User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
The area I have chosen to study is in Dawson Creek, BC. I am studying the forest and creek alongside the Dawson Creek walking trail. The creek winds through the walking trail and goes through the city park. My area of study starts near the Dawson Creek Public Library and continues through Kin Park. The Dawson Creek trail follows the creek for about 4.5 kilometres.
My first trip out was on 14/07/2020 at 9:50. It was about 20°C out and sunny. There was a little bit of wind.
The main area of the creek I focused on was behind the public library. This area is in walking distance of my home, making it a convenient place for me to study.
The creek was low, despite the extreme flooding there was last week. The steeper areas of the creek bank are free of vegetation. All of the plant life on top of the slope is in full bloom.
Observations:
I observed a couple of beaver dams, which led me to wonder what time of the day I was most likely to spot a beaver. I also wondered if they were more likely to chew down certain trees rather than others. I saw a few tree stumps that had chew marks in them. I also saw a bunch of mud by the creek that had been walked over, but I couldn’t make out any obvious footprints.
Next, I observed some flowers with bumble bees on them, which lead to me wondering whether or not they were more likely to pollinate certain flowers rather than others. I also noticed that the blooming flowers were pointing toward the creek and I wondered whether or not there was a reason for this. Some flowers/planst I observed were:
- Prickly Wild Rose (Rose acicularis)
- Western Aster (Symphyotrichum ascendens)
- Wild Lupin (Lupinus Perennis)
- Cows Parsnip (Heracleum maculatum)
I observed some Cows Parsnip by the creek. They became more abundant as I got closer to the creek. I have heard that the sap inside of these can cause burns. The plants I saw and measured were around 58 inches tall.
I could hear lots of birds, but saw very few. Three birds that I saw were the:
- Black-billed magpie (Pica hudsonia)
- Small Brown Bird (Unsure of species)
- Crow (C. caurinus)
Due to my study area being near the public waking trail and park, there were many signs of human activity. There were plenty of human-made trails that went down to the creek.
Some potential study subjects for my project are:
- Beavers (Caster canadensis)
- Bumble bees (Bombus spp.)
- Giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum)
- Black-billed magpie (Pica hudsonia)
Three questions that could possibly help to form the subject of my research project are:
1. Do beavers have a preferred tree species? How is tree selection changed by availability and human activity? What effect do beavers have on the surrounding environment due to their activity? How does flooding effect them?
2. Which wildflowers are bees most likely to pollinate? Is there a specific species or colour that they are more attracted to?
3. Why is there fewer signs of vegetation near the water? It gets slightly less green as you go further down the slope. The giant hogweed, however, becomes more abundant as we near the creak. What is it that makes this species better suited to survive than every other species in the area?
Scan of my field journal:
