Category: Post 1: Observations

Blog Post 1

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Blog Post 1

 

The area that I have decided to study is the boreal forest of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. The boreal forest is in the circumpolar zone –  circling around the northern hemisphere of the globe. Geologically speaking, Yellowknife sits on the Precambrian shield a vast expanse of rocky hills and dense bush. Jack Pine, Spruce, Birch, Larch , Aspen and Poplar are the most common trees here – a mix of coniferous and deciduous. There are many low lying shrubs and lichens; mostly consisting of crustose and fruticose lichens.  Foliage up in the north tend to grow slightly smaller than species in more temperate climates. This is attributed to rocky terrain, permafrost , short growing seasons and cold weather.

 

Location 1) The outskirts of Yellowknife’s golf course ( which is a giant sand pit) is surrounded by thick boreal forest. Common trees in the area are Jack Pine, White/Black spruce and Birch. Common plants include lichens, Uva ursi and Rhododendron sp. There are also small ponds located within surrounding forest. The golf course and surrounding areas are generally flat, with slight elevations in rocky areas.

 

My first observations:

 

Started Sept. 5.18 – 10:00 am

Season: Fall our first frost was this morning. Temperatures have been remaining a steady 7 – 9 C everyday.

Animals: The only signs of land mammals in the area, are squirrel holes at bases of white spruce trees.

Area: I walked an area of approximately 27,089 m2 – a mix of rocky open areas, marsh and dry boreal forest.

 

My three observational questions are :

  1. Trees of the Northwest Territories are much smaller compared to species down south. Are other plants such as Labrador tea also relatively smaller then down south?
  2. Is fungi growth affected in the same way as the plants and trees?

    3) Jackpines seem to be found in the sandy open areas, or on rocky faces. Are they most commonly found alone in arid areas or amongst Boreal canopy?

 

 

 

Post 1: Observations

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The site I have chosen for the research project is Rotary Park in the city of Merritt BC.  The ground cover is primarily Poa pratense, which is a grass species used for residential lawn grass.  The area is also beside the Nicola River, the Nicola River is an approximately 100km river that flows through most of the city, it is also salmon spawning grounds for Oncorhynchus kisutch.  The size of the site approximately 3 hectares along the river.  Upon arriving for the initial site visit I came across an Odocoileus hemionus doe and its young, they crossed a shallow part in the river and disappeared into the shrubs along the river.  I observed a bird in the Populous trichocarpa, it made a distinctive sound, but I could not identify it because it had gotten dark and I could no longer see clearly.  I also observed an unidentifiable species of bat, it seemed to fly in circles, most likely hunting for food like moths and mosquitos.  I am particularly interested in this site because there have been Lynx rufus seen in the area.  On my next site visit I will get a more detailed inventory of the plant species that inhabit the area.

Blog Post 1: Observation

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Location: Riverlot 56, St. Albert, Alberta

Date: August 6, 2018

Time: 1700

Temperature: 29 Celcius

Weather: Sunny with a few clouds

 

Riverlot 56 is located with the city limits of St. Albert on the northeast side.  It is located on Poundmakers road. This particular park is managed by the province as a natural area.  It has several uses including cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, hiking and wildlife viewing.

The total size of the park is 266.86 Acres (108 Hectares).  

The area that was chosen is an open field in the park that is surrounded by trees on three sides.  On the fourth side is a fence with farmland on the other side of this fence.

There are many gopher holes that can be seen from the pathway.  

This land is mostly made up of tall and short grasses with Canada Thistle scattered throughout.  On initial appearances it appears to be a healthy natural grassland area. However, on closer inspection there appears to be large areas of thistle.

