Nocturnal Animal Species: Raising Awareness and Improving Education
My master's plan focuses on raising and improving awareness and information on nocturnal animal species. These are traditionally lesser known, lesser studied, and less of a focus as a conservation species for a variety of reasons. Nocturnal animal species are something I have been interested in for many years, from the time I was a child. I worked at the Memphis Zoo for five and a half years, largely in the Animals of the Night exhibit, the second-largest nocturnal exhibit in North American zoos. I worked with a variety of nocturnal animal species there: invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. So from the start, I knew that I wanted my master plan for the Project Dragonfly Global Field Program to focus on these fascinatingly unique, but often lesser known animals.
My master plan involved a variety of projects and research geared towards furthering my goal of raising awareness and improving education on nocturnal animal species. For my own informational purposes, I researched and wrote several synthesis papers on topics related to nocturnal animals. Light pollution, for example, is a topic that affects nocturnal animals of all types, and is a growing issue with the advent of further urbanization and human expansion throughout the world; my paper also looked at ways to mitigate this impact. I also wrote a blog post on the use of camera traps, which can be particularly helpful in the study of nocturnal animals. I created a website for one class specifically on nocturnal animals of the MidSouth, my local area. This provided people with information not only about nocturnal animals, but also gave them additional resources as well as concrete ways that they could help, places where they could view nocturnal animals both in captivity and the wild locally, and even a fun quiz to test their knowledge at the end.
For some of my master plan, I chose to focus on two species groups in particular: bats and nocturnal primates. I researched and wrote a synthesis paper on the evolution of vision in nocturnal primates. Additionally, my first inquiry action project involved slender lorises in zoos, specifically the Memphis Zoo. These small nocturnal primates are highly susceptible to stress and my project looked at ways that their activities might be impacted by guest presence and noise levels in their exhibit. I researched and wrote two synthesis papers on bats, one on vulnerable island populations of nectarivorous bats, and another on habitat fragmentation and bats, which is a serious issue affecting all animal species in general. I also completed an inquiry action project on acoustic monitoring of bat diversity in urban areas, specifically parks versus residential areas.
Connecting with my community was also a huge part of my master plan. Nearly all of my actual projects had some sort of community aspect to them. For my trip to Paraguay, I researched and wrote a paper on Eco-leadership, and this proved extremely helpful in synthesizing a lot of information on connecting with and listening to one’s community and working on conservation through citizen science. My inquiry action project for the Paraguay class also involved doing surveys and research on the best cataloging systems for a new science library. The library was part of an expansion initiated by Para La Tierra, a conservation and environmental education organization. My acoustic monitoring project involved a night walk talking to local people about bats and other night creatures while demonstrating how acoustic monitoring worked. My largest overall project related to my time working at the library, when I completed a leadership program that lasted for months and ended with a vision presentation, which also became my leadership challenge project for my master’s plan. My vision plan for the library involved increasing and improving conservation in our public library through a variety of policies, projects, and programs. Since that time, one library branch has instituted a community garden, an orchard will be coming to a new branch soon, recycling programs have improved, and a variety of other related projects are in the works to continue to improve conservation work throughout the library system.
Illuminating Nocturnal Issues
Light pollution is an issue that has affected nocturnal animals of all types. As an anthropogenic issue, it continues to expand with the growth of human populations and continuing urbanization. One study found that light pollution affects nations around the globe irrespective of location, and also that 40% of the world live in what was deemed “perennial moonlight” or ambient-lighted night sky that is so bright it duplicates a perpetually moonlighted landscape (Cinzano, Felchi, & Elvidge, 2001). Light pollution disturbs migration cycles and behavior patterns of animals, and additionally affects other ways that animals live and interact, particularly nocturnal animals. Ways to amend or mitigate some of the effects of light pollution have been explored. For example, one company, Civil Twilight, has created “lunar-resonant streetlights”, which are lights that actually alter the light they emit based on the level of moonlight available, thus allowing for more overall balanced light, as well as savings costs in energy (Bogard, 2013). Dark Skies Awareness (2009) has organized events to publicize light pollution during the International Year of Astronomy as well. I learned a great deal throughout the process of researching this review paper.
