Season of Science: Spring 2022

A spotted salamander scrambling over a fallen log.

NPS Photo

Welcome to the first season of science article for Acadia National Park. These posts will share recent science happening in Acadia National Park. We will point out some new online science content, research permits issued to date (i.e., studies slated to take place this year), and scientific publications that have come out.

If you don’t regularly poke around our park website looking for science stories, you may have missed the additions of new content—lots and lots of new stories.

In terms of upcoming research, the field season is just getting started with a few studies taking place focused on waterbirds and spring breeding of amphibians, including an unusual population of salamanders that breed just above the intertidal.

Acadia National Park works with its partners at Schoodic Institute to increase the effectiveness and communication of research in the national park, including the management and issuing of research permits.

New on our Website

• Coastal intertidal zone—See new stories about studying declines in sea stars, historical ecology of intertidal algae, a day in the field with Hannah Webber, salt tolerance in spotted salamanders, Sand Beach in winter, and a profile of acorn barnacles.

• Second Century Stewardship (SCS) at the Schoodic Institute – SCS fellows are making news and publishing their research: Rachel Fowler documents Acadia lakes recovering from acid rain; Chris Nadeau finds that cool microclimates will become biodiversity hotspots; and Alessio Mortelliti is quoted in the New York Times on how wildlife personalities play surprising roles in nature.

• A new brochure describing how we use science to protect Acadia

• Acadia’s science legacy page puts current Acadia science in the context of hundres of years of scientific inquiry and links to historic data sets including:

  • Marine algae and coastal vegetation

  • Climate and air quality

  • Lakes, streams, and hydrology

  • Freshwater protists

  • Vascular plants

  • Marine invertebrates

  • Birds

  • Mammals

Acadia Science Published in Research Journals

For research publications, 2022 has already had some very important papers describing the recovery of Acadia’s lakes after acid rain (Fowler et al. 2022), science to inform our new resist-accept-direct approach to managing parks in a changing climate (Crausbay et al. 2022), and how cool spots in Acadia and other parks could become critical biodiversity hotspots as temperatures warm (Nadeau et al. 2022).

• Crausbay SD, HR Sofaer, AE Cravens, BC Chaffin, KR Clifford, JE Gross, CN Knapp, DJ Lawrence, DR Magness, AJ Miller-Rushing, GW Schuurman, CS Stevens-Rumann. 2022. A science agenda to inform natural resource management decisions in an era of ecological transformation. BioScience 72: 71-90.
• Doser JW. 2022. Development and application of hierarchical models for monitoring avian soundscapes, populations, and communities. Dissertation, Michigan State University.
• Fowler RA, KA Warner, WG Gawley, JE Saros. 2022. Paleolimnological comparison of algal changes in a clear-versus a brown-water lake over the last two centuries in northeastern U.S.A. Journal of Paleolimnology doi.org/10.1007/s10933-022-00233-0
• Grace JB. 2022. General guidance for custom-built structural equation models. One Ecosystem 7: e72780.
• Halstead BJ, AM Ray, E Muths, EH Campbell Grant, R Grasso, MJ Adams, K Semple Delaney, J Carlson, BR Hossack. 2022. Looking ahead, guided by the past: The role of U.S. national parks in amphibian research and conservation. Ecological Indicators 136: 108631.
• Kim M-K, JJ Daigle. 2022. Long-term monitoring of vegetation cover changes by remote sensing, Cadillac Mountain summit, Acadia National Park. Parks Stewardship Forum 38: 132-144.
• Nadeau CP, A Giacomazzo, MC Urban. 2022. Cool microrefugia accumulate and conserve biodiversity under climate change. Global Change Biology doi:10.1111/gcb.16143
• Nelson S, C McDonough MacKenzie, TL Morelli, J Wason, B Wentzell, R Hovel, G Hodgkins, A Miller-Rushing, D Miller, S Tatko, A Cross, M Pounch. Introduction: Climate change in the mountains of Maine and the Northeast. Northeastern Naturalist 28: ii-ix.
• Taff BD, J Thomsen, WL Rice, Z Miller, J Newton, L Miller, A Gibson, M Riddle, JP Schaberl, M McCormick. 2022. US national park visitor experiences during DOVID-19: Data from Acadia, Glacier, Grand Teton, Shenandoah, and Yellowstone National Parks. Parks Stewardship Forum 38: 145-159.
• Van Kampen R, N Fisichelli, Y-J Zhang, J Wason. 2022. Drought timing and species growth phenology determine intra-annual recovery of tree height and diameter growth. Annals of Botany plac012.

