)
- Canopy, Understory, and Herbaceous Shade Management for Wild Lupine and KBB
- Oak and pine canopy reduction and shade manipulation over wild lupine ground cover
- Herbicide treatments for total or partial kill of canopy oaks associated with KBB habitat
- Inoculation of oak wilt from local isolated natural sources to manipulate oak canopy
- Importance of non-tree canopy shade, wild lupine seedling survival, and KBB oviposition
- Logging and Prescribed Burning Methods for Managing KBB Oak Savanna Habitat
- Timing of prescribed burns through growing wild lupine and KBB recolonization
- Timing of logging activities and types of equipment within habitat occupied by KBB
- Effects of single pass and multi-pass logging skidder/forwarder operations on survival of KBB eggs
- Liberal thinning of two 50-year old pine plantations to promote survival of native understory species including wild lupine for KBB habitat
- Fire crew training and prescribed burning of habitat
- Wild Lupine Management and Habitat Restoration for KBB
- Lupine propagation studies, mass production and planting activities (25,000 plants)
- Lupine survival and reproduction studies in various native grass and sedge associations
- Lupine seed dispersal, seedling success, and rates of spread under various conditions
- Sand prairie and oak savanna restoration planting
- Distances between clearings, clearing size, and lupine density as factors in KBB metapopulation mgmt.
- Karner Blue Butterfly Population Monitoring, Dispersal Behavior, and Habitat Use
- Captive rearing almost 2,000 KBB larvae for release and monitoring over 4.5 seasons
- KBB oviposition surveys
- KBB egg counts and survival study
- KBB larval damage surveys and index study
- KBB larval count and index study
- KBB dispersal studies and colonization studies
- KBB colonization of isolated forest clearings with wild lupine
- KBB orientation within isolated woodland clearings and under canopy
- KBB nectaring plant preferences and distances traveled from primary lupine sources
- KBB Associate Species
- Predator and parasitoid surveys of KBB larvae
- Ant species associated with KBB habitat and KBB larval protection activities
- Woodland mound-building ant (Formica sp.) colony formation and survival
- Mound-building ant (Formica sp.) colony distribution and resource exploitation
- Butterfly and moth surveys associated with habitat occupied by KBBs
- Webbing spiders and sexual frenzy as a factor in KBB mortality
- Habitat structure and evasive behavior in the prevention of KBB predation by robber flies (Asilidae) and dragonflies (Aeshnidae)
Other Rare Species Conservation
Ornithology
- Neotropical migratory bird monitoring at the Emmons Creek Bird Observatory and Ringing Station, Waupaca Field Station since 1974
- National Avian Influenza Monitoring Program (2006 and 2007) through the Land Bird Monitoring Network of North America
- Relationship of high diversity of nesting raptor species to high quality habitat and pressures from forest fragmentation
- Long-term comprehensive study of the red-shouldered hawk in central Wisconsin
Herpetology
- Long-term comprehensive study of the wood turtle of southwestern Waupaca County, Wisconsin
- Importance of habitat �??islands�??, road densities, and habitat use in the survival of isolated Blanding�??s turtle populations in central Wisconsin
- Importance of undisturbed natural ephemeral and man-made agricultural ponds to the survival of local salamander breeding populations
- Migration studies of the tiger, spotted, and blue spotted salamander (Ambystoma sp.) in central Wisconsin Frog and toad calling surveys of ephemeral wetlands associated with the upper Emmons Creek drainage
Entomology
- Rare tiger beetles (Cicindela sp.) of central Wisconsin sand barrens, sand prairies, and oak barrens
- Butterfly and moth surveys of the Waupaca Field Station and adjacent public properties Monarch butterfly larval and adult population counts and habitat management experiments
- Insect Surveys to Quantify Habitat Assessments for Migrating Neotropical Migratory Birds
- Canopy and Under Story Insect Population and Diversity Surveys using Elevated Malaise Traps
Malacology
- Freshwater mussel population declines attributed to declining or extirpated host fish species of the Waupaca River
- Freshwater mussel population dynamics of the Wolf River and its tributaries in northeastern Wisconsin
Invasive Species Control and Eradication
- Successful control of purple loosestrife using biological agents in Southwestern Waupaca County, WI
- Eradication experiments of European buckthorn and spotted knapweed using herbicides Gypsy moth trapping and egg mass destruction program
Stewardship
The Waupaca Field Station�??s (WFS) main thrust is to be a model of Aldo Leopold�??s Land Ethic and manage the land and its resources for others to understand the long-term advantages of Land Stewardship. We have Partnerships with two local land trusts, which based on their geographic coverage, take in our property at their borders. We assist them with establishing Conservation Easements and conducting Parcel Natural Resource Inventories on candidate properties, focusing on species of concern and their critical habitats. We assist our local township board and their planning commission with Conservation Planning and conduct several Conservation Projects both public and private lands. We assist local government agencies in public contact and coordination of projects on the ground level. We assist with groundwater issues and work with the local city wellhead protection commission.