Although I was previously aware that light pollution was an issue, I am now much more informed about the exact extent and reach of the damage that light pollution causes, particularly in regards to wildlife and biodiversity. I also found much more hope than I anticipated in researching for this project, from dark-skies awareness projects and events, to research being completed even now into the economic and conservation implications of the detriments of light pollution, and ways that organizations are working towards addressing them. I felt more informed overall on the topic, and more likely thereafter to engage with people particularly in informal settings in speaking about the topic and how it affected both humans and wildlife, and why it mattered to us.
One of the biggest issues facing nocturnal animals is the lack of research available on them. They can be more difficult to study because they are active at night, which makes them harder to find, observe, and track. Camera traps are one of the ways that can be used to study nocturnal animals. I created a short technology profile report blog post to explore more about camera traps, and why they are helpful in the study of nocturnal animals specifically. Reasons include targeting animals that are more remote and more difficult to find and track (such as nocturnal animals), as well as being motion-triggered in some instances, ensuring a higher capture rate. Camera traps can provide data that is essential, verifiable, and often more accurate than local surveys (Can & Togan, 2009; Swann, Kawanishi, & Palmer, 2014). In one study, researchers were able to study numerous aspects of the monito del monte (Dromiciops gliroides), an arboreal, nocturnal marsupial, including its activity levels, activity budget (how much time the animal spent on each activity), feeding patterns, and even how quickly it moved (Di Virgilio, Amico, & Morales, 2014). There are drawbacks to the use of camera traps, such as sensitivity to weather conditions and generally being considered to be best for larger terrestrial animals (Pebsworth & LaFleur, 2014; Gessner, Buchwald, & Wittemyer, 2014). The creation of this blog post taught me a lot. I learned about the usefulness of camera traps in specifics to nocturnal animal studies, including both the positives and negatives. Additionally, I learned about using Blogger through this process, and that proved to be helpful in both my personal and professional career. I was able to use some of the tactics employed on the blog for my next even bigger project as well: the creation of a website.
I also created a website for the Biology in the Age of Technology class specifically about local nocturnal animals in the Mid-South area, or the intersection of the Arkansas/Mississippi/Tennessee regional area. This site provides a brief look at some of the species that can be found here, links to many resources to learn more, places to look for nocturnal animals locally both in the wild and in captivity, and even a brief fun quiz to test your knowledge.
Creating a website was one of the most challenging projects that I completed for my portfolio, but also one of the most instructive and eventually one of the most fun. I had to decide what platform was best to use when creating my website, and played around with several possibilities before settling on Weebly. I read and researched a lot of background materials on creating websites before I actually began to create my own. I had to decide which types of categories would be best, an overall layout, look at possible user accessibility issues, and conduct many ongoing tests. In addition to the skeleton of the actual website, I also had to find and create content for the site, including writing descriptions and finding photographs to use under the Creative Commons license or photographs of my own.
The site is not extensively exhaustive, for time constraint reasons alone, but was meant to serve as a starting place for finding out about nocturnal animal species of the Mid-South region. Included were a number of features and resources. Broad species sections with links to Animal Diversity Web profiles were one of the sections. A “Where To See” section also features various local wildlife watching spots including parks, viewing in captivity situations, and a nature center. “How to Help” included real-life steps that citizens can take to help wildlife, such as building bat houses, planting pollinator-friendly gardens, minimizing light pollution, and so on. A “Resources” page allows people to find out much more about various topics related to nocturnal wildlife and related issues of the Mid-South. A fun quiz allows an interactive element, and a contact page allows for people of the community to engage further or offer additional comments, questions, or suggestions.
I learned a lot throughout the process of creating this website. I had to get feedback from the community at several points throughout the creation process, and that was at least a little bit nerve-wracking. I do not have extensive experience with building websites; I had only built one other as part of a group for a library science class, and I had not used this platform before. The work involved in the process was significant. I had to rearrange things at several points during the creation process, and generally used Facebook to communicate with my community and get interaction and feedback on the website. Opening myself up to criticism especially in an area where I did not have great expertise was a scary process, but one that eventually proved to be useful and effective for the end product. By the end, I had more confidence in what I presented as my final project, and actual feedback to help move that process along as well as increase awareness through the existence of the site itself.
