A. Center/Institute/Program

Appalachian Laboratory/University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science

301 Braddock Road

Frostburg, MD 21532

Phone: 301-689-7125

Fax: 301-689-7200

E-mail: gardner@al.umces.edu

Web Page: http://www.al.umces.edu

Director/Chairperson: Dr. Robert H. Gardner

Representative to AERC: Dr. Robert H. Gardner

Alternate: Dr. Louis Pitelka

B. Major objectives of the Center/Institute/Program

1. Conduct research on the structure and functioning of terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems and the ecology of their component species.

2. Conduct research that contributes to the understanding and solution of environmental problems in Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay region.

3. Educate students and the general public in ecology and on the importance of ecological science for the solution of environmental problems.

C. Major ecosystem research emphases

1. Watershed hydrology and biogeochemistry.

2. Trace gas emissions and biogeochemical cycles in forest ecosystems.

3. Effects of human activities on fish and benthic communities in streams.

4. Modeling of fragmentation and other landscape scale processes.

5. Effects of forest fragmentation on animals.

6. Relationships between land-use and water quality.

7. Role of herbivores in forest dynamics.

8. Wetland ecology.

D. Staff

Permanent scientific staff: PhD: 13

Scientific support staff: Technicians: 15

Other support staff: Clerical: 3, Administrative: 3

Graduate students: PhD: 3, MS: 13

Summer undergraduates: 8

E. Approximate annual funding (recent year)

Core funding: $1,800,000/yr, Source: State of Maryland

Grants: $2,000,000/yr, Major sources: Federal and State Agencies

F. Areas and facilities for ecosystem research studies

1. 45,000 sq. ft. building completed in 1998, with offices, research laboratories, greenhouse, research support shops, and teaching facilities, including an interactive video networking facility.

2. Several nearby state forests and other protected sites are readily accessible and currently are being utilized for a variety of studies including long-term monitoring of acidic deposition and analyses of effects of liming on a small watershed. These sites provide large tracts of land with vegetation representative of the mid-Atlantic highlands.

G. Research staff directly involved in ecosystem research (names and specialty areas)

Castro, Mark S. – biogeochemistry, trace gas emissions

Engelhardt, Katharina A.M. – wetland ecology, community and ecosystem ecology

Eshleman, Keith N. – watershed hydrology and biogeochemistry

Gardner, Robert H. – landscape ecology, systems ecology

Gates, J. Edward – wildlife ecology, landscape ecology

Hilderbrand, Robert H. – aquatic ecology, conservation biology

Hoogland, John L. – animal ecology, behavioral ecology

McKaye, Kenneth R. – animal ecology, behavioral ecology

Morgan, Raymond P. – aquatic ecology, ecotoxicology

Pitelka, Louis F. – plant ecology, global ecology

Seagle, Steven W. – ecosystem dynamics, landscape ecology, open-forest ecosystem ecology

Stylinski, Cathlyn D. – environmental education, remote sensing and plant ecophysiology

Townsend, Philip A. – landscape ecology, biogeography, remote sensing

H. Long-term data sets (code name, number of years of data, computer accessibility)

None submitted.