Completed Projects

The following are just a few of the recent research projects which have taken place on The Preserve at Callaway Gardens:

Atmospheric Pollution and Urban Sprawl: Effects on Forests in the Southern Piedmont

The Preserve is one of several venues required for this study. The purpose of the study was to determine effects of land use change (urbanization) on forest condition, particularly those effects related to increased air pollution exposure.

Research project of Diane Styers and Dr. Art Chappeka
Auburn University
School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences

Mourning Dove Banding Study

The objectives of this study included catching and banding doves to help estimate dove hunter harvest rates and band reporting rates among hunters. Twenty-seven states are participating in this multi-year study. Results from this study will help dove biologists implement a nationwide dove harvest strategy.

Research project supervisor Don McGowan, Senior Wildlife Biologist
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Research Division.

Post Oak Trees

A graduate student from Columbia University is studying the influence of climate on the growth of post oak trees across the eastern United States. He took wood core samples from our oldest post oak trees to analyze as part of his doctoral research. This analysis will help us understand the age and growth trends of the trees on The Preserve. It also will help researchers determine if trees react in the same ways or in different ways to changes in climate across the large range in which they grow.

Salamanders

A masters student from Columbus State University completed a study which looked at the populations of these shy creatures living in the springheads across our lands. Not all springheads contained the same kinds or numbers of salamanders. The differences in salamander populations indicate different habitat conditions exist in and around the springheads across the property.

Seismometer Study

Washington University and the U.S. National Science Foundation placed a seismometer on the land to measure the movement of the Earth's core over a two-year period. Our site was one of 25 sites across the eastern United States selected for this study. This information will help geologists understand more about the geology of the Earth form surface to core and understand more about why earthquake activity and mineral deposition occurs where it does.

The Preserve at Callaway Gardens will continue its important role as a venue for conservation research for even more scientists in the future.