Research
Research is the main tool of the WFS. It helps us find answers to management questions and guides others in designing projects with a good foundation. We focus on Student-lead Research Projects, acting to facilitate and using guiding questions, these students have produced some of the best studies, far exceeding their own teachers.
Teacher Research Projects are designed to have the teacher feel confident in conducting investigations with guidance from agency personnel and/or university professors. These teachers use the studies to incorporate their scientific methods into their classroom teaching with greater enthusiasm, while assisting them in being better facilitators when working with their own students. Some teacher research projects tend to be just for the satisfaction of the teacher�??s curiosity and level of comfort, while most of these projects include their students acting as field assistants. Depending on the length of the project, some teachers have entirely stepped back and allowed their student team to take on the entire project, while the teacher evolves into the facilitator. Two National Science Foundation science education grants were funded through the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters, based on our teacher-based research model.
Our location in the state, surrounded by several large wildlife and fishery reserves, has made us an attractive site for several University-based Research Projects. By providing housing and resource support, these projects have developed into a successful program where professors, with their graduate students (both PhD and MS candidates) have earned their degrees working out of our facility. We also have been involved in other Institutional Research Collaborations, whereas Zoological Parks (Milwaukee Zoological Gardens and Toledo Zoo) and museums (Milwaukee Public Museum, UWSP Natural History Museum, and University of Minnesota�??s Bell Museum of Natural History) have sent research scientists and featured our work within their institutions.
Education
The key to our greatest successes in our work with Land Stewardship and Research has been through our educational efforts. Each year we conduct an open house through our annual Bird Banding Jamboree, where invited bird ringers from across the state gather to �??capture the peak�?? of the spring Neotropical migrants and educate the public of the importance of international cooperation in natural resource conservation. In the past, we have had open houses with themes focusing on forest and savanna management co-sponsored by the Wisconsin Woodland Owners�?? Association, and wetlands with the Wisconsin Wetlands Association.
Our Scientist-in-Residence (SIR) Program links the research programs to our education programs by providing field assistants to our resident scientists. Through our network of university and conservation agency personnel contacts, we have structured our Scientist Mentor Program, where students being directed into a science career, are matched with one or more �??experts�?? willing to share email correspondence, make personal contact with the students and provide advice within the career area, and also advice for the students�?? research projects.
We have hosted a few Student Interns when we have the funding through career-based or research-based grants. We provide guidance in producing scientific reports, and/or scientific papers required by the students under their funding source. We direct the students in producing their own juried scientific publications, and may co-author research reports and publications at the request of the student or the funding source. A network of Student Forums is provided to our research students and teachers, so they may present their findings with the appropriate organization either as a poster session or a full Power Point presentation. We provide Teacher Training and In-services for local school districts desiring more outdoor experiences with their students and staff. High fuel costs for busing and taxpayers demanding smaller school budgets have forced most Wisconsin school districts to eliminate or reduce participation in residential nature center activities. Many of these districts are adopting district controlled environmental education experiences directed by school district faculty and staff. Teacher training and in-servicing for school districts will prepare school districts to meet the state standards for environmental education, while making more teachers comfortable with teaching, working, and living in the out-of-doors. A pilot project funded through Safari Club International�??s Grant Program in spring, 2005 and directed by an AWLS graduate, allowed local 5th graders to tent camp or be bused only 13 miles from school to an underused, remote county park. This provided teachers, students, and parents an opportunity to learn survival skills, campground etiquette, research methods, and the basic needs to make an outdoor experience successful. The district administration evaluated the pilot, recommending all faculty and staff be trained in these areas so teacher teams can be formed and curriculum be written on a series of environmental and conservation themes focusing on three areas; local issues, state issues, national and international issues.
