BY ALEJANDRA PEREZ
Dr. Douglas Wacker is a
faculty member here at the University of Washington Bothell who lectures in
topics around Animal behavior, endocrinology, and neuroscience in the STEM
program. Through having the pleasure of interviewing him about the different
types of research he is conducting with some of his students around crows, I
got to understand through different types of lenses the research they are all
doing. First, he said that there are about 10,000 to 15,000 crows that come to
UWB and the North Creek Wetlands on a daily basis, that right there is huge.
There are not that many places around the nation who have the opportunity to
have a roosting site for crows right next door. Secondly, he stated that the
10,000-15,000 crows that come on a daily basis are definitely having an effect
on the North Creek wetlands. First of, this is a natural effect, which does not
mean it is neither good nor bad. Dr. Wacker compared the effect that the crows
are having on the wetlands, is like what beavers do.
They cause natural changes to ecosystems. Thus, one of the effects of
crows might be the input of crows’ defecation that contains both seeds and
nitrogen. In terms of nitrogen, while crow poop does not contain as much
nitrogen, it is still not know what or how much effect the input of nitrogen
from crows is having in North Creek. Another thing to consider is the nitrogen
coming from other sources rather than just the crow poop, such as fertilizer
runoff. So far, Dr. Wacker and his students have not found any evidence of
effect of the excess nitrogen in the salmon that travel through the North Creek,
but he said more specific studies are needed to have a clearer picture. He also
said that nitrogen would most likely have an effect on the small plants that can
either do really well with nitrogen or the ones who cannot do as well with lots
of nitrogen. In terms of the seeds carried in the bird poop, Dr. Wacker stated
that this could have an effect on the biodiversity of the plants in the
wetlands. For example, he stated how the university really wants the
wetlands to be a representation of the Pacific North West habitat.
Therefore if crows are bringing seeds of invasive plants with them, then
more invasive plants, such as the invasive Himalayan Blackberry, will start to
grow in the wetlands. This wouldn’t be a natural problem, since the effect is
being created naturally, but it could potentially be a problem for the
university, in terms of the North Creek wetlands not being as original as what
a Pacific North West environment should be.
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| Dr. Wacker during the talk he gave in our class |
Throughout
the process of trying to figure out what types of effects the crows are having
on the North Creek Wetlands, Dr. Wacker is currently doing hands-on research
with five different students who are very interested in the topic. Through this
process, he states that not only are the students researching about the crows,
but they are also getting to learn how to do science and using their scientific
method practices. It was in the winter of 2013, when Dr. Wacker first saw the
10,000-15,000 crows on campus and became really interested about the topic, so
interested that he taught the BES 301 Science Methods and Practice class where
students collected and analyzed data on the roost. Through this class, many of
his students began to gain more interest in doing more research on the crows
here at UWB and started to come up with questions and ideas. Dr. Wacker talked
them into developing research projects and the students jumped into it.
Overall, we see that not only research and interest around the work of crows is
being done at UWB by different instructors, but also through the students’
interest. Dr. Wacker also stated, that this is a great opportunity for all
students (not just for those interested in the environment) to have nature be
presented to them at this urban site. Basically, we all need to appreciate the
fact that we have crows so close to us through this roosting area at the North
Creek Wetlands.
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