Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology
Encyclopedia
The Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology (PLE) is a year-round ecology
field station of the University of Pittsburgh
Department of Biological Sciences located in Linesville
and South Shenango Township
on the shores Pymatuning Lake in Pennsylvania
. The station contains research facilities and equipment, conducts undergraduate education and courses, and serves as center for conferences, symposia, and retreats. The Pyatuning Laboratory hosts researchers from the University of Pittsburgh as well as those from other universities which have included, among others, Duke University
, the University of Virginia
, the University of Georgia
, and the University of Miami
. Likewise, course instructors at the lab come from the University of Pittsburgh, but also have included instructors from other institutions including Georgia Tech, the University of Connecticut
, and the National Aviary
. In addition, the University of Pittsburgh has instituted a collaborative program for study at the Pymatuning Lab with other area universities in which students that are enrolled through any of these institutions register, pay tuition, and receive credit at their home institutions. Schools participating in the collaborative program include Clarion University
, Edinboro University
, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
, and Slippery Rock University
.
in 1926. However, the creation of Presque Isle State Park
crowded out the modest field station, and in 1949 the field station moved to Pymatuning State Park
. The University of Pittsburgh obtained a lease from the state for a 13 acres (52,609.2 m²) wooded peninsula adjacent to the Pennsylvania State Fish Hatchery which became known as the Sanctuary Lake Site. The first building was constructed on this site in 1952. Over time more research buildings were erected on the site in order to satisfy the educational and research needs of the University of Pittsburgh and visiting faculty and students from other colleges and universities in Western Pennsylvania.
By 1965, the university had outgrown the Sanctuary Lake Site facilities and it obtained a second lease from the Pymatuning State Park for a dedicated Housing site.
As the Housing site expanded and developed, the Sanctuary Lake Site was dedicated to maintaining modern research and teaching facilities. Today, this site has modern facilities for housing instructors, researchers, and students as well as a Dining Hall, Kitchen, and Recreation Hall.
Major renovations and building projects were undertaken in the mid-1990s that resulted in a 30% increase in space and included the installation of numerous pieces of equipment and lab renovations. Among the projects was a new $81,000 1700 square feet (157.9 m²) administration building with a library and a $102,000 faculty housing unit that was completed in 1997. Since 2000, the University of Pittsburgh has renovated and expanded the facilities, as well as adding a significant increase in land. This has included the acquisition of three research properties, Wallace Woods, Beagle Road, and the Livingston Farm, that total 360 acres (1.5 km²). In addition, the university has constructed five additional labs.
along Linesville Creek in the Pymatuning watershed
, and another tract of successional meadow, designated for experimental plantings and manipulations, a few miles from the laboratory site. An old-growth forest preserve of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
also is managed by the Lab. Facilities include 10 research labs, cabins, dormitories, a dining hall, and lecture rooms. The lab is also stocked with a variety of equipment for research as well as recreational purposes.
and is considered to be one of the finest examples of such an old-growth forest in northwestern Pennsylvania.
s, kayak
s, a volleyball
court, and a horseshoe
pit, and is nearby are beaches for swimming and trails for hiking, biking, bird watching, and running.
Undergraduate and graduate student housing is provided in three dormatories
: the Mountain Laurel Men's Dorm, White-tailed Deer Women's Dorm, and the Bald Eagle Dorm. The dorms consist of a large room with 4 single beds and attached bath. A lounge area in each dorm serves as a social center and contains desktop computers that are connected to the internet. Residents take meals in the Dining Hall or use a communal kitchen in the Pavilion.
Researchers can obtain housing in the two-story Ruffled grouse Apartments or in one of six cabins. The apartments consist of 2 bedrooms that share bath and a kitchen which is equipped with microwaves, stoves, refrigerators, dishes, utensils and cookware. Each bedroom has a private entrance and has either one double bed or 2 single beds and, if available, can be rented as a unit to provide family housing. The cabins which each have a living room, equipped kitchen, bath and 1, 2, or 3 bedrooms. Cabin bedrooms may contain either one double or two single beds. If space is available, 2 and 3 bedroom cabins may be rented to provide family housing.
