Facilities and Infrastructure
The Gifford lab is well-furnished with equipment for ecological and physiological research. Below is a list of some items available for research in the lab.
Additional equipment, with photos, are shown below:
- Digital camera with standard (30 frames per second, fps) and high-speed video capacity (300-600 fps) - Can be used for behavioral research as well as for quantifying performance (locomotor performance, biomechanics, etc.). This camera can also take high-resolution stills for digital morphometric studies.
- Environmental chambers - 2 Percival chambers capable of simulating variation in thermal regime and photoperiod.
- ibutton thermochrons - small thermal data loggers to quantify microenvironmental conditions.
- Mitutoyo digital calipers - for linear morphometrics.
- Visual Implant Elastomer (VIE) kit - for capture-mark-recapture studies.
- Miscellaneous laboratory and field experimental supplies - dip nets, plastic tubs (for mesocosm experiments), etc.
- Microbomb calorimeter - for determination of calorific content of a variety of substances
Additional equipment, with photos, are shown below:
Field-portable small animal racetrack
- We also have a small animal treadmill - for measuring lizard endurance capacity
8-channel Sable Systems respirometry system paired with a Percival environmental chamber
6-channel PyroScience Firesting fiber optic respirometry system. This system is used primarily for aquatic respiration applications.
We also use this system for measurements of metabolic rate in the field.
We also use this system for measurements of metabolic rate in the field.
Soxhlet extraction apparatus for solvent extraction of biological materials, mainly lipids from animal tissues.
Quantitative magnetic resonance (QMR) machine for non-invasively measuring body composition (fat mass, water mass, and lean tissue mass) in small live animals ranging in size from 1g to 100g. So far we have successfully validated QMR measurements for S. consobrinus and Anolis carolinensis. Validation experiments are underway for Desmognathus brimleyorum.
We have about 250-300 square feet of live animal space for housing lizards indoors.
We are in the process of building an array of large outdoor enclosures for lizards experiments. This "facility" will have up to 24 4mX4m or 12 4mX8m enclosures and 20-30 smaller ones, approximately 1m in diameter. The enclosures are on campus, a short 10-minute walk, or 3-minute drive from the lab. This facility will significantly increase the lab infrastructure and allow for many new studies under semi-controlled, but natural conditions.
