Dr. Kevin McCluney part of $780,000 NSF grant study

Researchers study connections among temporary wetlands in the Great Plains 

Dr. Kevin McCluney, assistant professor of biological sciences at Bowling Green State University, is part of a research team that has been awarded a macrosystems grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The four-year, $780,000 grant will fund research on the connections that occur over long distances among National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) sites in the Great Plains. 

The research study focuses on the extent to which birds and their migratory patterns, wind and climate link 25 shallow, temporary water basins, or playas, in North Dakota, Kansas, Colorado, Texas and New Mexico, and how invertebrates in this large system of wetlands change over time.

McCluney explains the value of understanding these systems: “If we better understand how ecosystems that are far apart are connected to one another, and how diversity – both genetic and species diversity – influence how these communities change over time, then those theories can be transferred to other systems where there are more direct impacts on humans.”