Associate Professor of Biology
Science Center 65
Phone: (319) 352-8708
Fax: (319) 352-8606
Email: johanna.foster@wartburg.edu

Mail address
Biology Department
Wartburg College
100 Wartburg Blvd.
Waverly, Iowa, USA 50677

Courses Taught
BI 117 Environmental Biology
BI 151 Ecosystem, Cells, & Evolution
BI 152 Form and Function
BI 455 Methods of Biological Research
BI 456 Student Research
BI 461 Science Seminar

Advising Expertise
Biology, environmental biology, ecology, field work, and graduate-level ecology

Research Interests
Tallgrass prairies are one of our most endangered ecosystems within North America: there are less than 5% for the entire United States. Restoring and preserving this ecosystem is one of my major interests. I am currently working on the effects that mound-building ants have on prairie plants and soils; and I have discovered that ant mounds have significant effects on soil organic matter, moisture, plant species distributions, and plant cover. I plan to expand this research to include ant behavior related to plant/insect interactions, and to add greenhouse experiments to identify specific plant responses to changes that occur on the prairie.

Another project I’m working on is the ecology of the riparian plant species, Dirca palustris (leatherwood shrub). This species is usually found in relatively undisturbed forested areas; and is not known to occur in Kansas. This species is living in a forest in far eastern Kansas, and I am working on describing its habitat there.