NREM 301 Forest Ecology & Soils

Transcription

1 NREM 301 Forest Ecology & Soils Instructor: Dick Schultz WELCOME! Day 1 Please Pick Up Papers at Back of Room Objectives: Get to know each other Set up groups & conduct team building activity Introduction to class (Syllabus) Review basic ecological terms Introduce Lab 1 Doolittle Prairie Lab We will leave for the Doolittle Prairie at 3:10 from the Science II loading dock and will be back by 6 pm.

2 I will be at Fall Camp in Montana Sept 6-26

3 Leigh Ann Long Instructor Sara Berges - TA

4 First Order of Business 1. Get to know your Classmates Exercise 2. Organize into teams 3. Conduct individual & team awareness exercise

5 Awareness Exercise Locations Teams 4 & 5 Teams 1-3 Team 6 Bike Rack Science II Teams 7-8 Teams 9-10

6 Group Seating Plan Front of Room 202 Door Group 1 Group 4 Group 7 Group 2 Group 5 Group 8 Door Group 3 Group 6 Group 9 Group 10

7 Review Class Syllabus Please read & if you have questions on details let me know. Note: 1) Student Learning Outcomes 2) Course Outcomes 3) Class Ground Rules * Come to class prepared * Respect each other & diverse opinions * Actively participate discussion * Actively listen in group activities * Encourage & support each other 4) Apply Professionalism Rubric Class material will be on Web CT &/or NREM 301 Material will also be on NREM Home Page (

8 Reading Guides & Assignments Book has a lot of important information that we will not be able to completely cover. We have prepared reading guides that take you through the important material in the book. There are exercises at the end of each guide to help you process the material. Periodic quizzes over the reading materials on or shortly after the dates listed on the reading guide. Quizzes also cover any lecture or lab material discussed by that date. Chapter 1 quiz will be Thursday, Sept 4, Chapters 2, 3, & 10 will be on Thursday, Sept 4, All information in the course is cumulative.

9 Discuss Major Issues of the Day Wildfire & Beetle Problems Pacific NW Salmon Habitat Restoration/ Neil Smith Wildlife Refuge in Iowa Ag Impacts on Environment Biofuels Loss of CRP Global Food Security Global Warming Carbon Sequestration Water Quality Quality of Life Availability of Basic Needs

10 Today s Laboratory Doolittle Pothole/Prairie first of 3 native ecosystems Should be a nice day sunny Sunscreen/Water - ~ 80 F Long pants and shoes recommended There is prairie cord grass sharp edges Numerous ant mounds Also some poison ivy mixed in the other vegetation

11 Doolittle Prairie Laboratory Tall thisle Cirsium altissimum Ox-eye daisy Heliopsis spp Marsh milkweed Asclepias spp

12 Ecosystems are a function of = f(clipsrot) Cli = climate P = parent material S = soil R = relief, topography O = organisms (plants, animals, microbes) T = time Consider the differences in each factor across the state of Iowa Soil Forming Factors = f(cliprot)

13 Terrain Characteristics fresh glacial till * no loess cover * bands of knob and kettle terrain * areas of level terrain * poor surface drainage * natural lakes, wetlands

14 Generally Level Terrain Winnebago County, Rice Lake photo by Gary Hightshoe

15 Poorly developed drainage Spring Run State Wildlife Management Area, Dickinson County Photo by Douglas C. Harr

16 Prairie Pothole Region

17 Doolittle Prairie Pothole Ecosystem Aquatic Ecosystem Bear Creek Confluence with the Skunk River Ames Soper s Mill Forest Ecosystem

18 Story City E 18 I - 35 Highway 69 Skunk River Doolittle Prairie Anderson Access

19 Doolittle Prairie/Wetland Laboratory Group Activity - Paired reading exercise Part of each group please read the prairie section (p 2-4) and the other part read the wetland section (p 4-6) of the lab. Make sure you understand the differences between the three kinds of prairies and the four kinds of wetlands. Once you have read your section discuss it with your other teammates. 1 hectare (ha) = 2.47 acres (ac) 1 meter (m) = 3.3 ft

20 Dry Few in Central Iowa Little Bluestem Side oats grama Needle grass Big Bluestem Kinds of Prairies Mesic Big Bluestem Canada Wild Rye Indian Grass Doolittle Prairie, Story County Photo by Gary Hightshoe Wet Switchgrass Prairie Cordgrass

21 Kinds of Wetlands Paulustrine Lacustrine Riverine Tidal

22 Kinds of Wetlands Type I Ephemeral Wet Prairie Short high water Drains/farmed Type II Temporary Sedge Meadows WT within inches of surface much of the year Doolittle Prairie, Story County Photo by Gary Hightshoe Type IV Semi-permanent Deep fresh marshes 6 in to 3 ft of water Type III Seasonal Wetland Usually at least 6 in of water, may dry out in late summer

23 Doolittle Prairie Soils Kossuth Ottosen Bode Association Parent materials Lacutrine sediments, local alluvium or glacial till. Depressional soils Okoboji (center), Harps may surround it. Kossuth soils generally poorly drained on broad upland flats Ottosen gently sloping somewhat poorly drained Bode more slope, well drained, convex knolls (not at Doolittle)

24 Lab Exercise 1. General introduction to site using Soil Survey Info 2. Transects across prairie Describe plant communities Identify major plant species Relate to microtopography Relate to soils 3. Compare prairie soil and plant community with adjacent crop field soil and community 4. We will devote about 0.5 hours to finishing the lab in class on Thursday.

25 Each Group will complete a transect through a prairie/pothole complex. You will evaluate conditions in 2-1 m 2 plots in the prairie & 2 plots in the wetland.