Ecological Preserve

For the first time in Rutgers history, a formal survey of the bats inhabiting the Rutgers EcoPreserve is being conducted. On a weekly basis, members of the Maslo Lab (https://sites.rutgers.edu/brooke-maslo/)  trek into the Preserve after dark to catch and catalog bat species. Bats are caught using mist nets, which are fine mesh nets mounted to metal poles extending up to 30 feet in the air and suspended across trails or streams (think backyard badminton!). Captured bats are removed from the…

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Dr. KJ MIN, postodoctoral researcher from Clemson University, is studying how plant invasion influences biogeochemical cycles in soil (e.g., soil carbon chemistry, microbial decomposition of soil organic matter).  His target species is the Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) which is a woody vine with oak-shaped leaves that can cover the ground in a dense mat and climb up shrubs and trees. The RU EcoPreserve is one of his study sites where he is taking soil samples and measuring the soil chemistry…

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Student volunteers (Alex Stollery and Adam Yawdoszyn) mixing cement for new bench installation. Photo by Darrell Jones. Students from the RU Outdoors Club, the Wildlife Society and Bloustein Graduate Students Service Club volunteered out in the EcoPreserve on Saturday, April 6 2019.   The Bloustein students scoured the trails and stream for trash.  The Student Chapter of the Wildlife Society worked on installing a bench on a bluff overlooking Buell Brook along the Blue Trail. The Outdoors Club shoveled, wheelbarrowed and…

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