User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
The area that I have chosen to study is a field that runs along the Bow River in the South of Calgary, Alberta. The Pine Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant is located here. The green space next to it, and which runs a long ways along the Bow River, is used by dog walkers (of which I am one) and some owners as an offleash area for dogs to run in. It is not designated as an offleash area by the City of Calgary. The region of the pathway that I walk runs approximately 6 km total, and is on a ridge slightly above the Bow River. A more accurate distance measurement must be made. The Northern stretch of path is more heavily wooded, with many plants growing around the path and on the hills that border the West side of the path. There is a smaller, secondary path that wanders down towards the river and then back up to the meet the main pathway. Walking South from the parking lots, the path is at a higher elevation from the river, and a steep rocky embankment makes it harder to access the river. Northeast of the parking lots there is a main access point to the river.
I go to this area at least once a day during the week with my dogs, but it wasn’t until the end of January that I brought my journal along with me. There are still many natural elements in the park, and more possible subjects to explore than I initially thought, as I had previously only thought about the dogs I was walking. There are many different species of plants, and I have observed ducks, hawks, deer, and coyotes in the area.
I brought my field journal with me on January 30, 2018 at 1030 hours. The weather was excellent that day: sunny and 7℃ with only about 1 cm of snow still on the ground. This is quite warm for the end of January, but was thanks in part to a Chinook blowing in.
Three questions that came to mind were:
- Are there species of plants that are found only along the river, and not in areas that are farther removed from the river?
- There are many wolf-willows (Elaeagnus commutate) along the pathways. The ones that are nearest the path are under 3’ tall, while the ones that are along the secondary pathway are well over 6’. Is this due to the proximity, either distance or elevation, from the river?
- Are the plants on the islands in the middle of the river the same as those along the pathway that I walk, or are they different? Is this due to lack of human activity, or increased presence of wildlife?