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
field station of the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
Department of Biological Sciences located in Linesville
Linesville, Pennsylvania
Linesville is a borough in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,155 at the 2000 census. The town gets its name from its founders, which included William Line , who migrated from Carlisle, Pennsylvania circa the early 1820s, and his relative, Amos Line who was the...
and South Shenango Township
South Shenango Township, Pennsylvania
South Shenango Township is a township in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,047 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
on the shores Pymatuning Lake in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. The station contains research facilities and equipment, conducts undergraduate education and courses, and serves as center for conferences, symposia, and retreats. The Pyatuning Laboratory hosts researchers from the University of Pittsburgh as well as those from other universities which have included, among others, Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
, the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
, the University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
, and the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
. Likewise, course instructors at the lab come from the University of Pittsburgh, but also have included instructors from other institutions including Georgia Tech, the University of Connecticut
University of Connecticut
The admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...
, and the National Aviary
National Aviary
The National Aviary, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is America's only independent indoor nonprofit aviary. It is also America's largest aviary, and the only accorded honorary "National" status by the United States Congress.-Location and features:...
. In addition, the University of Pittsburgh has instituted a collaborative program for study at the Pymatuning Lab with other area universities in which students that are enrolled through any of these institutions register, pay tuition, and receive credit at their home institutions. Schools participating in the collaborative program include Clarion University
Clarion University of Pennsylvania
Clarion University of Pennsylvania, located on a campus in Clarion, Pennsylvania, is one of fourteen universities of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education ....
, Edinboro University
Edinboro University of Pennsylvania
Edinboro University is a public liberal arts university located in Edinboro, Pennsylvania, USA and one of 14 schools associated with the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. The town is named after Edinburgh, Scotland. It is also not to be confused with the University of Edinburgh...
, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Indiana University of Pennsylvania is a public university in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, USA. The university is northeast of Pittsburgh. It is the largest university in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and is the commonwealth's fifth largest university...
, and Slippery Rock University
Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania is a public, master's-level university that offers some doctoral programs in cooperation with Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Both institutions are members of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education...
.
History
The University of Pittsburgh established a biological field station at Presque Isle, Pennsylvania on the shores of Lake ErieLake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
in 1926. However, the creation of Presque Isle State Park
Presque Isle State Park
Presque Isle State Park is a Pennsylvania state park on an arching sandy peninsula that juts into Lake Erie, west of the city of Erie, in Millcreek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The peninsula sweeps northeastward, surrounding Presque Isle Bay along the park's...
crowded out the modest field station, and in 1949 the field station moved to Pymatuning State Park
Pymatuning State Park
Pymatuning State Park is Pennsylvania state park covering in Conneaut, North Shenango, Pine, Sadsbury, South Shenango, West Fallowfield and West Shenango Townships, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, in the United States...
. The University of Pittsburgh obtained a lease from the state for a 13 acres (52,609.2 m²) wooded peninsula adjacent to the Pennsylvania State Fish Hatchery which became known as the Sanctuary Lake Site. The first building was constructed on this site in 1952. Over time more research buildings were erected on the site in order to satisfy the educational and research needs of the University of Pittsburgh and visiting faculty and students from other colleges and universities in Western Pennsylvania.
By 1965, the university had outgrown the Sanctuary Lake Site facilities and it obtained a second lease from the Pymatuning State Park for a dedicated Housing site.
As the Housing site expanded and developed, the Sanctuary Lake Site was dedicated to maintaining modern research and teaching facilities. Today, this site has modern facilities for housing instructors, researchers, and students as well as a Dining Hall, Kitchen, and Recreation Hall.
Major renovations and building projects were undertaken in the mid-1990s that resulted in a 30% increase in space and included the installation of numerous pieces of equipment and lab renovations. Among the projects was a new $81,000 1700 square feet (157.9 m²) administration building with a library and a $102,000 faculty housing unit that was completed in 1997. Since 2000, the University of Pittsburgh has renovated and expanded the facilities, as well as adding a significant increase in land. This has included the acquisition of three research properties, Wallace Woods, Beagle Road, and the Livingston Farm, that total 360 acres (1.5 km²). In addition, the university has constructed five additional labs.
Facilities
The lab and teaching facilities of the Pymatuning Laboratory are located within public lands consisting of an 11000 acres (44.5 km²) Wildlife Sanctuary and Propagation area owned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In addition, the Pymatuning Laboratory owns 360 acres (1.5 km²) of research sites that includes tracts of forest, successional field, and wetlandWetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....
along Linesville Creek in the Pymatuning watershed
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
, and another tract of successional meadow, designated for experimental plantings and manipulations, a few miles from the laboratory site. An old-growth forest preserve of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy , headquartered in Pittsburgh, has been around for more than 75 years and exists to protect the water, land and life of western Pennsylvania. Half of all the land that has been protected by land trusts in Pennsylvania has been conserved by the Western...
also is managed by the Lab. Facilities include 10 research labs, cabins, dormitories, a dining hall, and lecture rooms. The lab is also stocked with a variety of equipment for research as well as recreational purposes.