Potential Subjects:

  • Amount of Canada thistle present compared to other plants
  • Number of gopher holes and the effect they have on the surrounding grassland
  • There will be more invasive plants closer to the trails than the untouched pasture
  • pH in the soil affects what will grow

 

Overall facing South
Overall Facing East
Overall Facing NorthEast

Riverlot 56 sketch 1

 

 

Post 1: Observations on an urban street

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The housing market in the city of Victoria is booming. Rental vacancy is at a minimum and as fast as companies can build new residences, eager buyers are snatching them up. This fast-paced turn-over has created a construction boom around the once relaxed, if not docile, town known for government workers and retirees.  Across the street from my own apartment, I have watched for the last 2 years as an old structure was razed to make room for a six-storey condo building. Not the least of the negative impacts of such a large project near our home have been noticeable increases in both noise and dust, carried in through the windows and settling on all surfaces.

When deciding on a study area for this project, my mind immediately went to nearby parks and green spaces that fit my mental image of “ecological” spaces. However, such landscapes are in the minority around this city, whereas my construction-zone street is quite typical. It occurred to me that this site, although less likely to contain a menagerie of woodland creatures, could be fairly representative of an urban ecological habitat. Furthermore, not far down the same street where the construction is occurring, a homeowner has established an urban garden – complete with a mason bee house – on the boulevard between the sidewalk and the street.

I feel this environment may provide a rich learning opportunity with a gradient to contrast the area of urban agriculture with the area of urban development.

The area in question is the 1100 block of Meares St. in Victoria, BC. I made my initial observations on August 6 at 18h45. The weather at this time was sunny with clear skies. The construction is occurring at the west end of the street. As the street carries east, the road rises gradually and the urban garden is approximately 200 m away from the construction site. The boulevards along the street are covered in dry grass, and hold mature plum and cherry trees ((Prunus spp.).

The presence of the urban garden is very interesting to me because I expect that it has attracted some pollinators that would otherwise have no reason to spend much time on a grassy boulevard. I imagine there will also be some opportunist insects and larger animals that will benefit from the food being produced in this garden. Speaking with the owner made clear that deer in particular made it necessary to install protective netting over some of the flower boxes – especially the one containing his strawberry plants.

Some questions I have about this environment:

  • Has the construction activity and its associated disturbance altered the insect/bird composition of nearby trees?
  • Has the presence of the urban garden affected the species richness?
  • Do birds demonstrate any preference for perching/grazing along this street?
  • Is the street runoff from the construction affecting insects or plants?

See below for a sketch of the site and some preliminary observations of plants and animals:

Observations 1

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The area I have selected for my field project is a city park located in north east false creek, Vancouver, British Columbia. It is a new park that measures roughly three acres. It is a flat area with vegetation that includes flower beds, weeds and trees in the periphery. The centre of the park includes a children’s playground. I visited the park at 6pm on a Saturday on a hot summer day with a temperature of 25 degrees Celsius. My observations at the park left me with many questions. I wondered why bees preferred to be around some flowers rather then other. I questioned why certain types of weeds in a particular area were dying while other weeds in a different area thrived. I also wondered why I did not witness any birds at the park, whereas I see many birds (particularly crows) circulating around the trees in downtown Vancouver.

Blog Post 1 for Katarina Duke

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The study location is known as Miracle Valley, sometimes also referred to as Upper Hatzic Valley that extends from Lagace Creek at the south to the Stave Lake reservoir at the north. The valley is bounded by steep mountainous terrain to the east and west.

Land use in the area is predominantly forest, accompanied by rural residential and low-intensity agricultural uses. Ground elevations within the area rise abruptly north of Durieu Road and then plateau and begin to decline at Stave Lake.

As per data from the nearest climate monitoring station—courtesy of Environment Canada—the area receives approximately 1,808mm of precipitation annually with approximately 68% of the total annual precipitation falls between the months of October and March (Government of Canada, 2018).

The watercourses included in the study include Lagace Creek that crosses the south end of the Valley that obtains flows from tributaries to the west. (i.e. Belcharton Creek, Durieu Creek, Oru Creek, and Seux Brook). The tributary creeks are incised into steep-sided ravines and are declared to be largely spring-fed, due to relatively constant flows throughout the year (Piteau Associates Engineering Ltd., 2012).

