| Conservation Biology
My conservation oriented research includes a mixture of descriptive and experimental research in two ecosystems in
the southeastern United States, longleaf pine savannas and mixed mesophytic hardwood
forests. Both are disturbed, fragmented, and threatened in Louisiana.
|
 |
|
Through
joint collaborations with the Louisiana State
Arthropod Museum (LSAM), my group has catalogued selected moths, ants, and bees in these
two habitats. Using experimental approaches, we have tested effects of management
practices such as fire frequency and fire season on insect species diversity and
composition. We have also addressed the effects of an exotic insect, the red imported fire
ant, on species diversity of other ants and beetles. Our descriptive and
experimental work represent the first published studies on insects in longleaf pine savannas or mesophytic hardwood forests
in Louisiana.
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
I am conducting research solely with undergraduates.
Our current project involves contrasting insect species richness,
abundance, and feeding guilds on exotic versus native plants. Plants
of choice are native holly, yaupon (Ilex
vomitoria), and an exotic, Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense).
In the Southeastern United States Chinese privet is invading forest
understories and replacing yaupon. Changes
of this magnitude in the plant community are likely to result in changes in the
insect fauna. If vertebrates
feeding on these insects are selective, changes can be expected to continue up
the food chain.
2006 undergraduates collecting bugs on a beat sheet.
I am also planning to test a
new environmentally friendly control for carpenter bees.
This will be a research focus in 2007 and a perfect experimental project
for undergraduates.
|
 |
Field Sites for Research
Louisiana and neighboring states contain numerous public and
private tracts of land that are ideal sites for conducting research in conservation
biology. Visit the Research Sites link for an overview of
some of these locations.
|
Publications
Bartholomew, C. S.
& D. Prowell. 2006.
Comparison of bee diversity in upland and wet flatwood longleaf pine
savannas in Louisiana
(Hymenoptera: Apoidea). J. Kansas
Entomol. Soc. (in press).
Bartholomew, C. S.,
D. Prowell, & T. Grizwold. 2006. An annotated checklist of bees
(Hymenoptera: Apoidea) in longleaf pine savannas of southern
Louisiana
and Mississippi. J. Kansas Entomol. Soc. (in press).
Colby,
D. & D. Prowell. Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in wet longleaf pine
savannas in Louisiana. Florida Entomologist (submitted Jan 2006).
Bartholomew, C. S.
& D. P. Prowell. 2005. Pan compared to malaise trapping of bees
(Hymenoptera: Apoidea) in a longleaf pine savanna.
J. Kansas Entomol. Soc. 78: 390-92.
PDF copy.
Prowell, D.P. 2001. Additions and corrections to macrolepidoptera in Landau and Prowell (1999a & b), partial checklists of moths from longleaf pine savannas and mesophytic hardwood forests in
Louisiana. Trans. Am. Entomol. Soc. 127: 239-244. PDF copy.
Landau, D., D. Prowell, & C. Carlton. 1999. Intensive versus longterm sampling to
assess lepidopteran diversity in a southern mixed mesophytic forest. Annals Entomol. Soc.
Am. 92: 175-181. PDF copy.
Landau, D. & D. Prowell. 1999a. A checklist of moths collected from longleaf pine
savannahs in Louisiana. Trans. Am. Entomol. Soc. 125: 127-138. PDF copy.
Landau, D. & D. Prowell. 1999b. A checklist of moths collected from mixed mesophytic
hardwood forests in Louisiana. Trans. Am. Entomol. Soc. 125: 139-150.
PDF copy.
Click on this link to download an Excel file of the Macrolepidoptera
of Louisiana
Click on this link to download a PDF file of a List
of Macrolepidoptera of Louisiana