Climate Change and Forests with Ms. Fechhelm

Home again!

2008-12-14T11:23:00.001-08:00

Back in Texas! And after the freezing temperatures I left behind yesterday, the current temperature of 25 degrees (Celsius) is a bit of a shock! (Remember, "30 is steamy, 20 is.......") It was am amazing week, and I learned SO much. And for a final picture, here is best of all......our entire team, at the "North Pole". The "North Pole" which is at the northeast corner of the hectare that we completed!

Thursday, Dec.11

2008-12-11T08:43:00.000-08:00

Rain, rain, rain! It's pouring here. Not like a Texas downpour, but just a constant, steady rain ALL DAY! This morning they asked for 3 people to go back into the study area and finish off the last 5 plots (10 meter X 10 meter areas). I realized that this might my last chance to do anything like this, so off I went with two of the other teachers. It was cold and wet and pretty miserable, but we managed to get 3 of the 5 remaining plots done before lunch. It was so miserable that we finally just began to laugh at each other - we did look pretty funny, all bundled up against the cold with our lovely orange vests over everything, and water dripping off our noses! If you look at the picture, you can see the two tape measures that we use to mark off the plot. The one on the bottom of the plot (south side) is the X axis and the other is the Y axis. So each and every tree is recorded with a very precise location, such as X = 4.35m and Y = 7.82m. So it will be easy to make very exact maps of what trees are where!

Here is a picture of data collected last month. Notice any patterns in the arrangement of the trees? Anything interesting? (Click on the map to make it larger!)

Working outside today reminded me about doing field studies. Students always think, how cool it would be do work outside atudying nature. Yes, it's great fun when the sun is shining and the birds are singing, but when the weather is nasty the work still goes on - cold or wet or miserable, it doesn't matter! But I am warm and dry now (hooray!) This afternoon I joined the others doing some data entry.....all the numbers and information we have been writing down has to be 1)checked for accuracy and 2)entered into the computer. It's the tedious and often boring part of science -but VERY important! This afternoon we took some time off to meet with the lead scientist of this project, Dr. Jess Parker. Here is a short video of him talking a little about global warming. When I get back, we are going to have some LONG talks about global warming and we are going to start a project that will hopefully affect the ENTIRE city and maybe even the Brazos Valley and beyond. So who's ready to beccome a "Global Warming Warrior?"

Thursday, Dec.11, 2008

2008-12-10T18:44:00.000-08:00

I can't believe you guys have SNOW there!!!!! How cool is that! It's warm (54 degrees) and really humid here! But it's a good thing because we were able to do a lot of work today. My team (myself and 3 other teachers) identified, measured and recorded the location of all the trees in 13 ten by ten meters sections. So that's 1300 square meters! And there were a LOT of trees there. Woo Hoo! And the entire time it was drizzling and dripping on us. (The wet forest really smelled wonderful to me!) But I am learning SO much that it is really fun! You guys are asking great questions and I will answer some on Friday when we have our web cast the others when I return. No questions for today, but some videos! They are short, and if Mrs. Scott and Mr. Rigney think you don't time for them, we will watch them ALL next week. The first was near the large fallen tree you saw in yesterdays posting (the one I was sitting on). The video shows one of the scientists here explaining to us how the bottom of the fallen tree creates it's own special ecosystem. The other two don't need much explanation! (They will take a moment to 'buffer' before playing!)

Wednesday, Dec. 10

2008-12-09T14:12:00.000-08:00

Whew! Tuesday was a tiring day! We walked 4 miles to the area where we will be working for the next few days. We then spent the morning identifying, measuring and tagging trees. We then walked back (4 miles) for lunch. After lunch we took a detour to a weather tower. (Pictures below.) I climbed to the top (120 feet) for an incredible view of Chespeake Bay. We were all the way ABOVE the canopy (the tops of the trees!) At the top there is a LOT of scientific equipment collecting data on things like UV radiation, rainfall, and carbon dioxide levels. Just a short ways away on the ground is another station with the same equiment so they can monitor the levels about the trees AND below the trees and compare the results. It was interesting - in was all steel grids (you could see through it) and swaying in the wind, but it was so incredible it didn't bother me at all! Then 4 miles back to our study area and more tree work. It's amazing to me - I have never looked at a forest in this way before. After a while you begin to see patterns....certain trees here, others there. Some out in the open, others always under other. Each tree also had to be classified as a dominant tree (above all the others), co-dominant (the same as the others) or supressed (below the others) as well as it's condition (living, standing dead or dead). And the difference between the young forests and the older, mature ones are AMAZING. When you plot all the data out, showing the type of tree and the size, the patterns you see are amazing. I will never look at a forest the same again! Check out the pictures and there is a question that follows. By the way - great answers to yesterdays question (about the nail). When I talk with you on Friday I will tell you which class had the best answer!