A reconnaissance site visit was completed on May 15, 2018 from 08:00 to 15:35. The weather was predominantly sunny with about 20% cloud cover and a temperature ranging from approximately 9 to 21 degrees Celsius throughout the day.

Map of Sampling Locations

Observations:

  • Note: Groundwater fed creeks
  • algal growth observed in Seux Brook in abundance prior to confluence of Seux Brook and Oru Creek
  • No algal growth observed in Legace Creek, Belcharton Creek, Oru Creek or Durieu Creek
  • No moss present on trees within immediate proximity of Legace Creek
  • Significant stream bank vegetation growth observed on Belcharton Creek
  • Heavy amounts of moss present on trees surrounding Durieu Creek
  • Clusters of moss present on trees surrounding Belcharton Creek
  • Variety of avian species and squirrels observed around Oru Creek
  • Water seepage observed in area around Durieu Creek.
  • Grasses growing in and along stream bank of Seux Brook
  • Flow discharges (highest to lowest) Legace, Belcharton, Oru, Durieu, Seux
  • Durieu Creek and Legace Creek bed heavily cobbled, turbulent flows
  • Seux Brook and Oru Creek observed relatively laminar flows
  • Seux Brook bed silt and clay
  • Seux Brook is partially shaded prior to confluence with Oru Creek
  • Oru Creek is not shaded at all
  • Durieu Creek is heavily shaded
  • Belcharton and Legace Creek are shaded in sections throughout water course

May 15 Field Notes Page 1 May 15 Field Notes Page 2 May 15 Field Notes page 3

Questions that could be proposed from the observation is:

  1. Is the location of moss growth on trees an accurate way to determine cardinal direction?
  2. Does water depth influence algal/vegetation growth?
  3. Does flow regime influence algal/vegetation growth?
  4. Does the extent of cobbles within creek beds influence algal/vegetation growth?
  5. How does the weather (i.e. sunlight and temperature) influence algal/vegetation growth?
  6. Does the flow regime and water depth change due to seasonality and weather?

PHOTOS:

Katarina Duke- May 15 Photos

REFERENCES:

Government of Canada. (2018, April 24). Station Results – Historical Data. Retrieved from Government of Canada: http://climate.weather.gc.ca/historical_data/search_historic_data_stations_e.html?StationID=702&Day=20&timeframe=1&type=line&MeasTypeID=dptemp&Month=7&Year=2016&searchType=stnProx&txtRadius=25&optProxType=navLink&txtLatDecDeg=49.025277777778&txtLongDecDeg

Piteau Associates Engineering Ltd. (2012). MISSION HYDROGEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION FOR GROUNDWATER SUPPLY MIRACLE VALLEY, B.C. North Vancouver: Piteau Associates Engineering Ltd.

 

Blog Post 1: Observations at Colony Farm Regional Park

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The study area I have chosen for my field research project is Colony Farm Regional Park, located in the Cities of Port Coquitlam and Coquitlam, BC. The Coquitlam River that flows through the park is the physical boundary between the two cities. Colony Farm, approximately 236 hectares in size, is bound by the Lougheed Highway to the west, the Mary Hill Bypass to the south, and Shaughnessy Street to the east. Once an operating farm owned by the Province, the park is now managed as a regional park by Metro Vancouver. Land use is associated with passive recreation, agriculture, and wildlife management. A link to the park map is provided below.

Colony Farm Park Map

The park is navigable via the existing dike network and is generally flat. Cessation of farming activities has allowed for the establishment of expansive old-field habitat. Other habitat types include mixed deciduous/coniferous forest (predominantly along park edges), marsh, wetland, riverine, riparian, and hedgerow. Drainage ditches and small waterways are also prevalent along the existing trails.