Sanctuary Lake Site
The Sanctuary Lake Site is the original research site for the Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology since 1949 and is situated on Sanctuary Lake, a protected waterway, which several of the original classrooms overlook. This 13 acre (0.05260918 km²) site contains eight research laboratories, a stockroom, environmental chambers, a -40 °C freezer, wireless internet, a computer lab, and 24 hour emergency power back-up. There is also a library and a large lecture hall that can accommodate more than 100 people.Livingston Road Laboratory
The Livingston Road Laboratory, affectionately called "the farm", is the newest facility at PLE and contains 134 acre (0.54227924 km²) of field and forest, offering a variety of venues for observation or experimentation. In addition, there is a newly constructed 3000 square feet (278.7 m²) building containing aquatic and terrestrial research laboratories, a large garage for storage, two water wells, temperature controlled rooms, offices, restrooms, dsl internet access, and a modern security system.Beagle Road Site
The Beagle Road Site is a 23 acre (0.09307778 km²) site that supports an old-field community and is currently the location for a variety of old-field and aquatic mesocosm experiments.Wallace Woods
Wallace Woods is a 26 acre (0.10521836 km²) site that contains a fairly mature second-growth forest. It also includes a stretch of Linesville Creek for aquatic study. The vegetation of this site has been particularly well studied over the years, allowing providing significant potential for future research projects.Tryon-Weber Woods
Tryon-Weber Woods is an 84 acre (0.33993624 km²) site of forested land that is stewarded by Pymatuning Lab and owned by the Western Pennsylvania Nature Conservancy. It contains a mature American beech-sugar maple woodsBeech-maple forest
A beech-maple forest is a climax mesic closed canopy hardwood forest. It is primarily composed of American Beech and Sugar Maple trees which co-dominate the forest and which are the pinnacle of plant succession in their range...
and is considered to be one of the finest examples of such an old-growth forest in northwestern Pennsylvania.
Janette Rose Tryon Reserve
The Janette Rose Tryon Reserve contains 80 acre (0.3237488 km²) of forested land that was selectively logged in recent decades. The land contains second-growth timber and a substantial number of wetlands located within the forest mosaic.Residences
Various on-site and off-site residences exist at the Pymatuning Lab for students and researchers.Housing Site
The Housing Site, located on the shores of Pymatuning Lake, contains most of the residential opportunities for students and researchers. The site is composed of ten residence structures and also includes on-site equipped kitchens, a laundry facility, dining hall, and a recreational room that features a fireplace, satellite television, pool table, foosball table, and ping-pong table. The entire lake-shore housing site is served by high-speed, wireless internet. The Housing Site also maintains a supply of recreation equipment including canoeCanoe
A canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...
s, kayak
Kayak
A kayak is a small, relatively narrow, human-powered boat primarily designed to be manually propelled by means of a double blade paddle.The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each seating one paddler...
s, a volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
court, and a horseshoe
Horseshoes
Horseshoes is an outdoor game played between two people using four horseshoes and two throwing targets set in a sandbox area. The game is played by the players alternating turns tossing horseshoes at stakes in the ground, which are traditionally placed 40 feet apart...
pit, and is nearby are beaches for swimming and trails for hiking, biking, bird watching, and running.
Undergraduate and graduate student housing is provided in three dormatories
Dormitory
A dormitory, often shortened to dorm, in the United States is a residence hall consisting of sleeping quarters or entire buildings primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, college or university students...
: the Mountain Laurel Men's Dorm, White-tailed Deer Women's Dorm, and the Bald Eagle Dorm. The dorms consist of a large room with 4 single beds and attached bath. A lounge area in each dorm serves as a social center and contains desktop computers that are connected to the internet. Residents take meals in the Dining Hall or use a communal kitchen in the Pavilion.
Researchers can obtain housing in the two-story Ruffled grouse Apartments or in one of six cabins. The apartments consist of 2 bedrooms that share bath and a kitchen which is equipped with microwaves, stoves, refrigerators, dishes, utensils and cookware. Each bedroom has a private entrance and has either one double bed or 2 single beds and, if available, can be rented as a unit to provide family housing. The cabins which each have a living room, equipped kitchen, bath and 1, 2, or 3 bedrooms. Cabin bedrooms may contain either one double or two single beds. If space is available, 2 and 3 bedroom cabins may be rented to provide family housing.