Nocturnal Primates and Bats
Nocturnal primates and bats are two significant species that I focused on during my overall master's program. I greatly enjoyed working with these two particular sets of species when I worked at the Memphis Zoo. I continued to participate in field research with bats particularly during my time at the zoo, mostly in Arizona and the southeastern U.S., and even after I left the zoo, continuing throughout the southeastern U.S., as well as Nicaragua, and including being fortunate enough to see bats and help with bat work in all three of my Global Field Earth Expeditions in Baja, Paraguay, and Costa Rica. Nocturnal primates and bats are among the most high-level nocturnal animals, biologically and evolutionarily speaking. Studying them specifically led me to some new insights, and I was able to complete several projects interacting with various communities as well.
Activity Levels of Slender Lorises in a Captive Environment
My first IAP for the program consisted of a study done on slender lorises in captivity at the Memphis Zoo. Slender lorises in particular are animals which are known to be particularly vulnerable to the stresses of captivity. In this study, the behavior of the lorises was recorded over a six-week period, and activity budgets were created for each individual. Noise levels and the number of guests were recorded with activity budget information. While there did not appear to be a positive correlation among activity level, guest presence, and noise levels, I learned a great deal throughout this process.
This was my very first inquiry action project for my Master’s Program. I knew from early on that I wanted to explore a topic that has been important to me throughout my life and career, and that was exploring topics related to nocturnal animal species. I had previously worked for the Memphis Zoo and I was still on good terms with the curator and the staff of the Animals of the Night exhibit. At the time, there were fewer than 10 slender lorises in captivity, and the Memphis Zoo had 5 of them. Working with the curator proved to be fairly easy, but we had some effort coordinating with the zoo security and keepers. I hoped to gather data at varying times throughout the day, including early in the morning before the zoo opened and later in the evening after the zoo closed. I had to do research beforehand on collecting data for activity budgets, both in the wild and in captivity, and make some decisions on which factors to observe and record.
Once I started recording, I did so over a period of six weeks. I attempted to collect as many data points as I could, but doing so proved more challenging than I anticipated, balancing work, school, and personal life demands. Additionally, at the time, I was attending two graduate schools simultaneously, pursuing both my master’s in library science from the University of North Texas and my master’s in Biology from Miami University. Many parts of the actual project proved challenging to me as well, including determining which statistical analysis to use and writing up the final paper. My final results did not reveal positive correlations between the activity budgets of slender lorises and the measured ambient noise levels or number of guests present. This did not prove anything definitive, but did open a door to discussion of stress, captivity, and animal behavior, particularly that of lorises. Afterwards, the material learned was presented to some of the keeping staff.
Coordination of any type of behavioral study takes a great deal more planning and persistence than initially anticipated. When working particularly on observations of captive animals, there are often more constraints in place than one might consider ideal for the study. For instance, there were 5 slender lorises being housed at the Memphis Zoo at the time of my project. However, I was only able to include extensive data for 4 of them in the study, because the fifth one had shown so many signs of stress that it was deemed best to maintain her off-exhibit in a staff-accessible only area, which was inaccessible to me as a volunteer/observer after-hours. There were other methods I would have liked to consider for the study, such as remote camera observation. However, that would have required both additional money and technology for the equipment, as well as the integration of an acclimation period for the animals with the cameras so as to not affect the final results. I learned a lot from both the process of the study as well as the study itself, and was able to strengthen my professional networks as well by completing the project in cooperation with the zoo.
The Evolution of Vision in Nocturnal Primates
The evolution of vision in nocturnal primates has followed an interesting and convoluted path. The evolution of vision itself has been a complex process, and even among primates, vision varies greatly. Researching this topic brought me to a much greater understanding of how and why specifically many animals that are nocturnal benefit from their lifestyle, and why and how their vision both complements and complicates their lifestyle. The development of vision among animals has had immense evolutionary ramifications. Some research shows that the development of morphological features to detect light could have even been one of the driving factors behind the Cambrian explosion (Parker, 2003). Behaviorally, ancestral mammals were considered to originally be nocturnal (Walls, 1942; Heesy & Hall, 2010; Gerkema, Davies, Foster, Menaker, & Hut, 2013). Therefore, their foundational visual morphology adapted to nocturnal conditions, and many behavioral implications followed. Learning about the evolutionary process of vision shed a lot of light on some of the behaviors of primates today. Generally speaking, nocturnal primates are smaller and consist of mostly Old World species with the one New World genus Aotus containing the world’s only true nocturnal monkeys (picture attached). Being that I worked with nocturnal primates quite a bit during my time at the Memphis Zoo, I found this information to be incredibly useful, and wish that I had actually had some of the information before or even during the time that I worked there. As a result of the research that I did for this synthesis paper, I now have a greater understanding of the evolutionary development of vision in nocturnal primates, the implications of which can be expanded across other nocturnal animal species as well.