I visited Colony Farm on July 2, 2018, at 1900 hours. Weather conditions at the time of the visit were clear, calm, and approximately 17 degrees Celsius. Based on my initial observations I have generated the following three questions:

  1. How does species richness vary amongst the different habitat types within the park? More specifically, which habitat type supports the greatest number of bird species and why?
  2. What factors contribute to the spatial arrangement of red elderberry bushes that occur within the old field habitat portions of the park?
  3. Do waterfowl selectively use waterways within the park that contain the greatest density of emergent vegetation? Does this vary between life stages? (fledgling, juvenile, adult)

Field Notes Blog 1 P1-3 EV

Typical view of emergent vegetation within drainage ditch south of the Pumphouse Trail
East view of a drainage ditch, located north of the Pumphouse Trail
Southeast view of a drainage ditch, located south of the Pumphouse Trail

Blog Post 1: Observations

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The two areas that I have selected to observe are situated on the Alfred Howe Greenway, a trail southwest of the Port Moody Arm of the Burrard Inlet, in Port Moody, BC. This forested trail is 1.1 km long and is part of a hill close to the Burnaby Mountain. This trail connects the Westhill residential area to the Barnet Highway. The area chosen for observation roughly spans 11.43 acres. This area was selected due to the steep elevation gradient between the two end points of the trail, in addition to the noticeably different vegetation in the south part of the trail in relation to the north part of the trail.

Alfred Howe Greenway and surrounding areas. (Google Maps, 2018)

My first set of observations for the trail were taken at the south point of the trail (location: 49.285 ºN, -122.8789ºW, elevation: 125 m) and the north point of the trail (location: 49.290ºN, -122.8788 ºW, elevation: 30 m) on Friday, June 29th, 2018 from 16:19 to 17:08. It was a relatively cold summer day (16 ºC). During the observation period it was cloudy with intermittent light drizzle.

The south point of the trail was densely forested with tall evergreens and smaller bushes, with some birds observed at a distance. Some unusual plant and fungi species were noted, as well as some commonly reoccurring species. A sign close to the trail warning of a high pressure underground crude oil pipeline was also noted.

Photo: South Point of Alfred Howe Greenway Trail (left). “Camouflaged” moth found resting on pathway (top right). Unusual light grey mushroom specie with an appearance of an “inverted” cap (bottom right).

The north point of the trail had vegetation more spread out with less evergreens and much more seasonal trees, in addition to a much greater amount of flowers. It was noted that many of the plant species observed had pale brown and/or pale white “discolouration”. This trail segment was mostly covered in fine gravel and included a steep sand/fine gravel slope, which had a crevasse that could potentially contain a cave opening. Bird sounds were noted, however no birds were observed.

Photo: North Point of Alfred Howe Greenway Trail (left). Berry bush with some leaves having white, chalky, spots (middle top). Foxgloves (digitalis sp.) showing signs of budding, bloom, and wilting (top right). Opening in the middle of a steep sand/fine gravel slope (bottom right).

 

Three interesting questions that could form the subject of a research project could be: 

  • What is the impact of elevation on species diversity?
  • What impact does the nearby oil and gas pipeline and activities have on the natural ecology of the surrounding area?
  • Why do many of the plants on the north point of the trail have a pathologic appearance?

 

A copy of the first field journal entry is shown below: 

Blog Post 1: Observations

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The study site I have chosen is a forest that shapes its way down into a groomed lawn which is my backyard. The area is roughly half an acre of lawn and 2 acres of forest. The forest is mostly comprised of very tall pine trees, spruce and cedar trees and very few arbutus trees (mostly cedar trees however). There is also a lot of fern and cedar shrubs masking the grounds between the trees. The study area I have chosen is on the out skirts of town. It is an estate residence so the traffic passing through is minimal and all housing is about 2.5 acres apart. There is more frequent wildlife passing than human. The area is all relatively flat with a couple bumps and a slight incline from the house to the lawn up to the forest. I visited this site at 11:00 am, Friday morning on June the 15th 2018. The temperature was 16 degrees Celsius with blue skies and very minimal partial clouding. It was a beautiful day.

