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Cranberry Flats Saskatchewan in the Spring

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Creeping juniper “crawling” across the stair case.
Mixed grass prairie.
One type of berry observed – others were red or deep purple.

I have chosen the conservation area Cranberry Flats (incidentally also chosen by another student) which is under the control of the Meewasin Valley Authority near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. It is described as a “mixed grass prairie” comprised of grasses, wildflowers and hardy plants. The hardiness was clear with some plants still having berries despite the snow recently melting and frost occurring on most nights prior to my visit. Also, the diameter of small trees and thick shrubs was small, however, they stood upright despite strong winds over the winter and little protection by large trees or hills. There is a 1km trail which ends at the South Saskatchewan River. The trail is mostly dirt with the last third covered by a man-made wooden boardwalk. Up until this boardwalk the land is mostly flat with some dips and small hills. However, 100-150m from the river there is a slope down to the river.

I visited Cranberry Flats on 01-04-2017 from 11:58 – 12:31. The temperature was 12 degrees Celsius, mostly cloudy with a light breeze and beginning of Spring. Some birds were heard in the distance but there were no observable animals. There is diversity in flora with both long and short grasses, creeping juniper (Juniperus horizontalis), berry-bearing shrubs, stalky trees, and white birch trees (Betula papyrifera). There was a clear gradient in plant diversity, with diversity being higher away from the river.

Three questions that come from this initial survey of the area are:

  1. What exactly is the change in plant diversity as you move closer to the river from the beginning of the flats?
  2. How does the creeping juniper interact with the abiotic factors such as the boardwalk and stair case?
  3. What berries can be found within a certain distance of each other and how does this change over the spatial gradient?

Blog Post 3: Ongoing Observations

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I have visited Quarry Creek a few times this past winter to collect water samples for water quality analysis. Based on my visits to the site I was able to collect additional data on the streams physical characteristics and water quality parameters. My study is based on ecological assessment of selenium in the aquatic environment. Quarry Creek flows north of Red Chris Mine Project along the valley bottom and into Klappan River, eventually making its way to the Stikine River.

My objective is trying to identify whether or not the proposed effluent will result in adverse effects to the receiving environment. The following is a summary of Quarry Creek stream characteristics and  water quality parameters collected during my visits. Selenium has become a contaminant of concern (COPC) in mining; therefore, understanding the toxicology of selenium will benefit me in many ways as an environmental technician.

Date: March 14, 2017

Weather: 6.0 ◦ C Overcast

Location: W69 monitoring site

Quarry Creek Stream Characteristics:  

UTM Coordinates – 9V 0457207 E 6401942 N

Channel Gradient – 4%

Elevation – 1027 m ASL

Channel Bankfull Width – 2.1 to 2.6 m

Quarry Creek Length – 1 km

Primary Substrate – gravel/cobble embedded in sand and gravel

Riparian – Shrubs, mixed mature forest (Dominant species spruce, following subalpine fir and birch)

Cover – Abundant (creek is enclosed by a canopy of trees)

Wetland – Consists of a series of pools formed by beaver dams and extends along approximately 2 km of the Quarry Creek mainstream. Within the wetland section of Quarry Creek, macrophytes ( grasses) are plentiful and substrate is predominantly fine sediment and organic matter.

Quarry Creek Water Quality Parameters:

Temperature – 0.9 ◦ C

pH – 8.06

DO – 12.03 mg/L

Conductivity – 548

Turbidity – 1.27 (clear)

Hypothesis:

(1) I hypothesize there is a correlation between aqueous selenium concentrations and benthic invertebrate tissue concentrations due to bioaccumulation.

(2)  I hypothesize there is a correlation between aqueous selenium concentrations and periphyton tissue concentrations due to bioaccumulation.

Predictor Variable:

Selenium aqueous water concentrations

Response Variable:

Selenium bioaccumulation in benthic invertebrate and periphyton tissue

Photos:

 

 

 

Ongoing Field Observations

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After a few visits to Blanche brook park I was in wonder of what I can possibly discover because our winter won’t let up this year.  Every time I visit I seen more snow but it is now April 7th temperature at -3C, I am now seeing spring set in and more signs of life.  My visit was still extremely quiet I only seen one person who ventured walking in the snow besides me. As I was walking my focus suddenly went to the sound of crows, I decided to investigate where the sound was coming from. In the nearby trees, I noticed one American crow in one tree that looked at me, and was calling continuously to the nearby tree. When I looked at the nearby tree there, were two more crows sitting next to each other it gave me the feeling that the crow that was calling was giving a warning of me approaching. I always had an interest in this bird because of their keen sense of intelligence. I didn’t even have a chance to get my camera the three crows left.

