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Instructions

Student presentations must have a faculty sponsor.

Abstracts must include a title and a description of the research, scholarship, or creative work. The description should be 150-225 words in length and constructed in a format or style appropriate for the presenter’s discipline.

The following points should be addressed within the selected format or style for the abstract:

  • A clear statement of the problem or question you pursued, or the scholarly goal or creative theme achieved in your work.
  • A brief comment about the significance or uniqueness of the work.
  • A clear description of the methods used to achieve the purpose or goals for the work.
  • A statement of the conclusions, results, outcomes, or recommendations, or if the work is still in progress, the results you expect to report at the event.

Presenter photographs should be head and shoulder shots comparable to passport photos.

Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

  • Jun Wang
  • Kim Instenes
  • John Kirk
  • Nora Nickels
  • Andrew Pustina
  • James Ripley

Invasion Factors of Northern Wisconsin Lakes

Name: Katrina Punzel
Major: Biology, Environmental Science
Hometown: Janesville, WI
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:  
Type of research: Senior thesis
Funding: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Abstract

Lake ecosystems are valuable as a source of human resources by providing recreation and food. Because of the heavy use of lakes by humans, these lakes are also susceptible to invasive species. Understanding the success of invasive species can lead to new strategies of lake restoration and invasive control. Prior work has focused on two mechanisms: excess resources and interspecific facilitation. However, no model focuses on the interactions between these mechanisms in respect to lake ecosystems or on aquatic macrophytes. A third model, the resources/fostering model, encompassing both factors is proposed here. Data on water quality parameters and invasives species were taken from the early 1970s to the present and compared to the number of invasive species and the number of years since the initial invasion event in order to determine how to formulate the new model. The total number of invasive species present in a lake was found to significantly correlate with the length of time since the initial invasion event. Therefore, interspecific interactions may significantly affect invasion success in lake ecosystems.  Further focus on the resources/fostering model should be on the trend of invasive species sequence and the specific interactions between the invasive species presented. 

Poster file

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