User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
The study area I will be examining is located in an urban neighborhood in Lamar County near Hattiesburg, MS. The area I have selected includes a cleared section that was covered in red clay and sand to create a makeshift road, a partially cleared forested area where the soil is a mixture of transported sand and native soil to the area and regrowth has taken place, and an old-growth section that was not influenced by anthropogenic means during the creation of the road.
My observations began in a section that had been cleared and made into a small road that transitions from sand to concrete-like red clay. In this area there is no vegetation, however, I have found deer, raccoon, and bird footprints in this section. The red clay road makes a small incline into a semi-cleared forested area where the soil has a mix of sand from the road and native soil. Since being cleared regrowth has begun to form where the road was. This area transitions into a more heavily forested area where only natural clearing has occurred.
I visited the location on October 18th, 2020, it was 11:30 local time and there were few clouds splattering the sky. It was 28 degrees celsius.
Notably, the plant diversity and richness varies over the gradient from the transition of the sanded road to the forested area as well as the size of the plants. Additionally, I observed that the presence of animals was more pronounced on the sanded road where the sand could capture tracks than in the treed area where animal presence was more easily disguised.
Questions of interest I had included:
- Are the types of plants in the different gradients all native or are any of the plants invasive to the area?
- How do precipitation and sunlight impact plant growth in each of the different areas?
- Will the edge of the old-growth area influence the speed and types of species that grow in the regrowth area?
- Which area is more likely to have the largest Are animals more likely to be found in the old-growth area where there is less anthropogenic activity than on the sanded road?
Below is a drawing of the observed area:
Figure 1: Illustration of observed area including makeshift sanded road, regrowth area, and old-growth area.
