Climate Change and Forests with Ms. Barden

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Barden) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 22:02:00 +0000

Today, Friday, is the day to finish up the details of our work. Jefff Lombardo and Nancy Kahn, research techs at SERC for this project, have trained us to do all the tasks to gather data. They were great fun as well.

We had training today to read, record, and gather up the rain gauges.

Several times we ran across this worm study. Each cage is divided in half: one half coverd with beech leaves..high in lignin and difficult to decompose; the other with a mix of other leaves. Embedded in the ground are iron spikes. When the researches want to count how many worms are in each half they apply a small voltage of electric shock to the spikes which drives the worms to the surface to be counted.

Remember the stream flow monitoring station? Take another look at it after the rain yesterday.

Here we found a pit and mound froma fallen tree long ago. Lindsay, a teacher from main demonstrates:

Tree Huggers meet Deer Hunters! They were barbequeing chicken and shared with us! Yummy!!!

Sorry, guys. I just have to put in more fungi!

Mushrooms Lichens, moss, and fungi

Ear fungi below: Jelly Fungi below:

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Barden) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:20:00 +0000

This first picture will remind me of my visit to SERC. I have been thrilled to be here, but now I am ready to be home and back at school. Today I am blogging a few remaining photos about topics I haven't yet brought to your attention.

Exotic species abound here as in Indiana. This picture shows honeysuckle climbing up a vine of poison ivy. Honeysuckle has been planted for its sweet scent as an edge species, but like other invasives, it just takes over and grows over everything.

The thorny vines below belong to the exotic invasive multiflora rose. It was brought in to create

a beautiful natural hedge to keep cattle from roaming but it spreads easily and dominates. I di d not realize that it can grow in the shade of a young forest.

Have you ever heard that you can use moss as a compass in the woods? It CAN be true, but there are other factors that can cause moss to grow elsewhere on trees. I would use the sun and a compass long before I relied on moss. However, below are two pictures of one tree: the first is the north side and the second is the southside. So in this case the addage would work.

Another study taking place involves the watershed. Pictured below is a stream flow monitoring

station. Can you figure out how it works?

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Barden) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 18:03:00 +0000

While working in the forest today we heard shots ring out from the deer hunters. In one plot we found fresh blood at the base of a tree. Then we found a spent shell. We were glad to have on our orange vests.

There are several pictures and videos about nature today that I thought you might enjoy.

Jeff has been with us in the forest each day. He works at SERC as a tech for the project. I really like his relaxed manner and intelligence. He knows a great deal about plants and trees. In this video he is explaining about the microhabitat created by a fallen tree. You are looking at the uplifted root bed of a large fallen tree. Where it had been standing is now referred to as the pit. When the tree completely decays it's roots leave behind a mound of enriched soil. Listen carefully.

After our work was finished today, 3 teachers went for a hike to the estuary or saltwater marsh. Watch the video below.
The second video is of a rotting log. Decay keeps the forest alive, and I enjoy looking for fungi while I'm walking..

This video is sideways but still you can see that even birds can be obsessive/compulsive! A yellow-bellied sapsucker went to town on this tulip poplar. He pecked holes in neat, tight rows up the entire trunk. And then he died! (I made that part up!)

One more video about an old grassed-in beaver pond. (The Eagles' nest is not in the center as I say on the video but up near the top of the picture.)

I call this my elephant tree. It is four trees that have grown together in an odd manner. A challenging one to measure.
Well, that's all for now. I am hoping after seeing these pictures you will think of questions to ask me.

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Barden) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 02:29:00 +0000

Pictures:

A lab building at SERC.

A map of hectares undergoing study at SERC.
A group photo of my team.

A map locating each member of 14 tree species.in one area. There are a lot of the same trees we have here. It has been rewarding learning to identify them without leaves using bark, branching pattern, and bud shape.

Dear Students,
Today was balmy compared to yesterday, and that is a good thing since we were outdoors all day. We spent most of the day gathering the forest data on trees. The size of this project is enormous! 16 hectares of trees are being measured…we only measured the trees in about a 10th of one hectare today. The video shows some of the following: Each team is assigned a subplot. We measure the DBH (diameter at breast height) of each tree in our 10 meter x10 meter subplot with a tape that wraps around the circumference but automatically calculates the diameter. Then we tag it, identify it and determine its precise location in the quadrat. Finally we evaluate its status as to dominance. (Is it above the others or struggling to compete for light?) All this is recorded on data tables. 5 years from now it will all be done again! The video below shows some of the process. (You will laugh at my first attempt to measure tree diameter!) There is also a picture of a tree tag we use once the tree has been evaluated. What would you expect scientists to discover in five years regarding these trees? Do you think all the trees will respond the same to climate change? Why or why not? Why should we care what changes occur in our forests? (Also scroll down to the next paragraph and photos below.)

