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Northern Research Station
11 Campus Blvd., Suite 200
Newtown Square, PA 19073
(610) 557-4017
(610) 557-4132 TTY/TDD

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Scientists & Staff

[image:] Robert Brooks Robert Brooks

*Please note that this person is no longer an employee of the Northern Research Station.

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Education

  • Ph.D., Wildlife Management, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY, 1984
  • M.S., Wildlife Ecology, University of New Hampshire, Durham, 1974
  • B.S., Wildlife Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1968

Civic & Professional Affiliations

  • Member, The Wildlife Society
  • Member, Society of American Foresters
  • Member, Society of Wetland Scientists

Current Research

My current research has two main components, the ecology of ephemeral aquatic habitats in northern forests and the effects of restoration management of pitch pine-scrub oak, including the use of prescribed fire, on bats and snakes. The ephemeral aquatic habitat research includes studies of both isolated forest ("vernal") pools and headwater streams. Current vernal pool studies include (1) an assessment of the effectiveness of harvesting buffers on vernal pool amphibian breeding success, (2) an evaluation of the use of pool water temperature, depth, and conductivity to determine groundwater input, and (3) the effects of pool size and isolation on microcrustaceans.

The headwater stream work is a new initiative. Results from a first year survey of the occurrence, extent, and morphology of unmapped streams will be used in studies comparing the abiotic features (e.g., flow regime) and fauna of mapped ("blue line") first-order streams and associated unmapped stream segments. A second effort will evaluate ("proof of concept") a low-cost methodology to experimentally alter stream flow and water temperatures and assess effects on stream fauna composition and fitness.

Acoustic bat surveys will be continued for a third year at sites in pitch pine (control and harvested) and scrub oak stands. Informal snake surveys, with a focus on eastern hognose snakes, will continue. Snakes will be uniquely marked and radio transmitters will be surgically implanted in no more than three hognose snakes to assess the effects of restoration management on the species.

Why is This Important

Ephemeral aquatic habitats, including both "vernal" pools and headwater streams, contribute to biodiversity of northern forests. The regular wet-dry phase of these habitats precludes a permanent fish population, resulting in their use as breeding habitat by some amphibian species and for rich, abundant, and unique invertebrate community. This fauna, in turn, create a productive foraging site for turtles, bats, other amphibians, and other forest species.

Pitch pine-scrub oak is a remnant habitat, occurring in isolated patches across the interior of the northeastern United States. The forest type harbors many endemic species, especially Lepidoptera, many of which are state listed as species of concern. The structure of the scrub oak component provides habitat for early-successional specialists that, as a group, are also declining across the northeast.

Future Research

  • Continue the ephemeral forest pool research. Possible topics could include: litter processing; pool hydrology and climate change; land use history, island biogeographic effects, and pool crustaceans; groundwater inputs; and methylmercury in pool food webs.
  • The headwater stream research will address the relationships of these streams with adjacent forest and with downstream resources.

Online Publications

Last Modified: 02/15/2012