eNews
Fall 2017 | Vol 10 | No 4
New Stoddard Bird Lab Internship Funded
The boundless wonders of the Wade Tract will receive new attention over the coming decades thanks to a generous gift from The Louise H. and David S. Ingalls Foundation. In response to an application submitted by the Stoddard Bird Lab, the Ingalls Foundation voted recently to support a new internship that will gather important information in perpetuity on the subtle effects of fires applied regularly to the Wade Tract. For example, since 2005, the Fire Ecology Program at Tall Timbers has mapped the unburned patches of vegetation that are skipped by each burn. The new Louise H. and David S. Ingalls Internship at Tall Timbers will continue to collect such information as well as new information on fuel loads pre-burn, flowering phenology post-burn, and other factors closely linked to the use of fire
Monitoring these and other fine-scale effects provides essential data that feeds directly into broader studies of plants, wildlife, insects, soil chemistry, and a host of ecosystem components. For example, the unburned patches of vegetation consistently mapped since 2005 have been shown to have important implications for pine regeneration, ground cover diversity, soil nutrient recycling, and even Bobwhite Quail, Bachman’s Sparrow, and Gopher Tortoise populations on the Wade Tract.
“We are so fortunate to have had the Wade family’s foresight and guidance to help preserve this important tract,” said Dr. Bobbie Brown, President of the Ingalls Foundation, in her notification of the award. “We truly hope Tall Timbers receives support for all the great research and monitoring projects envisioned for the Wade Tract.”
Tall Timbers would also like to thank Charlie Chapin, Cornelia Corbett, Robert L. Crawford and Mike and Judy Sheridan for their recent gifts that help fulfill other research and monitoring needs for the Wade Tract. To learn more about the goals for the tract, download our new booklet or contact Development Director Crystal Davis at 850.893.4153, x343 or cdavis@talltimbers.org.
Wade Tract Scenes
Photos by Beth Manor Young