Research Permits Issued

• Scott Weidensaul, Project SNOWstorm, Alpine wintering ecology of snowy owls in Acadia National Park
• Wriley Hodge, College of the Atlantic, Winter and spring waterbird counts around Acadia National Park
• Eliza Oldach, University of California, Davis, Managing the Intertidal: Am evaluation of Acadia National Park's community workhop process
• Abigail Muscat, University of Maine, A pilot test of a long-term nearshore bird community monitoring program in Acadia National Park
• James Pagano, State University of New York as Oswego, Ambient levels of persisten emerging air toxics in Acadia National Park
• Julie Kelso, US Environmental Protection Agency, Streamflow duration assessment method
• James Lynch, National Park Service - Northeast Region, Elevation monitoring of salt marsh havitats at Acadia National Park
• David Yates, Biodiversity Research Institute, Mercury trends in Acadia National Park
• Seth Benz, Schoodic Institite, SeaWatch: A citizen science monitoring project of fall seabird migrations off Schoodic Point in Acadia National Park
• Seth Benz, Schoodic Institute, Long-term monitoring of fall raptor migrations in Acadia National Park
• Catherine Matassa,University of Connecticut, Interidal community assembly and dyanamics:Integrationg broad-scale regional variation in environemntal forcing and bethic-pelagic coupling
• Tasman Rosenfield, Yale University, Physiology and population genetics of salt-tolerant subpopulation of spotted salamanders in Acadia National Park
• Stephen Ressel, College of the Atlantic, Breeding by the Sea: Coastal vernal pools in Acadia National Park as breeding habitat for spotted salamanders
• Jamie Kilgo, National Park Serivce - Water Resources Division, Rapid response strategu for potential toxin exposures from harmful algae blooms in coastal and shoreline areas of national parks
• Emma Damm, College of the Atlantic, Investigating spring amphibian migration activity on duck brook road
• Seth Benz, Schoodic Institute, Schoodic Institute biodiversity and phenology citizen science observations
• Jeremy Deeds, Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Regional lake monitoring network
• Christopher Nadeau, University of Connecticut, Does enhancing genetic diversity increase the long-term success of subalpine-plant restorations under climate change
• Jeff Licht, University of Massachusetts- Boston, Investigation genetic properties of jack pine located at a sympatry on Cadillac mountain
• Alexa Pezzano, NPS, Acadia National Park, Schoodic Education Adventure, Intertidal Exploration
• Alexa Pezzano, NPS, Acadia National Park, Schoodic Education Adventure, Soil Exploration
• Frederick Bianchi, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Optimization of the Cadillac Mountain Reservation System
• Jill Weiss, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Managing the New Hiker: Characteristics, Perceptions, and Behavior Trends among Trail Users in the Northeast
• Chris Petersen, College of The Atlantic, Clam recruitment and predation, and pH in intertidal mudflats
• Caitlin Littlefield, Conservation Science Partners, Inc., Coastal spruce-fir dynamics in the face of sea-level rise and salt marsh migration
• Laura Sebastianelli, Schoodic Notes: Bird Sounds of Acadia, Bird Sound Recording to Enhance Bird Ecology Research at Acadia National Park
• Adam Kozlowski, NPS, Northeast Temperate Network, NPS Northeast Temperate Inventory and Monitoring Network (NETN) Rocky Intertidal Monitoring Program
• Bonnie Newsom, University of Maine, Old Collections, New Analyses: Examining Archaeological Materials to Enhance Coastal Site Stewardship in Acadia National Park, Maine
• Matthew Duveneck, New England Conservatory, Future Forest Trajectories in Acadia National Park: Identifying Management Priorities
• Kathryn Miller, National Park Service, Northeast Temperate Network, Freshwater Wetland Monitoring at Acadia National Park

Contact Us

If you're interested in conducting research in Acadia National Park, visit our Research Permits page and contact our Research Permits coordinator if you have any questions.

If you're a science news organization and have a question, please visit our News page or and contact our Public Affairs Specialist.