Category: Post 1: Observations

Blog Post 1: Observations

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The backyard setting I observed is located on half an acre in the suburban community of Chatham, New Jersey. It is made up of a combination of manicured lawn, trees, shrubs and bushes, hundreds of natural trees, shrubs and bushes, mulch, and an unmanicured forested area with deadfall and decayed leaves. Many of the natural trees, consisting of what I believe are oak, birch, pine and dogwood, provide extensive ground cover and shade and are home to various squirrels, chipmunks and birds. I would like to learn more about these different species of trees.

Separating the manicured lawn and mulch area with the natural forested area is a stream with a small foot-bridge over top. At the time of this observation the stream was mostly dried up. It was muddy and wet in the bottom with a lot of dead leaves but was not freely flowing. A large oak tree sits in the middle of the manicured lawn area.

I first observed this setting on a spring afternoon, April 2nd at around 2:00 pm. It was partly cloudy but the sun was still shining in the backyard and the temperature was around 18 degrees celcius. I observed many branches and twigs on the ground that had fallen from the trees above in the previous days, likely from windy and rainy weather as well as just natural deadfall. I wonder about the health of the trees as there seems to be a lot of deadfall in this small area. Is this natural or are there potential issues?

In the forested area, some natural daisies and tulips had started to bloom but were not quite flowering yet. A magnolia tree on the manicured lawn was just starting to bud. The ground was slightly damp on the SW portion of the lawn although the rest was dry. Birds could be heard chirping in the trees above and a few squirrels could be seen running between the south fence and the large oak tree in the backyard. I observed a few different species of birds and am interested in identifying the types. Some may have been blue jays and others may have been cardinals. Small birds, potentially sparrows or robins, were pecking on the lawn although my movements startled them and they took off.filename-1 (13)

Post 1: Observations

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Kevin Ostapowich

March 23, 2019

The study area is approximately 15 acres of crown land behind my house located approximately 10 km south of Smithers, B.C.  It is on the slope of a hillside facing east to slightly north of east.  The slope ranges from 0% grade at the bottom to approximately 30% grade at the upper end of the study area.  It is a wooded area of mostly deciduous with a minor amount of coniferous tree species.  There is no evidence of anthropogenic disturbances such as logging or road building.  Up-slope and higher in elevation from the site is a dominantly pine forest.

Study Area

The most recent site visit was on March 21st, 2019 around 1500 hours.  The weather was sunny, warm (10 degrees centigrade), with snow cover on the ground and no wind.  The tree types I observed in the forest includes paper birch, cottonwood at the base of the slope, aspen, spruce, and pine.  I plan on more thoroughly identifying the species later on in the study.  I roughly estimate the forest composition to be approximately 60% poplar, 25% birch, and 15% coniferous.  The undergrowth includes willows, devils club, and thimbleberry.  There is abundant ungulate (moose) sign throughout the area including tracks, beds, and droppings.

Moose bed, tracks, and droppings
Typical forest mid slope

This site is interesting because there seems to be (through my own other observations and talking with other locals) an abundance of birch on this site compared to other sites around the Bulkley Valley.  It is also a widely spaced deciduous forest in an area where much of the forests are primarily coniferous.  This leads me to believe that there may have been a disturbance, perhaps fire, that lead to the deciduous community coming up in succession.  Questions I have about this site are:

  1. Is this a site of a natural disturbance?
  2. Are the majority of tree species in this forest typical to disturbance-succession environments?
  3. Is the distribution and abundance of birch trees at this site consistent with other sites around the Bulkley Valley region?
Field Notes

 

Blog post 1: Observations

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Shannon Myles

March 18th, 2019

 

The study area chosen is a strip of grassland in Satellite Beach, Florida that separates the beach from the highway. The area covers a rectangle of about 250m alongside the beach and of about 90-100m deep towards the road. The land is flat from the road all the way to the beginning of the sandy beach where the terrain goes downhill and eventually into the ocean.