The first thing I couldn’t help but to notice was the obvious passing of  wildlife. I did choose this area not only because it is my backyard, but also because over the years I have seen multiple forms of wildlife step outside of the forest, out of their world, and into our world. I have seen multiple species of bird, squires, quails, mice, dear and even black bears since I have lived here. So, the obvious question I have would be: How does having human activity incorporated into the forest affect certain activity of animals in the surrounding area? Another question that interest my curiosity would be to why are the number of arbutus trees in the forest so limited and why are they found so deep into the forest? My last and final question would be: is the dominant type of bird species around my backyard (robins) due to the resources the forest provides?

 

 

The view of my yard into the forest.
A closer look into the forest.

Blog 1- Observations

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I have chose to compare two different sites on McArthur Island. The first site is the  9-hole golf course that is approximately 20acres. It closed last year because its lease was up with the city and since then the course has since been unmaintained, meaning the grass is dead, weeds are thriving, and wildlife is everywhere. There are 3 small ponds throughout the  rolling hills of the course. The most rural pond had a beaver lodge along the edge,  but in all 3 ponds there was a lot of debris from trees and some garbage, so it was murky and dirty. Trees are scattered, but are most dense along the edges of the main pond, and there are many different kinds of trees; spruce, willow, maple, birch, pine, chestnut and cottonwood trees. An unidentified weed thrives along the edge of the pond, but most of the grasses and shrubs along it are dead. Surrounding about 75% of the golf course is a slew, and the other quarter is edged by the Thompson River. Because of this and the swampy ponds there is multitudes of mosquitoes. There is a variety of small and large animals on the course such as the Western painted turtle (Chrysemys picta), Canadian geese and their young (Branta canadersis), marmots (Sciuridae), Red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris), beavers (Castor), White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), Mallard ducks and very tiny ducklings (Anas platyrhynchos), and finally Bald eagles (Haliaeeitus leucocephalus). My first visit was on an overcast evening from 7-8pm and the temperature was about 20 degrees. Around 7:45 the wind really picked up and some thunder and lightning started off in the distance.

My second location is the slew/moat that surrounds McArthur Island where the water comes from the rising South Thompson River when its rises. My first visit was June 24th from 4:40-5:25pm , and it was very hot and humid. The temperature was 32 degrees and it was partly cloudy with some sunshine. The water definitely seems cleaner than the ponds, and it doesn’t smell at all, though there seems to be some garbage floating around. The slew is also seasonal because it comes and goes with the rise and decline of the river depth, but the water is still seasonably high. There is a bridge across the slew and on the north side of the bridge the bank along the residential side is mostly rocks with some shrubs and trees, while the island bank is tall grasses, as well as trees and large shrubs that overhang into the water. On the south side of the bridge both banks of the slew are larger shrubs and trees with some dead underbrush floating in the water. Some of the known bushes were blueberry and reship bushes along with some thorn bushes. There is a walkway about 15 feet away from the slew on the island and along it are some various small flowers. White-tailed deer are often seen hanging out and grazing along the edges of the slew on both sides. There was an abundance of mallard ducks hanging out under a large willow tree by the edge of the slew under the bridge, but there were also quite a few in the water. I also some a type of small fish jumping out of the water and in the shallows. Some crows and seagulls were also among the ducks, all hanging out in the same area.

  • Why is there such a difference in plant life? Taking into account freshness/cleanliness of water, shade vs sun, alkalinity of the pond versus the slew.
  • Why do the mallard ducks seem to prefer the slew rather than the ponds? Is it because of water cleanliness, openness of water, shade or sun exposure, temperature of water, food sources?

Here is a map of McArthur Island:

McArthurIslandPark map view

Below are images of McArther Island golf course:

Below are a few pictures of the slew/moat: