Watershed Research Relating Ecosystem Structure and Function
to Human Values and Socioeconomic Behaviors
Describing the Mastodon, Phase II
In 1996, several faculty at FES began discussions concerning the way human attitudes and behaviors intersected with the functioning of natural environments. Our initial interchange of ideas gelled, very slowly, into a concrete plan of action. We would sample a large set of watersheds in the greater New Haven area in a coordinated fashion. So much interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary science had been done via a post hoc cobbling together of facts and figures. In most cases, these efforts left more questions than they answered. By making group decisions beforehand about the information we would collect, we hoped to avoid pitfalls that have dogged earlier attempts to unite the natural and social sciences. Quite unexpectedly, our initial attempts to reach consensus constituted the most trying and difficult part of what has become known as the Mastodon Project. The next challenge was to begin collecting the information. This second phase began last spring and has involved a large number of people who have contributed in innumerable ways. The amount of person-hours expended in planning and collecting data over the last several months is truly staggering.
Each of us quickly realized that our core disciplines used quite different concepts and techniques in deciding what portion of the world and which of its inhabitants would be prodded and measured in yielding the information deemed crucial for success. I had never before stopped to think about the differences in the ways insects moved across a landscape and the manner in which the U.S. Census Bureau collects and organizes its data. Happily, we were able to reach compromises that allow each team involved in the Mastodon project to collect information that can be integrated into one whole.
Preliminary Results
It has been satisfying, and probably critical, that we have finally been able to broadcast some preliminary results to all of those involved. At times, the collection and analysis of information has seemed like a trial with no end. I know that the group working with me, Denise Burchsted, Sarah Lowry, and Will Price, developed a strong identification with Sisyphus, the character of Greek legend whose job was to push a huge rock up a hill, succeeding only to have to repeat the process the next day.
The Bug Team, as it is known, collected insects from each of the 18 streams targeted this past summer. At the time, I am sure collection seemed tiring and repetitive. That was nothing compared with the activities that dominated our lives over the next months. Each pile of glop (containing mud, sand, and gravel from the stream bottom and tiny preserved invertebrates) had to be sorted, counted, and identified. A single insect can take several hours to identify. There were over 1,000 to look at. Envision staring through a microscope for minutes, then hours, then days, weeks, months, and you get an idea of the job. Emly McDiarmid has lent her well developed abilities in keeping all the wheels on the road and everyone moving forward. Inevitably, there are a mountain of decisions that must be made in translating a vague vision into a scientific inquiry.
Once the plan is laid down, someone has to get the information. We have been joined in this effort by a startlingly large group of people, most of them current FES Masters students. I am pleased to say that all involved survived and excelled at their task. Even better, we have interesting results. The watersheds vary tremendously in the number of species found and in their composition. We expected some of these trends. Most of the heavily urbanized areas have relatively few species, while most of the rural areas have more. The middle range, where most of the watersheds are found, has proved more surprising. Streams in suburban areas covered the entire range found at either rural or urban extremes. If we had been looking for a nice linear relationship, we might have been disappointed. Frankly, I am excited to find out how these watersheds (and their human neighborhoods) differ from one another. As we look toward finishing up this second phase of the project, I am already looking forward to Phase III when we can bring the teams back together to see what it all means.