 

The vegetation in the area seems to be poorly diverse with only a few different grass types, flowering plants and palm trees. The palm trees are scattered in what seems to be a random pattern throughout the area. The site also has Sea Grapes, a type of shrub with large round green leaves. As for the flowering plants, four different varieties were observed in the field. Two yellow flower kinds, one very small white flower, and another small purple flower kind were seen at the site.

 

The area seems to have been left unshaped by man except for this one clear path of about a car’s width that goes from the road to the beach. The path is characterized by not having any vegetation other than short, scattered patches of grass. The soil seems to be very compacted in the area, which leads to believe that the path is used a lot or by heavy machines.

I visited the site around 16:00 in the afternoon of a sunny Wednesday. As the pictures show, a few clouds were in the sky. The temperature was 23C° but felt cold because of the wind coming from the ocean.

What interests me a lot about this site is the possibility to study the gradient formed by the step-cline created by the ocean meeting the land and its effect on abundance or physiology of organisms. Some of the questions I had while walking through the area were the following:

  1. How does the abundance of flowering plants vary in relation to the distance with the ocean in the ecotone?
  2. Is the width of Sea Grape leaves affected by its proximity to the step-cline?
  3. Is there a correlation between the height of the palm trees in the area and their distance from the beach?

Post 1: Observations

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Colliery Dam Park is four-hectare B.C. Historic Provincial Park located at 635 Wakesiah Avenue, Nanaimo. I visited the park in the afternoon after it had lightly rained that morning. It was approximately 5 °C. It’s generally flat and forested predominately by Douglas Fir, Western Red Cedar, Western Hemlock, and Big Leaf Maples. There is a number of invasive plants such as Daphne, English Holly, English Ivy, Himalayan Blackberry, and Scotch Broom. I was aware that Scotch Broom was invasive, but I never realized English Ivy was too. Many of the trees and ferns were covered by the Ivy and it appeared the amount of ivy increased the farther from the main path you went. Additionally, there has been work done in recent years on the dams and spillways.

Hypothesize:

  1. How does the distribution and abundance of English Ivy change throughout the park and/or the main path?
  2. Do the dams and spillways affect the growth of certain plant species?
  3. How does the distribution and abundance of Daphne change throughout the park?
Initial field observations
English Ivy growing on ferns and trees.

Blog Post 1

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Field Journal 1

The site I chose is about one acre of land and is where a river flows out of a lake. The area is mostly water but has a fair bit of plants and trees on the edges of the river. I visited this location on February 17th at around 1:30pm. At the time it was -21 degrees C (wind chill of -28 degrees C) with overcast clouds and 15 km/hr north west winds. There was about a foot to a foot-and-a-half of snow on the ground. The area is located in northern Alberta (Slave Lake) so it is almost completely flat. The vegetation mostly consists of cattails closest to the rivers edge and spruce trees, shrubs and grasses off shore. Three questions that are interesting or striking to me are as follows.

  1. I noticed that most of the vegetation there is dormant during the winter. For example tall yellow grass sticking out of the snow. A possible research question could be related to how vegetation can survive in such cold weather and deep snow. Or the types of adaptations they have that allow them to survive in this environment.
  2. I noticed a fair bit of deer tracks in the area which made me wonder how much vegetation was available for animals during these months since almost everything was covered in a deep layer of snow.
  3. Finally I noticed a lot of cattails on the rivers edge as well as low spots in the area such as ditches. Cattail require moisture in the soil to maintain themselves while dormant (which explains why I found them in lower areas of the landscape) but is this affected by extreme weather conditions (for example the week prior to these observations the temperatures reached -45 degrees C)? How are they affected when the river is frozen? Can they retain moisture the same in cold temperatures? Can the cold weather preserve seeds better?

Post 1: Observations

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The study site I have selected is a wooded forest area in Kluane, Yukon. It is pretty heavily forested and not much human interference in this area. It is a massive area so I decided to study an area that is approximately 400 m2. It is on top of a hillslope, and is heavily forested and has lots of animal traffic throughout it with many different tree and plant species. The forest floor is heavily covered in a thick layer of moss as well I visited the site on September 4th, 2018 at around 4-5pm. The weather at this time was around 10-12oC, and was a very sunny, clear day. There are many subjects that this project can be based on, I can focus on the tree species in the area or some of the insect species that are prominent in this area. I know that this area is severely affected by the spruce beetle, and that is why most of the tree cover here is dead. When you look at this area you can see many of the trees are a greyish colour, meaning they are dead or about to die and the main reason is due to these beetles. One question that could form based on these observations is how great is the impact that these insects have on the spruce population in this region. Another question is whether these insects are an issue due to some environmental factor such as weather or another species. Also is this species a native or invasive species which has created this immense issue?