Due to the interest in the crow I decided I should draw my focus on birds. I marked three points of interest. One being the birch tree at the beginning of the trail in the first picture. Second, the evergreen trees in the second picture and third nearing the end of the trail where there is a McDonalds which has more traffic and human activity. McDonalds is marked on the map in the third picture.

My hypothesis is: Birds will habituate to humans as density rates increase in an area, if there are low persecution rates. If birds feel threatened they will show avoidance behavior, or give warning to others of the same species to move.

One potential response variable in this study is the American crow.

One potential explanatory variable is the increase of human interaction with the park.

Post 5 – Design Reflections

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The ongoing winter of weirdness that Northwestern BC has been subject to has made the implementation of my sampling strategy interesting and challenging. Temperatures during my sampling period have ranged from well above freezing to close to -30 degrees Celsius. The only precipitation that has occurred since I started collecting data has fallen as rain. My study area has therefore been transformed from a veritable winter wonderland into a poorly-conceived skating rink!

The biggest challenge that the odd weather has presented to me has been maintaining access to my sampling locations. I initially chopped holes in the ice with an axe to create my three sampling locations. I was surprised at the time to find upwards of 50 centimetres of ice at my middle and upstream sampling locations. Since then it has rained and gotten cold. The additional load of the rain water on top of the existing ice has caused it to sag and create a positive pressure when a hole is established in the ice. This pressure forces water to the surface, where it freezes almost instantly. I have therefore had to chop through 15-20 cm of ice each time I set my traps and each time I check them. This takes some time and usually results in me being covered from head to toe in a thin veneer of ice. If I was going to maintain these sites for much longer I would definitely be exploring other means of accessing them!

I was also surprised to find that my upstream location was of moderate depth and minimal velocity. I had initially thought that this site would represent a relatively deep and fast sampling location. Given the time and effort it had taken me to establish the site, I decided to use it and shifted my definition of a relatively deep and fast flowing sampling location to the middle location near the bridge.

The results of my first sampling effort were a relief and a surprise. I was expecting to catch juveniles at the site near the bridge where I had observed them during summer months. I was therefore somewhat surprised and disappointed when I pulled an empty minnow trap from this location after my first sampling effort.  I was equally surprised and relieved to find a juvenile in the trap that I pulled from the upstream location.

Capturing this single fish provided me with some assurance that I would have results to discus and that my project was at least feasible. Prior to this point I was not certain, as a number of people had suggested that my chances of capturing juveniles during the winter months were low.

I took my initial success as a good sign and elected to continue utilizing my initial sample design and collection methods. I have since completed three additional sampling efforts and have captured juveniles each time. My thoughts on why I am catching juveniles where I am catching them are evolving, but my results appear to support my initial hypothesis thus far. I am therefore going to keep on fishing!

My downstream site acting as a drain for rainwater… It dropped to -20C the next day.

Brrrr!

Blog Post 1 – Field Research Project on Quarry Creek

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The area I chose to study for my field research project is located in Red Chris Mine on a stream called Quarry Creek. The mine is situated on the northeastern portion of Todagin Plateau in northwestern part of BC, which is on the boundary of two regional watersheds: Klappan and Iskut River.

The mine also falls within Tahltan Traditional Territory and as a member of the Tahltan Nation; I find it incredibly important to study this area and to understand the environmental impacts that can occur.

Quarry Creek is a second order stream that flows from the project site along the valley bottom and into the Klappan River. Quarry Creek will receive operational discharge from the north end of the tailings impound area of the mine.

Freshwater habitats contain organisms from many taxonomic groups; each group is likely to respond differently to concentrations of contaminants in the aquatic receiving environment. Aquatic receptor groups include aquatic plants, aquatic invertebrates, amphibians, fish, and aquatic-feeding birds.

The following points outlines what I want to base my research project on:

  • Identify potential environmental impacts from selenium in effluent.
  • Will Selenium bioaccumulation have long-term affect on Quarry Creek aquatic organisms?
  • Is there correlation or relationship between aqueous selenium concentrations and benthic invertebrate concentrations?

