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The pitcher plant Sarracenia purpurea grows in nutrient-deficient wetlands such as Cedarburg Bog and supplements mineral nutrition by carnivory. Newly formed pitchers are sterile, but fill with rainwater, in which insect prey drown. Within the pitcher detrital food web, invertebrates begin macroscopic breakdown of prey while microbial hydrolytic enzymes (chitinases, phosphatases, proteases) digest and release nutrients, prior to absorption by the plant.

A local-scale groundwater-flow model of the Cedar Creek Watershed and Cedarburg Bog area was constructed to determine the effects of future changes in temperature and precipitation on water resources. The Cedar Creek Watershed is a 330 km² subbasin of the Milwaukee River Watershed located about 30 km north of Milwaukee. The importance of this watershed lies in its location at the sub-continental divide separating the Mississippi River Basin from the Great Lakes Basin.

Over the summer of 2015 we completed range-wide genetic sampling of Platanthera leucophaea. Claire Ellwanger and Cathy Pollack collected leaf tissue samples from 18 populations and received leaf samples from 14 populations thanks to collaborators like Jim Reinartz (UWM Field Station) across the range of the species.

Understanding the mechanisms influencing the timing of reproduction has taken on new urgency as climate change is altering environmental conditions during reproduction, and there is concern that species will not be able to synchronize their reproduction with changing food supplies. One of our main goals is to determine how environmental factors, particularly temperature and food abundance, influence the timing of breeding and reproductive success.

Decomposition of prey in the leaves of the carnivorous pitcher plant Sarracenia purpurea provides energy that supports an inquiline community consisting of bacteria, protozoans, rotifers, mites, and dipteran larvae. By demonstrating that midges consume both rotifers and ciliates, we now have reason to redraw the pitcher plant inquilines food web. We suggest that both W. smithii and M. knabi together form a guild of keystone predators.

The goal of this 3-year project is to evaluate the status of selected wildlife populations in the Milwaukee County portion of the Milwaukee River Area of Concern, and make recommendations for addressing Beneficial Use Impairments through habitat restoration projects and monitoring. The project is coordinated with Milwaukee County Parks, participating under separate funding. Work includes historical data collection, wildlife surveys, landowner outreach, and reporting. Work began in 2014 and continued in 2015. Funded by the Wisconsin DNR and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The goal of this project is to assess and map wildlife habitat in the Ozaukee County portion of the Milwaukee River Basin, for ranking habitat restoration sites for best value. Work continued in 2015. Funded by EPA Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and Wisconsin Coastal Management Program awards to Ozaukee County.

Wildlife ecopassages are designed to afford safe passage for wildlife across roadways, thereby reducing road mortality and improving traffic safety. Ecopassages allow wildlife to pass underneath the highway lanes, and maintain habitat and population connectivity on the landscape. This project will assess the effectiveness of ecopassages in Southeastern Wisconsin, and collect data on patterns of wildlife use.

The goal of this project is to implement amphibian monitoring in seven National Parks in the Western Great Lakes region. A protocol utilizing automated recording systems and supplemental visual surveys was completed in 2012, and we began implementing the program in three parks in 2013. In 2015 we expanded to seven Parks. Funded by the National Park Service.

The Wisconsin Herp Atlas is a distribution database of amphibians and reptiles in Wisconsin. The author initiated the Atlas in 1986 at the Milwaukee Public Museum, with the cooperative support of the Natural Heritage Inventory Program (WDNR) and The Nature Conservancy (Wisconsin Chapter). The Atlas collects and verifies records obtained from museum collections, field surveys, the literature, and field notes provided by volunteer observers throughout the state. In 2007 the Atlas was moved to the UWM Field Station, and currently houses over 73,000 occurrence records for Wisconsin. Record collection and vetting continued in 2015, and 62 new county distribution records were published.