Blog Post 1: Observations

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Blog Post 1: Observations – General Brock Park, Vancouver, BC

Observations by: Harriette Laroco
Location: General Brock Park, Vancouver, BC
Date: Monday, 18 February 2019
Weather: Clear, sunny skies; slight wind
Time of Observation: 15:09-15:48

My field research project will cover General Brock Park, in the Kensington-Cedar Cottage neighbourhood in Vancouver, BC. It is a small city park that is 2.11 hectares in size. The park is in a residential area of Vancouver and is frequented by local residents and their pets, as well as wildlife such as chipmunks, crows, and geese. In warmer weather, the park is also frequently used by local sports teams.

Figure 1. Satellite image of General Brock Park using Google Maps.

My first observations were made on Monday, February 18, 2019 when the park was covered in snow. Recent rainfall caused some snow to melt, leaving some grass patches to be seen. The snow had also become icy.

Figure 2. Snow-covered General Brock Park, facing SE

The park is tree-lined with rolling green hills to the south (now snow-covered). Right outside of the park bounds are residential streets and houses. Towards the northwestern side of the park is a small street hockey area and to the southwest is a small playground (Figure 3 and Figure 4, respectively).

Figure 3. Street hockey area at northwestern end of General Brock Park

Figure 4. Playground at southwestern end of General Brock Park

The snow allowed me to observe some animal tracks (Figure 5, Figure 6, Figure 7).

Figure 5. Paw prints

Figure 6. Bird print set 1

Figure 7. Bird print set 2

 

Figure 8. Field notes – Monday, 18 February 2019

Some questions I drew during this initial observation period were:

  1. How has the frequency of human and domesticated animal use of the park affected the park’s vegetation?
  2. Why are chestnut burrs more prominently found towards tops of trees?
  3. Why are chestnut burrs found in greater numbers in the trees found towards the south of the park?

Blog Post 1: Observations

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Blog Post 1: Observations

Site Visit # 1

  • Observer: Mark Visser
  • Location: Goldbar Park, Edmonton, Alberta
  • Date: January 13, 2019
  • Time: 14:00
  • Weather: -3°C, Clear and Sunny Skies.

The location I have chosen for my field research project is Gold Bar Park located in Edmonton, Alberta on the south bank of the North Saskatchewan River. Gold Bar Park is a City of Edmonton managed park. The entrance to Gold Bar Park is located next to the Gold Bar Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) with the outfall of the WWTP located upstream of the park. The park consists of many kilometres of walking trails (which during the winter months double as cross-country ski trails), picnic shelters, and a washroom facility.

Gold Bar Park can be separated into two ecological communities:

  1. Open Area/Wetland Complex
    • This area in the summer is characterized by a mowed grass field (however the grass field is covered in snow), parking lot, scattered clumps of coniferous/deciduous trees and two man made wetland complexes.
    • Dominant vegetation consisted of shrubs along the boundaries of the wetland and the scattered clumps of trees were dominated by coniferous trees with occasional deciduous trees throughout.
    • Topography in this area was gentle slopes with small rolling hills.
Open Wetland Complex
  1. Forested Riparian Zone
    • This area is a closed canopy riparian forest along the North Saskatchewan River. The dominant vegetation was deciduous trees and shrubs with coniferous trees throughout.
    • An off-leash dog walking trail occurs within the riparian forest at the top of the bank of the North Saskatchewan River.
Riparian Forest

Incidental/Other Observations

  • Ducks observed in the open water area of the North Saskatchewan River downstream of the WWTP.
North Saskatchewan River
  • Red squirrel calling within the riparian forest.
  • Multiple singing Black Capped Chickadee with in the riparian forest.
  • Observed 2 birds within one Wetland Complex.