A really cool diversion today was climbing the weather monitoring station. It is 120 feet high, so well above the tree tops. Huge ships were coming in and out of the bay and I could see Annapolis where we will go Friday to tour the Naval Academy. On the top of it are solar panels that measure the radiation from the sun, a sun tracking device, and an anamometer to measure wind speed and direction. There are also carbon dioxide monitors on the tower and at ground level. Why do you think they are measuring these factors? Ospreys live around here and could choose to nest up on this tower. They are a protected bird, so if that happens there is nothing that can be done about it. There are wire spikes to discourage that. There is a video of the tower nad photos of the equipment mentioned below. What questions do you have?

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Barden) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 11:37:00 +0000

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Barden) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 00:16:00 +0000

Hello again! Monday was a really good day. I absolutely love all that I am learning. This morning I took an early walk and shot this picture of sunrise on the bay. After breakfast we listened to Bert Drake talk about global warming. It was fascinating! His intent was to educate all of us on global warming. If you ever doubted global warming was happening or if you doubted it was human caused, you would be convinced by his scientific data and understanding. I will tell you about it when I return and show you what he showed us. The consequences of global warming need to be understood by all of us.

We also took a walk in the forest with one of the research assistants to see the difference in forest quadrats we will be studying. Some are old forests, some are re-growing after a dairy farm, and some are recovering from selective lumbering. We will be working in the old growth forest.

In the afternoon we learned and practiced how to measure the trees. We all wore an orange vest to ensure the hunters could tell us from the deer. We have to do that all week. (So, Matt, I haven't yet tried the deer suit!) I will show you more about measuring later, but basically we each measured 16 trees and entered our data into a spreadsheet to see if we were all measuring accurately. That helps us to understand the importance of measuring correctly.

The last activity of the day explored the many views people have about global warming based on their culture, upbringing, and education. We discussed how each family has a carbon footprint based on how much electricity they use, how they heat their home, what mileage they get and how many miles they drive each week, whether they recycle and reuse, and how many new products they purchase. What if all the people in our country decided to take one more small step to lessen their carbon footprint? Think about your own family. What does your family already do to lessen their impact on the planet? Is there something you have thought about doing but haven't really started? I made a decision about my own impact. I'll tell you what it is after I hear from you.

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Barden) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 01:12:00 +0000

Hello classes! I had very smooth flights today to Baltimore. I loved the Detroit airport…I’ll try to get pictures on my return trip so you can see how cool it is! I have met my team and they are wonderful people. I know we will have a great time together. The research facility is much bigger than I expected. I will post pictures tomorrow so you can see the buildings and forest. We ordered pizza for dinner tonight and spent most of the time trying to get the internet connections to work! If you read this in the morning I will be listening to a world famous scientist, Dr. Drake, give a talk entitled "Beyond an Inconvenient Truth", a follow up to former Vice President Al Gore’s movie about global warming. If you read this in the afternoon, I will be learning how to measure trees, tag them, and map their locations so they can be measured again in 5 years. My question for you today is: Do you think our early winter this year is a result of changing weather patterns due to global warming or just normal fluctuations in weather? On what are you basing your opinion?

Satellite View of Chesapeake Bay

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Barden) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 13:29:00 +0000

This satellite image shows the extensive shoreline of Chesapeake Bay where Edgewater, MD is located. Here are a few questions for you to think about:
1.What type of wetland would be found near the bay?
2. How will the forest of this area be different from the LaVille Woods?
3. We will be studying one hectare plots of forest. How large is a hectare?
4. What kind of data do you think we could gather to monitor a forest?
5.How do you think a warming climate might change this data in the future?

The dorm at the Smithsonian research station

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Barden) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 13:21:00 +0000

The whole team of teachers will be staying in this dorm. We will be eating breakfast and dinner together and packing a lunch to take into the forest. What else should I take with me each day in my backpack?

Smithsonian Research Station

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Barden) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 13:01:00 +0000

This where I will be staying on my trip to Chesapeake Bay.