User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
I have chosen to observe a small deciduous forest, approximately 150 square metres in size, located at 51°6’14”N and 114°8’21”W, just outside of the NW Calgary Dr. EW Coffin Elementary School limits. This city park was adopted by the elementary school through the Adopt-A-Park program, but otherwise holds no designation. I visited this site on September 16, 2019 from 3:15pm to 3:50pm. The weather was 16°C and mainly sunny with some cirrus clouds.
The forest is located on a hillside, with the elevation gain of about 12m, from an altitude of 1130m at the bottom of the forest limits to 1141m at the top. It is primarily made up of aspen trees, both large and small. Beneath these trees sit a variety of flowering plants, berry bushes, thistle, mushrooms, and smaller leaved trees. The floor of the forest is comprised of smooth, brome grass. Large aspen trees are found on the South-West bottom edge of the hill, along with the long, native grass, the thistle bushes, and the mushroom patches. The centre of the forest is more clear of aspen trees and is comprised mainly of smaller bushes. The top of the forest contains densely-packed aspens, none of which are as large as those on the bottom face. Throughout the forest are multiple gravel paths, grass foot-paths, and informational signs. An amphitheater is also located on the North side at the top of the hill. Small, bee-like pollinators were present on the flowering plants, and mosquitoes were identified.
There are certain observations that caught my attention during my visit. Dandelions seemed to have taken over the centre clearing of the forest, leading me to my first question of interest: What has allowed for this dandelion take-over in the centre forest, and why are they so contained to this area? I also noticed that the aspen trees on the South face were very green, and much larger than the others. Finally, I observed that, on average, the smaller aspen tree leaves appeared to be much more yellow than the leaves on the larger trees. I have multiple questions related to these observations. For one, what factors are causing the smaller trees to turn yellow faster than the larger trees? My final question of interest is less based on an observation I noticed during this visit and more a question for the future: Are there differences in the rate of leaf colour change, and then leaf loss, in the trees located on the top of the hill versus on the bottom? In other words, how does tree position on a hill affect its health as the Fall season progresses with regards to colour change and leaf loss?
I look forward to narrowing down my subject for this research project, as this forest offers many questions waiting to be answered.
Madeleine Browne
