stream ecology

Study: Artificial light harms ecosystem health

Artificial light at night isn’t just a health problem for those of us sitting in bed scrolling through Instagram instead of hitting the sack — it hurts entire outdoor ecosystems.

When the critters that live in and around streams and wetlands are settling into their nighttime routines, streetlights and other sources of illumination filter down through the trees and into their habitat, monkeying with the normal state of affairs, according to new research led by CFAES scientist Mažeika Sullivan.

Continue reading Study: Artificial light harms ecosystem health →

Stream fish sampler; or, a shocking display

Cool demo Wednesday afternoon in Farm Science Review’s Gwynne Conservation Area: electrofishing, a nonlethal way to sample fish populations, by three helpfully informative Ohio Division of Wildlife fisheries biologists.

Rock bass, longear sunfish, smallmouth bass, bluntnose minnows and two darter species, among others, were shocked with a DC current, briefly stunned, netted and then safely released in the Gwynne’s stretch of Deer Creek. The darters indicated good water quality and habitat.

Farm Science Review continues through 4 p.m. today.

Fantastic way to get your feet wet

The STEM-promoting, multi-university Ohio LSAMP Alliance is housed in Ohio State’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

Mazeika Sullivan’s STRIVE Lab is in CFAES’s School of Environment and Natural Resources.