2014 Mentors and Projects

Edge Effects on Microclimate and Vegetation in Small Wet-Mesic Prairies Located in the heart of the St. Louis metropolitan area, just 10 miles west of downtown St. Louis, the 34-acre study Litzsinger Road Ecology Center (LREC) encompasses a rich variety of habitats including bottomland forest, restored prairie, and an urban creek. The LREC prairie was part of a larger prairie in pre-settlement times.

Effects of global climate change on rare plants. A major challenge for conservation biologists is predicting the fates of species in a rapidly changing climate of the 21^st century. In the southeastern United States, rock outcrops support a distinctive flora that includes rare endemic plants, many of which are of conservation concern due to their restricted distributions and habitat destruction.