Date: 28 April 1994 From: jstanfrd@selway.umt.edu (Jack A Stanford) FLATHEAD LAKE BIOLOGICAL STATION The University of Montana This field research and teaching facility is a Center of Excellence of The University of Montana. It is located 90 miles north of Missoula, on the East Shore of beautiful Flathead Lake. The mission of the Station is to conduct pure and applied ecological research, with emphasis on the limnology of the Flathead River-Lake Ecosystem, to offer a variety of field- oriented courses in ecological disciplines for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, and to provide community service by offering extension courses and seminars for the general public. The faculty and staff also generate and maintain natural resource data bases that are used by publics and resource management agencies, in addition to supporting the research program at the Station. The clear, deep waters of Flathead Lake lie in a glacial trench cut by Pleistocene ice, which profoundly molded all of the mostly montane landforms in northwestern Montana. Flathead Lake is fed by the mighty Flathead River that gathers its waters in the spectacular mountain ranges of Glacier National Park and the Great Bear and Bob Marshall Wilderness areas. These mountains are characterized by the beautiful banding pattern of Precambrian sediments and the many ice-sculptured peaks rise 3,000 m above the valley floor. Therefore, a wide variety of habitats are easily accessible from FLBS. Plant communities include palouse prairie grasslands, montane fir, cedar and pine forests, subalpine meadows and tundra. Water is everywhere and aquatic ecologists will find lakes, ponds, swamps, bogs, springbrooks, streams and rivers up to seventh order. The four national wildlife refuges located near FLBS and the adjacent, remote mountains offer home to most of the Rocky Mountain fauna, including rare species such as the grizzly bear, bald eagle and westslope cutthroat trout. The BioStation is located on a peninsula that encloses Yellow Bay on the east shore of Flathead Lake. The grounds include a virgin stand of larch, Douglas fir, a ponderosa pine forest and a springbrook. The BioStation also has land on Bull Island and Polson Bay and manages the Bird Islands. A state-of-the-art Freshwater Research Laboratory was opened in March 1981 to upgrade existing research capabilities. Research at the Biological Station currently includes the following projects: * analyses of the effects of accelerated nutrient loading on the temporal dynamics of phytoplankton in Flathead and Swan Lakes; * the impacts of Mysis relicta, an exotic shrimp recently introduced into Flathead Lake, on lake food web structure and nutrient cycling; * effects of climate change on thermal complexity and biotic integrity of streams with seasonal intrusion of nonnative fishes; * nutrient and zoobenthos dynamics in streams affected by wildfires; * influences of groundwater upwelling on riverine biodiversity and productivity; * bioenergetic mechanisms affecting the physiology and growth of aquatic organisms including species-specific thermal and physiological ecologies; * limnology of subalpine lakes in The Bob Marshall Wilderness; * hydrologic and fluvial influences on distribution of zoobenthos of gravel-bed rivers; * effects of flow and temperature regulation by dams on Rocky Mountain rivers; * influences of surface- and groundwater flow on floodplain ecology. Research is funded by grants and contracts from Federal and State agencies and by private contributions. Formal courses are offered each summer during an 8-week session which emphasizes field investigations of the diverse aquatic and terrestrial habitats found at or near the Station. The program emphasizes aquatic studies and is offered through the Division of Biological Sciences at UM, which is also the home department for Station faculty. The formal courses each carry semester credits (transferable to most University programs in the U.S. and Canada) and are offered 2 1/2 days per week. Courses offered at the Biological Station include: Terrestrial Plant Ecology Ecology of Mammals Lake Ecology River Ecology Ecology of Fishes Animal Behavior Ecosystem Analysis Ecology of Birds Aquatic Insects Phycology Terrestrial Plant Systematics Aquatic Flowering Plants Plant-Animal Interactions Mycology In addition to summer courses, the Biological Station offers opportunities for graduate studies in aquatic biology and ecology. Several research assistantships are available. We also offer data bases, short courses and seminars throughout the year to inform agencies and the public of research results, new technologies and information regarding natural resources and other environmental issues. Information about the Station is provided in the Yellow Bay Journal, a newsletter published by the Friends of the Biological Station ($15/yr). With the addition of new dining and housing facilities, the Flathead Lake Biological Station provides a unique setting to visiting scientists and educational institutions for conferences and seminars. Together with existing cabins, it is now possible to house up to 100 people in the summer and 24 in the winter. People interested in using the Biological Station facilities for educational or research purposes may contact the Director or the Assistant Director for Operations at the following address: Flathead Lake Biological Station The University of Montana 311 Bio Station Lane Polson, MT 59860-9659 Phone number: (406) 982-3301 Fax number: (406) 982-3201 E-Mail: jstanfrd@selway.umt.edu