Water Sources for Bats in Central Gardens
This short preliminary mapping project looked at possible water sources for bats living in urban and residential areas. It was carried out using GoogleMaps and mapped out on ZeeMaps. A Memphis neighborhood area called Central Gardens was the area mapped, and every pool or water source was marked on the map as a possible urban water source for bats. Though this was a brief project, and one conducted primarily online, I learned some interesting things from it. For example, I was not aware of the large number of water resources available to bats in my local neighborhood at the time; the map showed that there were far more sources of water than I had anticipated. There was some variety in the water sources as well, from pools to more natural looking pond areas. I also learned how to use ZeeMaps and the importance of mapping projects in general, and the value that they can add to other topics. Since this initial project, I have used ZeeMaps both in educational and professional projects since; the learning experience as a result was invaluable overall. The map can be found here or picture attached:
Exploring More About Bats
I was able to complete two synthesis papers on bats which brought me to a greater understanding of some of the issues facing bats. One was entitled "Nectarivorous Bats: Vulnerable Island Populations"; it looked at how specifically nectar-eating island bats can be affected by environmental changes and events at a higher or faster level than some other populations because of particular vulnerabilities inherent in their situations. Bats that consume nectar are by their very specialization much more susceptible to external forces that may affect their populations; because they have narrower and more numerous parameters for their nutritional and environmental needs, they are more vulnerable when changes in those environments occur (Arita & Santos-del-Prado, 1999; Couoh, de la Garza Flores-Rojas, Briones-Escobedo, Hernándex-del Angel, E., Martínez-Gallardo, & Aguilera, 2006). This paper helped to demonstrate to me some of the more vulnerable populations of nocturnal mammals. It also helped me to prepare for my Baja trip, where I did in fact get to see bat species, both in emergence at night, and even seeing one species, the pallid bat (Antrozous pallidus) fairly closely in an outdoor shelter on the Rancho San Gregorio, which was both exciting and reaffirmed my passion for bats and nocturnal wildlife overall.
While I touched on bat vulnerability in the first synthesis paper my very first semester and Earth Expedition of the program, I was able to expand fairly extensively and look at one of the biggest threats to bats in my final Costa Rica Earth Expedition synthesis paper, entitled "Habitat Fragmentation and Bats". This paper looked at some of the difficulties facing bats in increasingly urbanized and fragmented landscapes. There are a several different causes of increasing forest fragmentation, although human encroachment lies at the foundation of all of them. One of them is the expansion of agriculture (Cleary, Waits, & Finegan, 2016; Frey-Ehrenbold, Bontadina, Arlettaz, & Obrist, 2013; Golnow & Lakes, 2014). A second cause would be the expansion in cattle ranching (Morton, DeFries, Shimabukuro, Anderson, Arai, del Bon Espirito-Santo, Freitas, & Morisette, 2006; Golnow & Lakes, 2014). A third cause is simply increased urbanization and the takeover of lands previously utilized as proper ecosystems for bats. Traffic, lights, noise, new edifices and structures to navigate, and changes in predator structure can all have profound effects on bat populations (Fensome & Matthews, 2016). Even with all of the threats to bat populations, there are some possible solutions that can be offered, such as changes in underpasses, as mentioned in the study by Abbott, Harrison, and Butler (2012), increased building of wildlife corridors and forest “islands”, reductions to areas and policies that affect light and noise pollution, or other even more innovative techniques with the further development of technology and education of those who interact with and learn to value the importance of bats and other wildlife.
I learned a great deal researching for both of these papers. It was also interesting in the long run because I wrote one of them at the very beginning of my master's program, and one near the end. I was able to witness the improvements in my research and writing processes, as well as the final results. While I did learn more about bats and the threats to them through these papers, I also learned about the process of researching and synthesizing information and resources as well, which was invaluable throughout my time in the master's program, and even beyond.
Acoustic Monitoring in an Urban Landscape: Parks versus Residential Areas
My final inquiry action project for the master's program looked at the presence of urban bats in parks versus residential areas. I spent multiple nights recording bat calls and presence in various areas throughout the city. At the end of the project, I also conducted a night walk with local community members where I gave a talk about bats in particular and some other nocturnal creatures and demonstrated how the portable phone plug-in bat detector that I owned worked. The citizen scientist-friendly detector is the Echo Meter Touch 2 bat detector, which plugs into an iPhone or iPad, and works in coalition with a free app called iBats to collect data points on where bat calls of various species are recorded. My study looked at the differences in parks versus residential areas. The results of this study only provided a very small snapshot of the bat abundance and biodiversity that can be found in the greater Memphis area; they are not meant to be comprehensive. Only a limited number of data samples could be taken, due to limited supplies, research volunteers, and time, as well as obstacles in the form of weather and physical inaccessibility issues. The larger ones tended to have more abundance in species; some of the residential areas yielded fewer recorded species than originally anticipated. I recommended perhaps a more long-term study to get more consistent results eventually. The action component and community connection for this project included a guided night hike with local citizens, who got to see the EchoMeter in action and learn about bats within our midst.
Connecting with my Community
One of the most important components of my master's program included connecting with my communities throughout the process. Different projects were aimed at different communities throughout my entire program, from 2014 to 2018. I started by cooperating with an organization I used to work for, the Memphis Zoo, on my very first inquiry action project . This was a familiar place for me to start, with a community I already had some knowledge of from the time I worked there. However, as the program progressed and I became more confident, I began to expand more in reaching out to other communities in my life. I researched and wrote a synthesis paper for my Paraguay Earth Expedition in summer 2016 entitled "Eco-Leadership in Paraguay: Approaches to Building Partnerships in Conservation", and this helped me to learn and connect a great deal more on the concepts of the program, including community conservation, participatory education, inquiry, and the importance of citizen science and community buy-in.
There were two main projects that impacted me greatly throughout the program. One was researching a cataloging system for Para La Tierra (PLT), a nonprofit organization in Paraguay that was looking to start a new science library in 2016. Para La Tierra's flagship species is the white-winged nightjar, a nocturnal bird, and many of the other studies conducted by and in coalition with PLT have been specifically on nocturnal animal species. The final paper I wrote was called "Cataloging and Management Systems for a New Science Library in Paraguay". In it, I surveyed other library systems and catalogers on best cataloging systems, and did research to put together a document as well to help inform PLT on some of the practices and processes of libraries. I have continued to work on researching systems since then.
The second project that impacted me greatly was my Leadership in Science Inquiry project. For this project, I applied for and was accepted into the Memphis Public Libraries library leadership program. This program lasts approximately 6 months and throughout the process candidates gather to study a variety of topics related to leadership, as well as complete community projects and create an overall "vision presentation" for their final project which is presented for the entire library system. My overall LSI was entitled "Increasing Conservation Goals and Programming in the Memphis Public Library System" and in it I presented a variety of ways in which the library system could improve and increase conservation projects, policies, and programs. Since my presentation, a branch library has created a community garden, a new library will be adding an orchard, recycling initiatives have improved, and a variety of other programs related to conservation have been enacted.
Conclusion
My time throughout my master's through the Project Dragonfly Global Field Program has been immensely educational and impactful both personally and professionally. My master's program took me four years to complete, from 2014 to 2018 and in that time I changed jobs and completed my first master's; this will be my second. I learned from every paper and project that I did during my time in the program. I was able to make more connections in my community, and grow in confidence in my leadership, inquiry, and community conservation skills. I started the program intimidated and overwhelmed by all I had ahead of me, and was definitely uncertain about my abilities to measure up throughout the program. However, with each project and each class I grew in certainty about my skills and my capacity to do more. By the end of the program, I could point to definitive projects that I had completed that had an impact, even if only on a small group of people. Some projects remain ongoing, and some partnerships that I started through the program I plan to continue to pursue as I move further onward in my career.
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