Jessie - even if could possibly stop all pollution right now, we cannot stop the effects of global warming. But we could slow it down a WHOLE lot!
Jordan - while hiking, we have already found 3 species of plants / vines that the scientists said have never been seen this far north (these are called invasive species).

Chase - not a lot of animals - a small group of white-tailed dear, squirrels, some birds. It's cold, so most animals are hiding away!
Micheal - no maple trees here - not far enough north!
Collin - the tallest trees around here are the tulip populars which are about 70 feet tall.

Kaitlin - greatest diameter so far (that I have measured, was 114 cm diameter).

Karna - types of trees: tulip populars, sweet gum, white oaks, dogwood, iron wood, red oak.
Kelsie - I am not sure if any animals have been harmed at this point. But I will check and let you know.

Question for Wewdnesday: Why would carbon dioxide levels be different above the trees than below the trees?

Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2008

2008-12-08T18:21:00.000-08:00

Hey guys! Thanks for the questions and comments yesterday! Remember you can also post on your own any day, in addition to the class posting. There were a lot of good answers to the question, which dealt with why, if our planet is warming up, is there still such cold weather in some places? A lot of you were on the right track -basically, there are SO MANY things that interact to produce weather. As ice metls, it cools air currents (for a while)....and as things get warmer, more water evaporates, making more clouds, cooling things down, etc. There are a LOT of things that come together to cause "weather"!

Jessi (1st Period) - yes, there is some new technology to reduce pollution, such as coal burning power plants that 'sequester' or save the carbon dioxide and bury it deep underground. But we all need to encourage politicians to take this a LOT more seriously, and stop waiting! And EVERYONE needs to do their part!

Colin (2nd Period) - today I was in two different types of forests. First was a 'young' forest, on land that used to be cattle pasture. It's only about 50 years old. Some tall trees, but pretty skinny and a LOT of low, shrubby plants. Then we went to a mature forest, which was about 120 years old - HUGE trees, not a lot of low-growing plants and shrubs.

Dustin (8th Period) - remember penguins are only at the South Pole, not the North Pole! If the glaciers on Antarticia melt, we will have a WHOLE lot more to worry about than penguins, as it would raise sea level about 6-10 meters! Which means that even College Station would be under water!

Natalie - actually I am living RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE of the forests we are studying! It's really cool!

One big correction on something that several classes remarked on: even though it's winter time, right now, Earth is actually CLOSER to the sun than it is in summer. But the Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the sun, so the sun's rays hit at an angle, giving us less heat. In the summer time Earth is actually farther from the sun, but the Northern Hemisphere is tilted towards the sun, so the sun's rays hit directly, not at an angle, making it hotter - at least in the Northern Hemisphere!.

**And if you go to the blog and make an individual post, don't worry if it doesn't show up here. The post gets sent to me via email, but for some reason they are not always showing up on the blog page - but don't worry, I am getting them and thank you so much! While I am have a great time and learnng A LOT, I do miss everyone there at CG and hearing from you is great!

Here's the question for Tuesday: Look at the picture below. It shows how we were marking trees yesterday. We have to identify them and record their diameter. The metal tag has a number on it so the scientists here can track the trees growth over the years. And no, the nail doesn't damage the tree at all. But here's the question: As you can see, the nail is only driven into the tree a tiny bit. And there is a very good reason for this. So what is it?

Today we are hiking into an area of 'mature forest' where we will start tagging and identifying as many of the trees as we can. Rain is forecast, so it looks like we may get wet - but science goes on, rain or shine! Tomorrow - some pictures of me hard at work!

Monday Dec. 8 - early morning!

2008-12-08T05:20:00.000-08:00

We spent the morning first hearing a presentation on Global Warming - VERY interesting. Then we headed out into the forests learning about the research going on here. I will write more about it later (we are on our lunch break now) but here are some pictures.

Here are some pictures I took this morning - sunrise on the Chespeake Bay! (Yes - I got up really early and YES - IT'S COLD!!!!

Sunday, Dec. 7, 2008

2008-12-07T16:39:00.000-08:00

.Well I made it! I am now at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Maryland. I am in the middle of a forest along the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. It's dark outside now, but here is what it would look like in the summer
It looks quite different now as all the trees are bare - no leaves!

I will post some actual pictures tomorrow.

For the first question, look back at the pictures I posted last night, of the snow in Baltimore. This was a very early snowfall for this part of the U.S. They usually don't see snow until late December. So here's the question: If global warming is such a big deal, why are some places getting such cold weather, earlier that usual? (It's -2 degrees Celcius here right now. Brrrr!) Let me know what you think!!!