Date – August 2016

Date – August 2016

Date – January 2017

Date – January 2017

Theoretical basis

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My research topic looks at the effects of de-icing agents on snow salinity. It is my hypothesis that snow salinity will be higher in areas where road salt is used as a de-icing agent, versus an area that uses sand as a de-icing agent. I believe that this salinity plays a role in altering the abundance of a grass species directly next to areas where the de-icing agent is used.

The concepts underlining my research topic are those of abundance, human interaction and species resistance to salinity

Data Collection

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Ran into a few more issues this time around trying to implement my study. First I was mistaken in my original thought that NaCl would have an effect on the pH of a liquid. ( I have never taken chemistry although, that is not an excuse). So in order to test what I truly wanted to test which is the salinity I had to make some adjustments to my initial design.

I chose to collect samples on a day following a snowfall, I did this so that the roads and sidewalks would have been salted the day before and street/sidewalk clearing would have already taken place. I chose the starting point for my transects at random along the sidewalk in the residential area and the path by the lake by random computer generated number spanning 0 to 42 signifying the 42 meters along each path that I wanted to study (length of the path by the lake). From there I tested 6 units along the transect, each 2 meters apart.

In order to measure the salinity of the snow without expensive tools at my disposal I used a less precise/ yet still functional way to measure the salinity. I first collected snow samples along two transects (6 units each) both at the residential area and lake area. I used baking measuring cups to measure out 2 cups of snow at each sampling unit and put these into sealable glass jars. After collection I moved the jars inside and the snow melted. I then used Total Dissolved Salts (TDS) to measure how much salt there was in each sample. I evaporated the water from each sample and then collected the residue from each into a separate and labeled bag. I don’t have a scale and so I went to the local grocery store and used theirs in order to measure the grams of each sample. The findings followed my predictions with more total dissolved salts in the snow samples in the residential area.

This was extremely time-consuming! I had originally planned to do two transects at both locations but I decided that one would have to suffice.) The whole process took several days, as I had to ensure to wash away and dry out the pan after each sample to avoid left over residue from the previous sample.

I plan to do this after another snowfall in order to compare values.

snow sample

salt residue after TDS

TDS

Snow sample from the residential area. in this sample you could see blue road salt (after sidewalk clearing a lot of the salt ends up on the lawns).

Untitled

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I had collected the initial data by using a transect sampling with systematically placed units of 32cm by 16cm (divided into 2x8cm sections) both in the residential area and lake area of campus and by the lake. I used these to average how many patches (or average percentage) of the area grass had ceased to grow. The results from my initial field data showed as predicted that there was more area (by percentage) of the ground that grass was not present. In addition, I found more species of ground vegetation such as hieracium and taraxacum (common weeds) in the lake area then the residential area.

 

I recently got some really good feedback on my field study from a comment on my post and have since needed to review my hypothesis and feasibility of my study. In addition to this the weather has drastically changed and it is making it increasingly difficult to explore species abundance and diversity when the grass (my initial vegetation to study) is covered by several inches of snow and ice! I am no longer able to collect the data in the same way as some sampling units are iced over it would require for me the dig through the snow and ice (potentially removing the vegetation in the process) in order to see what I need to collect the data.

 

For these reasons I have chosen to take a new direction of study. Instead of exploring the vegetation I have chosen to test the acidity of the snow (in the same areas as studied previously). I will do this by taking samples of the snow at each sampling unit along the two transects and testing the samples pH level. I hypothesize that the pH will increase due to the run off from the road salt in the residential area and will be neutral where no salt is used. The significance of this study is that the change in pH may cause a change in the soils alkalinity fostering a less viable soil for vegetation.

 

I believe that changing my study is necessary and by sampling the technique for testing I will be able to produce more accurate results. From there, I will be able to do research as to the effects road salt and sand on vegetation to further understand the implications.

Theoretical Perspectives

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The ecological process that my final research project mainly focuses is the connection between distributional pattern and abundance within trees of different and same specie. Throughout this topic, I will be discussing some factors that play an important role in the type of patterns found in trees which can be seedling, resources, competition and topography. In my interpretation, I will explain how these can compare to the succession of trees at Cranberry Flat which is my area of study. At Cranberry Flat Conservation area two main species of trees can be found I believe one of the primary reason for the low diversity is because of the type of soil present which was laid down by post-glacial deposits, this landform is composed mainly of sand.

My main aim in this research is to prove there is an existent correlation between the species that is more dominant and its distribution, the pattern should be consistent throughout.

Keywords: abundance, distributional pattern, resources, competition.