The Log | School News
Bird Watch For Nicholas School researcher,
vocation and avocation meet in Duke Forest p.2
By Laura Ertel
“The goal of our project is to determine a carbon
budget for a growing pine forest,” explains Pippen, who has
worked at Duke for 16 years. “We want to know how much carbon
dioxide the plants take up during photosynthesis, and where
it goes. With the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
rising over the last 100 years because of burning fossil fuels,
we want to know if pine forests are going to help offset that
rise.”
For Pippen, answering those questions means frequent
trips into Duke Forest to measure carbon cycling. He uses
special equipment to measure the pine trees’ growth rate,
the amount of carbon dioxide being absorbed and released from
leaves and pine needles, and carbon dioxide levels in the
soil.
“These are all pieces to the jigsaw puzzle of
carbon budget development and carbon cycling in an ecosystem,”
says Pippen, who, even on the job, often travels with his
binoculars and digital camera in case he comes across a rare
bird or butterfly. “What we learn at Duke has global implications.”
Who is Living in Duke Forest?
When the Office of Duke Forest, which manages the university’s
valuable resource for environmental research, education and
recreation, decided to conduct an inventory of the plant and
animal species in the Forest, they enlisted the aid of Pippen
and his friend and fellow Duke researcher Will Cook to help
the staff design and implement an inventory of all of the
birds species.
In June, Pippen, Cook, and several other volunteer
birders completed the first official bird census in Duke Forest.
While they didn’t find any rare species this time out, they
did confirm the presence of Red-shouldered and Red-tailed
Hawks during breeding season, identified at least eight species
of warblers, and saw both Summer and Scarlet Tanagers.
“The more we know about the plants and animals
that inhabit Duke Forest, the better we can supply information
to the research community about the ecology and biology of
the forest,” Duke Forest Resource Manager Judson Edeburn explains.
“In addition, because Duke Forest is certified by several
organizations, knowing about changes in species composition
over time better enables us to document whether our management
of the forest is appropriate for protecting and nurturing
various species.”
Information from the census, which will be conducted
four times a year, every year, will be compiled into a central
database that will allow Duke Forest officials to track bird
populations and trends over time and to determine what species
are using the Forest at different times of the year. A preliminary
bird species list is posted on the Duke
Forest Web site; additional data will be added
for use by the research community and the public. Since the
project is unfunded, Pippen and team have volunteered their
time to this effort.
Pippen is also helping to create The Butterflies
of Duke Forest, a formal annotated checklist and Web
site that he is seeking grant funding to develop. In addition
to helping the Office of Duke Forest survey the butterflies,
he also plans to help with dragonflies and damselflies.
“My interests are really in natural history and
being able to identify species when I see them outdoors. Duke
Forest offers a great opportunity because it’s a finite area,
yet it’s large enough that it has a nice diversity of birds
and butterflies and dragonflies, and I’m looking forward to
contributing to the knowledge of the Forest in general.”
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