Conservation Agency, NGO, and Local Government Personnel Training are provided through seminars, workshops, and practical experience, focusing on the three directives of the WFS, Land Stewardship-Research-Education. Our training includes topics such as Keeping Conservation in Conservative Philosophy and Policy, Prescribed Burning is a Hot Topic, Habitat Restoration Methods Easy on the Budget, Public Contacts- Keeping �??their�?? Interests in the Formula, and Working with, Not Against Endangered Species.
Research Periodical Library
- Ornithological
- Professional Career-based
- Arctic and Sub Arctic Research
- Land Stewardship and Land Planning
- Freshwater Mussel Research and Conservation
- Insect Research and Conservation
- Conservation Biology, Wildlife Research and Management
Arctic, Sub Arctic, and Tropical Studies �?? International Programs
Opportunities for teacher training and field studies experience and student research projects are available through our Educational Expeditions Program to Arctic and Sub Arctic regions. Partnerships with other organizations offering specific areas of study have been established through WSST Adventures (Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers and Earthwatch Institute), and Russian Far East and Asian Programs (International Crane Foundation). Areas of study utilized by teachers and students include:
- Alaskan North Slope Arctic Tundra, Coastal Mountain Alpine Tundra, and Canadian Tundra
- Alaskan and British Columbian Pacific Coastal Temperate Rain Forests
- Muraviovka Park for Sustainable Land Use, Amur River Wetlands, Russian Far East
- Brazil�??s Pantanal, World�??s Largest Wetland at Conservation International�??s Fazenda Rio Negro
- Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica�??s Remote Pacific Coastal Lowland Rainforest
Professional Memberships
The Waupaca Field Station and its volunteer personnel are active members of several professional and scientific organizations. These are:
- Arctic Institute of North America
- Association of Field Ornithologists
- Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation
- Bird Studies Canada
- Botanical Club of Wisconsin
- Entomological Society of America
- Friends of Muraviovka Park for Sustainable Land Use (Russian Far East)
- Friends of Sandhill Wildlife Area
- Hawk Migration Association of North America
- Inland Bird Banding Association
- Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research
- Northeast Wisconsin Land Trust
- Royal Canadian Geographic Society
- Society for Conservation Biology
- Society for Ecological Restoration
- Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles
- The American Malacological Society
- The Nature Conservancy �?? Legacy Club
- Timber Wolf Information Network, Ltd.
- Waupaca County Beekeepers�?? Association
- Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters
- Wisconsin Archeological Society
- Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative
- Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers
- Wisconsin Society of Ornithology
Additional Opportunities for Learning
Students within the local Waupaca School District have been provided one additional unique opportunity through the construction of a $200,000 fully automated research greenhouse and plant conservatory, attached to the newly remodeled middle school.
This facility is operated by the middle school science staff and it functions for three major goals. These are 1. To conduct experimental science, 2. To maintain a diverse botanical teaching collection representing major families from all over the world, and 3. To undertake conservation biology projects for the propagation of rare and endangered native plants.
Projects currently underway include the mass propagation of several important KBB nectaring plants for transplantation into KBB habitats and the propagation of a few rare plant species through seeding, vegetative cuttings, and plant tissue culture techniques. Another larger production greenhouse was recently built attached to the new high school and is operated by the agri-science department and FFA program. The middle school projects have been offered additional space in this facility to allow promoted students to follow-through on their experiments, and continue their participation in our conservation biology projects over numerous years.
The District Plant Conservatory located at the Waupaca Middle School currently houses about 350 species of plants from 5 continents and 68 countries. Living collections are primarily representing tropical, desert, and temperate biomes. Student projects underway include palm nut classification and germination studies, pollination strategies in upright and pendant heliconia species, pitcher formation in the Nepenthes vining pitcher plants, propagation strategies for the conservation of the fragile prickly pear cactus, and plant tissue culture of Neotropical orchid species.
Contact Us
Interested in a visit or need more information? Contact us at:
Bob Welch
Waupaca Field Station
E110 Emmons Creek Road
Waupaca, WI 54981
welchr@execpc.com
715-258-7247