After visiting the site, the topics I’m interested in further researching would be:

  1. Does the bird species diversity change between the two ecological communities listed above?
  2. Does smell and sound from the WWTP affect abundance of bird densities within the forest adjacent to the WWTP compared to the further you move away from the WWTP?
  3. Do birds prefer to perch in trees with denser cover such as coniferous trees or with less cover such as deciduous trees.
Field Notes – January 13, 2019

Post 1: Observations

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Blog Post 1

 

Area:

This is Lac Du Bois grasslands, which is adjacent to Tranquille Rd. in Kamloops BC.

 

Physical:

This area is characterized by volcanic cliffs and serpentine soils that show up as red outcroppings, which has given rise to the name Cinnamon Ridge.

 

Size:

The area in question is a little over 1 hectare (10,000 m2)

 

Location:

Kamloops, BC

 

Vegetation:

Bunchgrass Ecosystem (BPPE)

 

Designation:

This area was designated in 1995 as Lac Du Bois Grasslands Protected Area as its formal name under the BC Parks Act.

 

When:

Sunday January 13, 2019 at approximately 12:30 pm

I hiked through muddy tracks to reach the test area and remained there until about 2:30

The weather was overcast & -1oC, with little snow left on the ground.

 

I was driving by Cinnamon Ridge composting area and noticed a patch of land that appeared to have a disturbance.  In 2009, from what I have been told, there was a spark from the CN railway in a very hot summer day that started a grass fire that spread up into the Lac Du Bois grasslands.  As the provincial fire control center by the Kamloops Airport was close by, they responded immediately and the fire did not spread too quickly.  Being a naturalist, I walked through the area, making observations about the differences in two areas.  What I observed was somewhat surprising, where there was a distinct edge where on one side there were many plant varieties growing, including sagebrush, and the other side where there were less vegetation and little to no sagebrush.  There was a distinct trail that people use for hiking and biking on one edge separating the two areas.  There were burnt out stumps of sagebrush scattered throughout the disturbed area.  Although it has been 10 years since this fire occurred, it is surprising to see how slowly this area has taken to recover from such a disturbance.  I observed cactus, sagebrush, a variety of different grasses that grew in different bunches like funnels, and patches of lichen & mosses scattered over the ground that formed a “crust”, as well as some early stages of weeds such as knapweed.  This crust that was covering the soil was curious, and after speaking to others about this area I learned this crust served to keep the moisture in the soil, and seemed to only grow where the sagebrush is growing. The smaller sage had foliage that smelled quite nice and fragrant.

 

Questions:

 

  1. Why are there no sagebrush growing in the burned area and why is the bunchgrass able to grow so well in the disturbed area?
  2. How different are the two areas in respect to other vegetation, without consideration for sagebrush?
  3. Are the differences seen in this site similar to other sites in the same region that have experienced such a disturbance?

 

 

 

Burn site near Cinnamon Ridge

 

Ecotone division; Burn site, North facing, Lac Du Bois
Burn site, facing West, Lac Du Bois
Sagebrush

 

Lichen/Moss Covering Ground

 

Blog Post 1: Observations

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The area that I have chosen to study is a forested area located within the city of Ottawa’s Greenbelt. Specifically, the forested area is located on Stony Swamp Trail (hereafter referred to as the Trail) off of Old Richmond Road, Ottawa, Ontario Canada. As the study area is located on a trail, the total distance studied will be approximately 1.5km north east from the entrance of the Trail. The landscape is relatively flat with a maximum elevation of 140m in the area.

The vegetation in the area is quite coarse as it is located within the city’s greenbelt which facilitates older growth vegetation in the area.

The study site was visited on December 8, 2018 at 1500. The weather at the time was -8.2C (Environment Canada).

Questions:

  1. Do human activities influence the density and diversity of avian species on Stony Swamp Trail?
  2. Is the basal area of local tree species influenced by temperature in the winter months?
  3. Does sound pollution from the nearest two-lane highway influence the density and diversity of avian species at varying distances on Stony Swamp Trail?

Field Notes