要大
研究生在提顿研究大角羊食品
As a former paratrooper, Ryan Martin is accustomed to heights.
攻读博士学位的野生动物生态学家 Ryan Long教授的 365滚球官网野生动物实验室, often finds himself at elevations much higher than most people commonly experience.
Martin studies bighorn sheep forage in Wyoming’s Tetons, where elevations reach 14,000 feet. He wants to know if the amount 和 type of forage limits the distribution of bighorns, 它的营养价值, 以及绵羊如何依靠现有的食物来源生存.
“A lot of these sheep once migrated, but they no 长er do,马丁说. “包括农村社区在内的人类活动, sprawl 和 cross-country skiers on historical sheep range have prevented some herds from migrating in search of seasonal food or less harsh seasonal environmental conditions.”
孤独的, non-migrating populations are stuck in isolated parts of the range, 常在高海拔地区, 一年到头，必须适应寒冷的环境, 冬天有风有雪——还有可利用的草料.
大角兽营养作为限制因素
“We’re trying to determine if nutrition is a limiting factor that keeps sheep from doing better in these isolated populations,马丁说.
结果, 结合了一系列其他研究, could help wildlife biologists underst和 why bighorn numbers have declined to around 80,000从200,在19世纪晚期，北美有大约5000只动物.
马丁，他加入了 长期的实验室 在获得学士学位后 生态学与保护生物学 at U of I in Spring ’23, didn’t grow up with ambitions to become a scientist. 相反，他在可控的情况下倒在了地上.
“我和爸爸在户外度过了很多时间, 我们打了很多鸟, 主要是鸭子,”马丁说。, 在威奇托北部的一个小镇上长大, 堪萨斯. “When we were outdoors, my dad taught me attention to detail.”
He learned the common names of plants 和 what animals ate, 和 he thought it would be cool to be a wildlife biologist.
It wasn’t until after spending several years in the Army as a parachutist that he felt financially able to attend college. 他进了布拉格堡附近的一所社区大学, 北卡罗莱纳, where he studied rare plants 和 decided to venture west after learning what U of I’s 自然资源学院 提供给学生.
As an undergraduate 生态学与保护生物学 major, he spent a few seasons working as a seasonal wildlife technician joining a group studying bighorn sheep near Asotin, 华盛顿. He also explored mountain lion predation on elk 和 deer in North Idaho.
“I knew I wanted to go to graduate school because it would lead to a permanent position doing research instead of doing summer field work,他说.
寻找冬季饲料
Bighorn sheep in the Teton Range quit migrating about 70 years ago. They persisted on the mountain range in the northwest corner of Wyoming near the Idaho border as a resident population. Sheep tracking studies show that the Teton bighorns follow a pattern of abbreviated migration. Instead of moving across their 40-mile range or exp和ing it, the animals follow an abridged migration that includes traveling approximately six miles with descents of around 2,000英尺取决于食物供应. The bighorns often seek out high-elevation, wind swept ridgelines to find winter forage.
“在我的家乡，没有人真正成为科学家.”
——Ryan Martin，博士生
Martin is helping identify what sheep eat at certain times, 以及支持羊群觅食的栖息地. The research will help scientists underst和 the benefits of migration 和 may aid in the conservation of bighorn populations in the face of future migration loss.
给植物命名
Martin knows the plants eaten or avoided by ungulates by their taxonomic names.
“It’s just easier to learn the scientific name than familiar names that often change depending on the region,他说.
他的清单包括 Chamaenerion angustifolium, Vaccinium scoparium, 苔属植物geyeri 和 蓍属原.
Translated, the common names are fireweed, grouseberry, elk sedge 和 common yarrow. Some plants attract wildlife, 和 a few varieties attract people.
“鼠李velutinus has small, vibrant blooms that look like snow, 和 it smells like cinnamon,马丁说. “非常愉快.”
His forage studies in Wyoming’s high mountains are a spinoff of research by the 提顿大角羊工作组.
“Much of the impetus for my work stems from the previous work this group has done,他说.
He heads to the high country when the weather breaks 和 mountain meadows turn green, 和 he stays until the skies darken with snow clouds around late September following sheep, 了解它们吃什么, 它的营养价值.
绵羊营养生态学
“There is a huge interest in bighorn sheep nutritional ecology throughout the West right now,朗说.
随着怀俄明州羊的范围缩小, Martin’s research is paramount in identifying the plants the sheep rely upon for food, 长说. He mentored Martin on his senior thesis project on bighorn sheep food.
“Martin was one of very few students who I was confident was ready to go straight into a Ph.D. ”朗说.
Hailing from the flatl和s of middle America surrounded by fields of corn 和 wheat, 在那里，联合收割机的灰尘会使八月的天空变暗, Martin is pleased to be working in the clear air near the continent’s tip tops. 他很高兴能走上研究的道路.
“在我的家乡，没有人真正成为科学家,马丁说.
